MegaBus?

[Jenga]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried MegaBus? I'm specifically looking at a route in/out of Chicago, but would be curious to hear any experiences. How's the clientele? I was wondering if it's nice ride or if I'm likely to encounter dicey passengers.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

I've taken it from NYC-->Boston

Left NYC at 11am and bus was crowded, maybe only 6 open seats and i was fortunate enough to have the seat next to mine be vacant. Return trip home left Boston at 10pm and only about 12 people on the bus so no issue sitting by myself.

Since i was able to have two seats to myself both rides were enjoyable (as enjoyable as bus travel can be, although it certainly beat driving myself). Not sure i would have been as favorable if i had to share a seat as 4+ hours on a bus can be awhile without being able to stretch out and reposition yourself. I also brought a laptop along and used the free wifi on the bus, so it helped that i had both seats, if i only had one it would have been a little cramped.

The internet worked fine for half the trip to Boston, about two hours in it died and there was no longer a signal. On the way home it worked the entire way. So while the internet is a HUGE bonus (for me at least) i don't think it can be depended upon... it may work, it may not. (but hopefully this is more than a 50/50 proposition)

Other passengers were fine, mostly an 'under 30' crowd, but a few families traveling togethter as well.

I'm not sure of their policy, but if taking it again (my wife refuses bus travel so i would only be taking it when traveling alone) i would inquire about purchasing two tickets to guarantee both seats to myself... it's cheap enough that it would be worthwhile to me to be a bit more comfortable, but if the bus is crowded, i can see 'issues' arising, especially if the 'dispatcher' wanted to sell my 'open' seat to a walk-up passenger.

[Jenga]

Thanks, terrific info! We have an airport coach to O'Hare here, which also includes a downtown add-on, but it makes tons of local stops and doubles the time of the trip to 4+ hours. I was interested in MegaBus since it goes expresss and gets to Chicago in literally half the time.

I had no idea about the Wi-Fi -- that might close the sale for me! MegaBus's ticet prices are actually higher than our other option (unless one bids super early and gets a discounted ticket), and it leaves from a very inconvenient Park-n-Ride location about 20 minutes outside town -- but I may try it out this weekend to take advantage of the shorter travel time. I'll post back if I do.

Thanks again for the tips!

[Jenga]

Just to follow up, we took the Madison-Chicago MegaBus and were pleased overall with the results. The bus stop is an odddly located Park'n'Ride en route between Minneapolis and Chicago. As such, it was about 35 minutes late arriving here to pick us up -- not a big deal now but this would be a drag in the winter months, since the waiting area is not well-protected from the elements.

Once we hit the road, though, it was 2.5 hours, exactly as promised. This was a big improvement from the other local Chicago shuttle, which makes so many stops that the trip time is closer to 4 hours.

I booked ahead and got a discounted tickets for $15 each (instead of $26/per), which was also welcome.

No Wi-Fi that I could ascertain -- this was an older bus.

The client

[monica3674]

My daughter (age 2.5) and I took the Megabus from Detroit to Chicago and would definitely recommend it - especially over Amtrak. It was on time and clean.