Jun 6, 2008
Though low-cost bus services have apparently flopped on the west coast, they appear to be thriving in the northeast
Although I felt an obligation to point out yesterday that Britain's ultra-low-cost bus company (megabus.com) was apparently terminating several of its services to and from Los Angeles, it's important to note that these cheap buses are a number of them still in service between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. While that may eventually mean that one or two may be wiped out by their competitors, for the time being so many cheap buses are erupting into view that you need a fast list to keep them all in mind. As a reminder, they are: Boltbus (www.boltbus.com), Fung Wah Bus (www.fungwahbus.com), megabus.com (www.megabus.com), DC2NY (www.dc2ny.com), Todays Bus (www.todaysbus.com), Sunshine Boston (www.sunshineboston.com/bustours/nyc), and Lucky Star (www.luckystar.com).
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Labels: bus
Jun 5, 2008
Uh-oh. One of those cheap bus services on the West Coast has been knocked out
I owe it to our readers to advise them not simply of travel triumphs but of travel disappointments. Several weeks ago, I was excited to learn of the expansion of Britain's megabus.com company to the U.S. west coast, offering ultra-low-cost fares between Los Angeles and several nearby cities, including Las Vegas. And I wrote at length about MegaBus, which had earlier enjoyed great success in the mid-west.
Now, according to our friends at LasVegasAdvisor (www.lasvegasadvisor.com), megabus.com service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has been discontinued, and soon will be halted to other west coast cities as well. Sin City's best website responded to a reader's question about megabus.com as follows:
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Now, according to our friends at LasVegasAdvisor (www.lasvegasadvisor.com), megabus.com service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has been discontinued, and soon will be halted to other west coast cities as well. Sin City's best website responded to a reader's question about megabus.com as follows:
Q: Do you know if trips from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (or vise versa) with megabus.com will be discontinued? I've been trying to make reservations for myself for mid-June or beyond but the website isn't allowing me to do so.
A: In August 2007 we first shared the glad tidings that megabus.com, an intercity express bus offering travelers $1 fares, was beginning service that week from its new West Coast hub in LA to six city destinations, including Las Vegas...We confess that until you submitted your question, we hadn't heard a lot about it or given it much thought. But you piqued our interest, so we tried to book a trip, just as you did, and found ourselves similarly thwarted. We called to see what was going on and have nothing but bad news to convey for bargain-bus travelers: Not only will megabus.com's California-to-Las Vegas route be canceled on June 8, but the entire West Coast service will be curtailed sometime shortly thereafter on a yet-to-be-announced date. Lack of demand and too much competition were blamed for the demise by the helpful rep we spoke with; while gas prices weren't mentioned, we figure they must have played a significant role as well.
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Labels: bus
May 20, 2008
For travelers who get tired: a comprehensive motorcoach program for visiting Andalucia without having to pack and unpack every day
Escorted motorcoach tours are a popular means of visiting foreign countries (they are especially well-liked by middle-aged and elderly travelers), but the hotel-a-day pattern makes them exhausting. On most such tours, participants need to have their fully-packed suitcases outside the hotel door each morning at 6am so that the bus can later take them and their luggage to the next city -- it's a city a day -- on the itinerary.
The solution to these tiresome trips has been discussed for years. Why not establish a base in one city, suggested a great many people, and then go round-trip from and back to that city, each day visiting a new and different area, but staying throughout in just one hotel? While not every part of Europe lends itself to that pattern, one was always considered to be a possibility: Andalucia, the south of Spain. And one tour operator -- Sun Holidays (tel. 800/422-8000; www.sunholidaytours.com) -- is offering precisely that kind of tour in the winter of 2008-09.
On a 16-day "Best of Andalucia" vacation, you spend 14 days at one hotel, the four-star Aloha Puerto Hotel Resort directly on the Mediterranean, receiving 14 buffet breakfasts and 14 dinners with wine. But throughout the stay, you are periodically picked up at the hotel and driven by escorted motorcoach to full-day sightseeing in Seville, Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, Nerja, Frigiliana, Marbella, and Mijas, returning late each afternoon to the Aloha Puerto Hotel on the sea. You have all the benefits of a comprehensive motorcoach tour of Andalucia, without having to wear yourself out by moving from one hotel to another.
On the departures of December 31, 2008, January 7, 14, 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, and March 4, 11 and 18, 2009, you pay $2,165 per person, including round-trip airfare between New York and Malaga, Spain (where you're picked up and delivered to the Hotel Aloha Puerto). You pay only $1,995 for autumn departures in 2008: November 5, 12, 19, 26, December 2 and 10, 2008. Air is available from 22 other U.S. cities for only slightly more.
Prices of $1,995 and $2,165, including air fare, for a 16-day trip, are quite a value, and the interesting design of the tour should make it appealing to either your parents or relatives, or to yourself (if you're middle-aged or older). This is a good one.
The solution to these tiresome trips has been discussed for years. Why not establish a base in one city, suggested a great many people, and then go round-trip from and back to that city, each day visiting a new and different area, but staying throughout in just one hotel? While not every part of Europe lends itself to that pattern, one was always considered to be a possibility: Andalucia, the south of Spain. And one tour operator -- Sun Holidays (tel. 800/422-8000; www.sunholidaytours.com) -- is offering precisely that kind of tour in the winter of 2008-09.
On a 16-day "Best of Andalucia" vacation, you spend 14 days at one hotel, the four-star Aloha Puerto Hotel Resort directly on the Mediterranean, receiving 14 buffet breakfasts and 14 dinners with wine. But throughout the stay, you are periodically picked up at the hotel and driven by escorted motorcoach to full-day sightseeing in Seville, Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, Nerja, Frigiliana, Marbella, and Mijas, returning late each afternoon to the Aloha Puerto Hotel on the sea. You have all the benefits of a comprehensive motorcoach tour of Andalucia, without having to wear yourself out by moving from one hotel to another.
On the departures of December 31, 2008, January 7, 14, 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, and March 4, 11 and 18, 2009, you pay $2,165 per person, including round-trip airfare between New York and Malaga, Spain (where you're picked up and delivered to the Hotel Aloha Puerto). You pay only $1,995 for autumn departures in 2008: November 5, 12, 19, 26, December 2 and 10, 2008. Air is available from 22 other U.S. cities for only slightly more.
Prices of $1,995 and $2,165, including air fare, for a 16-day trip, are quite a value, and the interesting design of the tour should make it appealing to either your parents or relatives, or to yourself (if you're middle-aged or older). This is a good one.
Labels: bus, spain, tour companies
Mar 27, 2008
I just have to return to the news about the additional $1-a-ride (but usually $15) cut-rate bus lines
Just as Southwest Airlines, Skybus, Spirit Airlines, and other upstarts have revolutionized the pricing of air transportation in America (as Ryanair and easyJet did in Britain and Europe), we are now witnessing a similar upheaval in ground transportation within the U.S. Although I dealt with this subject yesterday, it's important enough to warrant further discussion today.
First, I neglected to mention yesterday that the new Megabus (www.megabus.com) service from New York will also go to Atlantic City, the difference being that the casino-bound buses will leave from the Port Authority Terminal on 42nd Street rather than from the northwest street corner of West 31st Street and Eighth Avenue (to Buffalo, Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore). And I should also have emphasized, more than I did, that from its hub in Chicago, Megabus also services every Midwest city of note. Added to its service from Los Angeles, Megabus will (as of May 30, the start-up of its New York service) deal with a large percentage of the American population in their routine transportation needs.
In doing so, Megabus joins DC2NY, a hip bus service on which free mineral water and wi-fi service are featured; it joins Bolt Bus (the Greyhound subsidiary that services only New York-to-Boston presently, but will obviously expand to many, many more cities in the coming months); and it joins the several "Chinatown" services (so-called because they drive from one Chinatown to another) like Fung Wah and others.
So here's an excellent alternative to the overly-expensive airplanes and trains to which we've been relegated in the past. Shuttle flights from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., already cost more than $150 each way, and the cheaper Amtrak services between the same cities will almost always cost as much as $89 each way. (The speedier "Acela" trains charge as much as a shuttle flight.)
So will Americans flock to the new cut-rate buses? It's a matter of psychology. We've been trained to regard inter-city buses as something for the poor; and indeed, if you scan the people in an average bus station, you rarely see lawyers-with-briefcases or graduate students-with-laptops. But that's about to change. The fact that the new cut-rate buses will offer such amenities as power outlets at each seat is a powerful new improvement in transportation and will win many persons over from the higher-priced planes and trains.
Let me also stress that if you make your bookings right away on the new Megabus services, you stand a good chance of snaring a $1 ticket. Yesterday, an associate of mine booked a 50ยข round-trip on Megabus between New York and Philadelphia (for post-May 30 dates). And $1-and-up tickets are presently available on Megabus and Bolt Bus on all the other services they either presently operate or are about to commence.
All you cost-conscious travelers: this is a Mega development! Go to the websites of the bus lines I've named above and begin following the story over the weeks to come. We are on the brink of something big in travel.
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First, I neglected to mention yesterday that the new Megabus (www.megabus.com) service from New York will also go to Atlantic City, the difference being that the casino-bound buses will leave from the Port Authority Terminal on 42nd Street rather than from the northwest street corner of West 31st Street and Eighth Avenue (to Buffalo, Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore). And I should also have emphasized, more than I did, that from its hub in Chicago, Megabus also services every Midwest city of note. Added to its service from Los Angeles, Megabus will (as of May 30, the start-up of its New York service) deal with a large percentage of the American population in their routine transportation needs.
In doing so, Megabus joins DC2NY, a hip bus service on which free mineral water and wi-fi service are featured; it joins Bolt Bus (the Greyhound subsidiary that services only New York-to-Boston presently, but will obviously expand to many, many more cities in the coming months); and it joins the several "Chinatown" services (so-called because they drive from one Chinatown to another) like Fung Wah and others.
So here's an excellent alternative to the overly-expensive airplanes and trains to which we've been relegated in the past. Shuttle flights from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., already cost more than $150 each way, and the cheaper Amtrak services between the same cities will almost always cost as much as $89 each way. (The speedier "Acela" trains charge as much as a shuttle flight.)
So will Americans flock to the new cut-rate buses? It's a matter of psychology. We've been trained to regard inter-city buses as something for the poor; and indeed, if you scan the people in an average bus station, you rarely see lawyers-with-briefcases or graduate students-with-laptops. But that's about to change. The fact that the new cut-rate buses will offer such amenities as power outlets at each seat is a powerful new improvement in transportation and will win many persons over from the higher-priced planes and trains.
Let me also stress that if you make your bookings right away on the new Megabus services, you stand a good chance of snaring a $1 ticket. Yesterday, an associate of mine booked a 50ยข round-trip on Megabus between New York and Philadelphia (for post-May 30 dates). And $1-and-up tickets are presently available on Megabus and Bolt Bus on all the other services they either presently operate or are about to commence.
All you cost-conscious travelers: this is a Mega development! Go to the websites of the bus lines I've named above and begin following the story over the weeks to come. We are on the brink of something big in travel.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Mar 26, 2008
Suddenly, the business of operating low-cost buses is expanding to all parts of the U.S.A.
At the airports, the delays are worse than ever, the flights are fewer and costlier, the conditions just plain dismal. At the railroad stations, die-hard train enthusiasts put up with the limited service of an Amtrak that's been starved of adequate operating funds. But who's saving the day? Buses! And though you've been alerted to some of them, you ain't see nothing yet! With this week's announcement that Megabus (www.megabus.com) will soon (May 30) be connecting New York with six other cities (Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, D.C. , Buffalo, and Toronto), and charging only $1 per seat for the first several seats on each departure ($14 for the others), the rock-bottom, low-cost bus business takes on a new dimension.
We wrote last week about the new $1 a seat (and up from there) Bolt (www.boltbus.com) operating between New York and Boston (turns out that Bolt is owned by none other than Greyhound; it was obviously formed to compete with Fung Wah and other Chinatown bus companies like DC2NY.com (www.dc2ny.com) that have revolutionized long-distance bus transportation (in addition to charging absurdly low rates, the new transports provide electric outlets at each seat, mineral water, and free Wi-Fi).
Megabus is currently doing business out of its two initial hubs: Chicago (connecting to several cities in the Midwest) and Los Angeles (connecting with other cities in California, Nevada and Arizona). By now establishing itself in Manhattan as well (from a pick-up spot at Eighth Avenue and 31st Street), Megabus begins to resemble a nationwide line, and you'd be well advised to frequently check in at its website to learn of further developments.
It's exciting that bus transportation between major U.S. cities is now available for from $1 to $14 to $20 each way; it would be more exciting still if comfortable, fuel-efficient trains made the same trips.
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Labels: bus
Mar 14, 2008
Flash. A new "Chinatown bus" service, with A) $1 fares for some, and B) power sockets free Wi-Fi
A new bus venture called Bolt (www.boltbus.com) starts March 27 between New York and Washington, D.C., with service to Boston expected thereafter. Bolt will be charging as little as $1 for several seats per departure, and $5 to $15 for the other one-way seats. And as a bonus, it will provide power sockets for laptops at every seat, and free Wi-Fi aboard the bus. Who could resist?
Here's another phenomenon in transportation, which we can only hope will spread across the country. It already joins the British-owned Megabus (serving cities in the mid-west and west coast) and DC2NY.com, offering free mineral water and Wi-Fi on $20 rides between NYC and Washington, D.C. You'll get a kick out of BoltBus' website (its slogan is "bolt for a buck"), and you'll want to know that if you buy 8 tickets on Bolt Bus, you'll get one ticket free.
On Wednesday, I spoke about reports that Greyhound had matched the higher $20 one-way fares that the older "Chinatown buses" (a generic name for rock-bottom-priced buses; many no longer operated by Chinese-American entrepreneurs) are offering. With several attempts, and all sorts of stabs, you can sometimes manage to book one of these $20 "E-fare" on the Greyhound website -- but it takes an effort (and some luck).
The new Bolt Bus will pick up passengers from free-of-charge outdoor locations at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, at Canal Street and 6th Avenue (on the border of Chinatown) in Manhattan, and at 17th and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C.
We'll breathlessly watch the development of Bolt Bus and hope to announce major extensions of its service. Long live the cheap bus!
Write and read comments about this post.
Here's another phenomenon in transportation, which we can only hope will spread across the country. It already joins the British-owned Megabus (serving cities in the mid-west and west coast) and DC2NY.com, offering free mineral water and Wi-Fi on $20 rides between NYC and Washington, D.C. You'll get a kick out of BoltBus' website (its slogan is "bolt for a buck"), and you'll want to know that if you buy 8 tickets on Bolt Bus, you'll get one ticket free.
On Wednesday, I spoke about reports that Greyhound had matched the higher $20 one-way fares that the older "Chinatown buses" (a generic name for rock-bottom-priced buses; many no longer operated by Chinese-American entrepreneurs) are offering. With several attempts, and all sorts of stabs, you can sometimes manage to book one of these $20 "E-fare" on the Greyhound website -- but it takes an effort (and some luck).
The new Bolt Bus will pick up passengers from free-of-charge outdoor locations at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, at Canal Street and 6th Avenue (on the border of Chinatown) in Manhattan, and at 17th and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C.
We'll breathlessly watch the development of Bolt Bus and hope to announce major extensions of its service. Long live the cheap bus!
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Mar 12, 2008
Are the standard bus lines matching the $20 rates of the Chinatown buses, or simply appearing to do so?
It's being claimed by Greyhound Bus and Peter Pan Bus Lines that they have matched the $20 fares of the rock-bottom-priced "Chinatown buses" operating between New York and Boston, or between New York and Washington, D.C. And sure enough, if you go to the websites of the two long-established bus companies, you'll find repeated references to "E-Fares" as low as $20 for the one-way trip between those cities.
Only...
Try and book an actual date of departure for those itineraries. If you are lucky and hit the right buttons at the right time, you'll access a $20 rate "plus $3 convenience fee" (whatever that is) for a total of $23. If your own technological prowess is lacking, or you aren't lucky enough to click on the right buttons in the right sequence, you'll find yourself staring at a screen of rates often twice as high.
Since Greyhound's costs, and Peter Pan's costs are obviously higher than those of the Chinatown buses, it seems unlikely that the two big firms are anxious to sell many seats at the $20 price. Or were the difficulties I encountered simply proof of my own klutziness? So help me, I've tried to book an online $20 ticket for an actual date from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., and succeeded only intermittently.
One thing is clear: if Greyhound's decision to match the rates of the Chinatown buses proves successful, and the latter are put out of business, you'll see the immediate disappearance of those $20 fares. For a giant company to match or undercut the rates of a tiny start-up is occasionally called "predatory pricing" -- i.e., a temporary price cut meant only to drive a competitor out of business. Naturally, I would never accuse Greyhound of such a thing.
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Only...
Try and book an actual date of departure for those itineraries. If you are lucky and hit the right buttons at the right time, you'll access a $20 rate "plus $3 convenience fee" (whatever that is) for a total of $23. If your own technological prowess is lacking, or you aren't lucky enough to click on the right buttons in the right sequence, you'll find yourself staring at a screen of rates often twice as high.
Since Greyhound's costs, and Peter Pan's costs are obviously higher than those of the Chinatown buses, it seems unlikely that the two big firms are anxious to sell many seats at the $20 price. Or were the difficulties I encountered simply proof of my own klutziness? So help me, I've tried to book an online $20 ticket for an actual date from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., and succeeded only intermittently.
One thing is clear: if Greyhound's decision to match the rates of the Chinatown buses proves successful, and the latter are put out of business, you'll see the immediate disappearance of those $20 fares. For a giant company to match or undercut the rates of a tiny start-up is occasionally called "predatory pricing" -- i.e., a temporary price cut meant only to drive a competitor out of business. Naturally, I would never accuse Greyhound of such a thing.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Feb 28, 2008
The cheap bus movement -- formerly, the "Chinatown bus" movement -- is spreading rapidly across the U.S.A.
They started up about seven years ago as "Chinatown buses" operated by various Chinese-American entrepreneurs from addresses in New York's Chinatown to various other street addresses (never an actual terminal) in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Boston. For about $15 each way, you booked passage on a shabby but workable bus, and saved a ton of money.
Then, in a little-noticed trend, other non-Chinese entrepreneurs bought their own buses and began operating along the Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington, D.C. circuit, at comparable bargain rates of $20 one-way to Washington, D.C., $35 round-trip. (See my recent post about the DC2NY bus line).
Then the British entered the act, starting Megabus (again discussed in a recent post) to service cities in the mid-west, especially Chicago, for as little as $1 per ticket (a loss-leader applicable to several seats per bus), for an average of $15-or-so per trip. Recently, Megabus has been traveling routes back and forth from Los Angeles and up and down the California coast -- at a big price advantage over Greyhound.
And now, in the latest development (which began in January of 2007), a website called GotoBus.com (www.gotobus.com) has started to publicize a whole host of non-Chinese, but Chinatown-like, buses that take you everywhere up and down the entire east coast of the United States (especially to and within Florida), and also from the northeast to Chicago, along the entire west coast other than in Oregon, and to still other miscellaneous destinations. You'll learn all about their schedules and rock-bottom rates by going to GotoBus.com, but you won't always learn the name of the busline. Though occasionally one is actually listed (like AllStates Buses), often they remain anonymous until you actually book.
Sample prices? They're breathtaking. New York to Chicago,$70 one-way, $120 roundtrip. Orlando to Miami, $20 one-way, $40 round-trip. Seattle to Vancouver, $33 one-way, $59 round-trip. Los Angeles to Phoenix, $40 one-way, $75 round-trip. New York to Albany, $25 one-way, $45 round-trip. Cry your heart out, Greyhound!
GotoBus.com takes reservations for over 100 bus lines, and though I'm not commenting on the quality of their vehicles or drivers, I am saying that a competitive marketplace has now created a new, money-saving travel facility for Americans.
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Then, in a little-noticed trend, other non-Chinese entrepreneurs bought their own buses and began operating along the Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington, D.C. circuit, at comparable bargain rates of $20 one-way to Washington, D.C., $35 round-trip. (See my recent post about the DC2NY bus line).
Then the British entered the act, starting Megabus (again discussed in a recent post) to service cities in the mid-west, especially Chicago, for as little as $1 per ticket (a loss-leader applicable to several seats per bus), for an average of $15-or-so per trip. Recently, Megabus has been traveling routes back and forth from Los Angeles and up and down the California coast -- at a big price advantage over Greyhound.
And now, in the latest development (which began in January of 2007), a website called GotoBus.com (www.gotobus.com) has started to publicize a whole host of non-Chinese, but Chinatown-like, buses that take you everywhere up and down the entire east coast of the United States (especially to and within Florida), and also from the northeast to Chicago, along the entire west coast other than in Oregon, and to still other miscellaneous destinations. You'll learn all about their schedules and rock-bottom rates by going to GotoBus.com, but you won't always learn the name of the busline. Though occasionally one is actually listed (like AllStates Buses), often they remain anonymous until you actually book.
Sample prices? They're breathtaking. New York to Chicago,$70 one-way, $120 roundtrip. Orlando to Miami, $20 one-way, $40 round-trip. Seattle to Vancouver, $33 one-way, $59 round-trip. Los Angeles to Phoenix, $40 one-way, $75 round-trip. New York to Albany, $25 one-way, $45 round-trip. Cry your heart out, Greyhound!
GotoBus.com takes reservations for over 100 bus lines, and though I'm not commenting on the quality of their vehicles or drivers, I am saying that a competitive marketplace has now created a new, money-saving travel facility for Americans.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Feb 20, 2008
An impressive new voice in travel journalism is enthusiastic about Virgin America Airlines and Megabus
In Long Beach, California, last week, Pauline and I met Jennifer Leo, the daily travel blogger for the Los Angeles Times (travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog), and author of two amusing books on travel, The Thong Also Rises and Sand in My Bra. Her enthusiasm for travel was so infectious, and her recent trip experience so valuable, that we interviewed her for our Sunday radio broadcast.
Jen is the first person I've met who has actually flown on the new, cut-rate airline, Virgin America (www.virginamerica.com). She is convinced that it plans to expand throughout the nation, and cites that it has recently added routes within California (for example, San Francisco to San Diego) to its initial trans-continental service. On Virgin America, she reported, economy class passengers enjoy entertainment beyond anything currently provided by JetBlue: your choice of 25, full-length Hollywood films, and several thousands of musical numbers. What's more, passengers use a computer device at their seat to order food and beverages exactly as they would in a restaurant; if you simply want a drink of water, you punch in your request and a flight attendant brings it to you.
Jen was on the inaugural flight of the San Francisco-to-San-Diego service, along with Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur. Though he technically doesn't control the airline (to avoid various regulatory problems), it's obvious he's influential in it, and there is clearly an upcoming battle between Virgin America and the current airlines, a competitive tension that has already reduced the cost of many east-coast-to-west-coast flights to under $150, all because of Virgin America. I'll try to keep this blog up-to-date on this interesting new company.
A second British-initiated travel development is perhaps more important, and was also described in detail by Jen Leo. The British own a U.K. bus company called Megabus (www.megabus.com), which (around a year ago) began serving key Midwestern cities of the U.S. -- Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit -- at prices as low as $1 a seat for several seats on each departure. (The lowest prices are for reservations made well in advance, and the rate increases as you approach the departure date). I reported on Megabus' Midwestern operations on this blog a year ago, and pointed out that it consisted of brand-new buses and impressive service. I failed to grasp the full scope of Megabus' ambitions -- which Jen believes will ultimately become a nationwide challenge to Greyhound, a low-cost David against a complacent Goliath.
Megabus has supplemented its mid-western routes by suddenly operating out of Los Angeles to San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Las Vegas, always on trips for which several seats are set aside to be sold for $1. Even if you don't snare the dollar seats, you often pay as little as $8 to $10 for the same routes that cost $36 and more on Greyhound. A Los Angeles Times reporter recently made such a trip (from Los Angeles round-trip to San Francisco) for $11, and was accompanied by colleagues paying just a bit more:
There are indications that Greyhound is starting to wake up and get concerned. That can be the only explanation for multiple announcements that its buses are being upgraded, terminals refurbished and cleaned up. Whether they'll offer $1 seats isn't sure.
So there you have it: two British companies returning to the colonies to show us a thing or two about low-cost travel. I'm indebted to Jen Leo for stressing the travel importance of both developments.
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Jen is the first person I've met who has actually flown on the new, cut-rate airline, Virgin America (www.virginamerica.com). She is convinced that it plans to expand throughout the nation, and cites that it has recently added routes within California (for example, San Francisco to San Diego) to its initial trans-continental service. On Virgin America, she reported, economy class passengers enjoy entertainment beyond anything currently provided by JetBlue: your choice of 25, full-length Hollywood films, and several thousands of musical numbers. What's more, passengers use a computer device at their seat to order food and beverages exactly as they would in a restaurant; if you simply want a drink of water, you punch in your request and a flight attendant brings it to you.
Jen was on the inaugural flight of the San Francisco-to-San-Diego service, along with Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur. Though he technically doesn't control the airline (to avoid various regulatory problems), it's obvious he's influential in it, and there is clearly an upcoming battle between Virgin America and the current airlines, a competitive tension that has already reduced the cost of many east-coast-to-west-coast flights to under $150, all because of Virgin America. I'll try to keep this blog up-to-date on this interesting new company.
A second British-initiated travel development is perhaps more important, and was also described in detail by Jen Leo. The British own a U.K. bus company called Megabus (www.megabus.com), which (around a year ago) began serving key Midwestern cities of the U.S. -- Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit -- at prices as low as $1 a seat for several seats on each departure. (The lowest prices are for reservations made well in advance, and the rate increases as you approach the departure date). I reported on Megabus' Midwestern operations on this blog a year ago, and pointed out that it consisted of brand-new buses and impressive service. I failed to grasp the full scope of Megabus' ambitions -- which Jen believes will ultimately become a nationwide challenge to Greyhound, a low-cost David against a complacent Goliath.
Megabus has supplemented its mid-western routes by suddenly operating out of Los Angeles to San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Las Vegas, always on trips for which several seats are set aside to be sold for $1. Even if you don't snare the dollar seats, you often pay as little as $8 to $10 for the same routes that cost $36 and more on Greyhound. A Los Angeles Times reporter recently made such a trip (from Los Angeles round-trip to San Francisco) for $11, and was accompanied by colleagues paying just a bit more:
To score my $11 fare, I booked three weeks in advance; Times staffers Richard Hartog and Mary Forgione, who accompanied me, booked 10 days in advance and paid $25 round-trip, plus a 50-cent booking fee. That was still a good deal when compared to Greyhound, with $75 round-trips; Amtrak, $100; and the airlines, $133.Jen Leo reports that Megabus, once again, is using brand new buses with seats placed so high that the trip is a sightseeing experience, revealing a high-up vista of the California countryside.
There are indications that Greyhound is starting to wake up and get concerned. That can be the only explanation for multiple announcements that its buses are being upgraded, terminals refurbished and cleaned up. Whether they'll offer $1 seats isn't sure.
So there you have it: two British companies returning to the colonies to show us a thing or two about low-cost travel. I'm indebted to Jen Leo for stressing the travel importance of both developments.
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Feb 8, 2008
DC2NY, with its mineral water, free Wi-Fi, and $20 fares, is doing spectacularly between New York and Washington, D.C.
In July of 2007, an executive of the Marriott Hotel Corporation, Richard Green, got permission from his bosses to set up a private business on the side: a classy, hip, but rock-bottom motorcoach operation that would do battle with the Chinatown buses operating between New York City and Washington, D.C. For only a tiny bit more than the Chinatown buses charged, his operation, DC2NY (www.dc2ny.com) would drive you between Gotham and the nation's capital for $40 round-trip (provided you made the booking on the internet), and supply you with a) a bottle of mineral water when boarding, and b) free Wi-Fi for your computer en route.
Sensing something big, I wrote a post about DC2NY without ever having met or talked with Richard Green. Then, this past week, by sheer accident, I met him at an industry function in Washington, D.C. and learned what has since transpired with this non-Chinese outfit doing business in an areas where Chinese-Americans were thought to have the monopoly.
Turns out that DC2NY has done very well, indeed. In 2007, it carried over 34,200 passengers, and spawned a whole industry of new, low-cost bus services operating from various pick-up points in New York City (not just in Chinatown) to various destinations on the east coast: Vamoose, Eastern, DC Tony Express, Washington Deluxe, and others; you can read all about them after searching on Google. "I don't look upon them as competitors," Green told me, "but as collaborators in expanding the market of cost-effective, environmentally-responsible travel."
As for DC2NY, it is about to launch a members' benefits program, and currently is the only service giving its travelers a choice of whether a movie will be shown or not within the bus. It continues to hand out the free mineral water and to make Wi-Fi available. And it has caught the mood of well-educated young people (and older sophisticates) to such an extent that I think we'll soon be hearing more about the extension of America's leading low-cost buses to other routes.
I have written so far about low-cost buses operating in the mid-west, in addition to along the eastern corridor, but I am convinced there must be similar services in other parts of the country. If you know of any, would you alert us to them? It's exciting to find entrepreneurs like Richard Green flinging a challenge to the standard operators of public transportation.
Write and read comments about this post.
Sensing something big, I wrote a post about DC2NY without ever having met or talked with Richard Green. Then, this past week, by sheer accident, I met him at an industry function in Washington, D.C. and learned what has since transpired with this non-Chinese outfit doing business in an areas where Chinese-Americans were thought to have the monopoly.
Turns out that DC2NY has done very well, indeed. In 2007, it carried over 34,200 passengers, and spawned a whole industry of new, low-cost bus services operating from various pick-up points in New York City (not just in Chinatown) to various destinations on the east coast: Vamoose, Eastern, DC Tony Express, Washington Deluxe, and others; you can read all about them after searching on Google. "I don't look upon them as competitors," Green told me, "but as collaborators in expanding the market of cost-effective, environmentally-responsible travel."
As for DC2NY, it is about to launch a members' benefits program, and currently is the only service giving its travelers a choice of whether a movie will be shown or not within the bus. It continues to hand out the free mineral water and to make Wi-Fi available. And it has caught the mood of well-educated young people (and older sophisticates) to such an extent that I think we'll soon be hearing more about the extension of America's leading low-cost buses to other routes.
I have written so far about low-cost buses operating in the mid-west, in addition to along the eastern corridor, but I am convinced there must be similar services in other parts of the country. If you know of any, would you alert us to them? It's exciting to find entrepreneurs like Richard Green flinging a challenge to the standard operators of public transportation.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Nov 7, 2007
A "luxury bus" between Boston and Washington, D.C. is offering fierce competition to Fung Wah and other rock-bottom-priced buses
If you've been following the cut-throat battles of the Chinatown bus companies, offering bargain fares ($35 round-trip) and rather basic service on trips to Boston or Washington, D.C. from New York City (and vice versa), then you'll want to know about the recently-established www.dc2nycom "luxury buses" charging five dollars more ($40 round-trip) but offering free wi-fi and bottled water (which is why it's called a "luxury" bus). It's operated by, of all people, a former executive of Marriott named Richard B. Greene, and it's the latest in a long line of courageous adversaries (www.vamoosebus.com, www.washingtondeluxe.com) to the pioneering Chinatown company that started it all, Fung Wah. If you'll go to the luxury company's website, DC2NY, and click on "About Us" and then "Press Room", you'll read write-ups by various free weekly newspapers quoting satisfied, luxury-loving bus riders. Websites listed above have all the pick-up spots in New York, Boston and D.C., phone numbers, and electronic reservations forms for getting the cheapest fare.Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Oct 5, 2007
There's now a website for counter-culture bus tours designed for adventurers of all ages
When it comes to touring the world by escorted bus, I'm not aware of any company other than Green Tortoise, of San Francisco, that actually places bunks aboard its buses and brings down your travel costs in that manner. I wrote about Green Tortoise (operating mainly in the United States) in a July post.But a number of bus companies in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Western Europe, claim to offer exceptionally cheap, "counter-culture" bus tours designed for youthful types. They earn that title by making use of van-like vehicles, young tour leaders, and guesthouse accommodations for overnight lodgings on fixed itineraries; or by offering "hop on, hop off" patterns that let you tour at your own pace, stopping to inspect areas that most interest you, and then re-board the next day's bus.
The most popular services in the British Isles, Europe, and North Africa are
now all gathered together in one site at Radical Travel (www.radicaltravel.com). It represents, for instance, the famous Shamrocker Adventures (www.shamrockeradventures.com) of Ireland, and Haggis Adventures (www.haggisadventures.com) covering Scotland, England and Wales. Radical Travel also links directly to the Europe-wide service Busabout (www.busabout.com), which offers both "Busabout Adventures" of set itineraries in Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Morocco, and Egypt as well as the "Busabout Explorer" hop-on/hop-off service. This is a pass valid for the entire operating season (May to October) on your choice of a series of loops covering Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Austria.
The hop-on/hop-off cheap bus model has spread to many other English-speaking countries popular among backpackers. The hop-on/hop-off bus service in Australia is called the Oz Experience (www.ozexperience.com); in New Zealand you're looking for the Kiwi Experience (www.kiwiexperience.com); and in South Africa it's the Baz Bus (www.bazbus.com). All are exceptional opportunities for the right kind of traveler.
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Sep 12, 2007
Year after year, Greyhound continues to offer the top transportation bargain of the U.S.A.
At some point in our lives, we see an ad for one of Greyhound's "Go Anywhere" fares, and then we forget all about them in planning our next trip. But "Go Anywhere" remains the year-around champ of all travel deals, especially now that high fuel costs are raising the rates of Southwest and other budget-friendly airlines.
As long as you purchase your ticket 7 days in advance and travel starting Monday-through-Thursday, "Go Anywhere" lets you travel one-way on Greyhound up to 300 miles for $29. It lets you go up to 500 miles for $39, up to 2,000 miles for $79, and over 2,800 miles -- anywhere in the United States--for $109. Buy the ticket 14 days in advance and that last price comes down to $99.
Let's all lift a glass to Greyhound -- it still leads the pack. Go to www.greyhound.com for all the details.
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As long as you purchase your ticket 7 days in advance and travel starting Monday-through-Thursday, "Go Anywhere" lets you travel one-way on Greyhound up to 300 miles for $29. It lets you go up to 500 miles for $39, up to 2,000 miles for $79, and over 2,800 miles -- anywhere in the United States--for $109. Buy the ticket 14 days in advance and that last price comes down to $99.
Let's all lift a glass to Greyhound -- it still leads the pack. Go to www.greyhound.com for all the details.
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Labels: bus
Jul 10, 2007
Ever heard of the Green Tortoise? On it, you stretch out and sleep aboard the bus
Continuously operated for more than 30 years, and the only survivor of what used to be several such counter-culture bus companies, the Green Tortoise has not only remained in business, but grown to fairly large size. It now offers not simply its classic trans-continental tours (14 days coast to coast, Boston to San Francisco and vice versa, during several months of the year) and its famous Los Angeles-to-San Francisco rides, but goes as far a field as Costa Rica and the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, and to numerous other destinations in North America. In the course of doing so, it attracts some of the most congenial and dynamic people (of all ages) in America, attracted equally by its low, low rates, and unpretentious atmosphere. And it also operates a fascinating website that you can access at www.greentortoise.com. Or else you can phone them at tel. 800/TORTOISE.
Green Tortoise brings about its low costs and congeniality by removing the seats from the bus, and replacing them with platforms on which passengers place sleeping bags. The bus (the company has many of them, in continual operation) travels only by night, while passengers sleep ("stretch-out-and-sleep-while-we-drive" is the organization's slogan); daytimes, it parks near sightseeing attractions, and passengers can visit them at their discretion. Passengers also share the task of shopping for groceries (from a "food kitty" established at the start of the trip) and cooking. The result is an amazing low price level and a cooperative interaction among all passengers.
$599 plus $171 for the food kitty (total of $770) is the all-inclusive price of the 14-day, trans-continental trip covering every major sight of America, from Boston to San Francisco. A round $39 is the charge for the overnight trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco. All other prices are carefully displayed on the organization's website when you click to see the scheduling details of all other tours -- and there are quite a lot of them.
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Green Tortoise brings about its low costs and congeniality by removing the seats from the bus, and replacing them with platforms on which passengers place sleeping bags. The bus (the company has many of them, in continual operation) travels only by night, while passengers sleep ("stretch-out-and-sleep-while-we-drive" is the organization's slogan); daytimes, it parks near sightseeing attractions, and passengers can visit them at their discretion. Passengers also share the task of shopping for groceries (from a "food kitty" established at the start of the trip) and cooking. The result is an amazing low price level and a cooperative interaction among all passengers.
$599 plus $171 for the food kitty (total of $770) is the all-inclusive price of the 14-day, trans-continental trip covering every major sight of America, from Boston to San Francisco. A round $39 is the charge for the overnight trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco. All other prices are carefully displayed on the organization's website when you click to see the scheduling details of all other tours -- and there are quite a lot of them.
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Labels: bus, cheap transport
May 9, 2007
For mid-western readers only: Inter-city buses for as little as $1
This is a key bit of news. Starting now, if you're traveling between major mid-west cities -- especially back and forth between Chicago and Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. Louis -- you can get there for much less than either Greyhound or Amtrak charges by hopping aboard a Megabus. Operating not from expensive terminals, but simply from designated street corners where it picks up passengers, this new British-owned intercity bus service (tel. 877/GO2-MEGA; www.megabus.com) is causing consternation at old-line transport companies, and is about to add five additional pick-up points in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; again on direct routes to Chicago and back. Go to the Megabus website for specific schedules and prices (which start with a come-on rate of $1).
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Labels: bus, cheap transport
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
