Dirt Cheap: How to Score the Lowest Bus Fares
Just because the recession has your wallet hurting, that doesn’t mean you can’t travel to a new place to take in the sights. Lucky for us, walking around and enjoying a new place is still free—it’s getting there that’s costly. Unless you know how to find the cheapest fares, that is. Here’s a rundown of the dirt cheap ways to get around by bus.
Chinatown Bus Lines
What’s a Chinatown bus? Well, the nickname for these ultra low fare bus lines comes from their epicenter: New York’s Chinatown. In short, they are haphazardly thrown together fleets of buses, without the standardization you’d expect from a national bus line. Their main service is from New York City throughout the Northeast and Eastern seaboard, although the phenomenon is spreading.
Why so cheap? Well, the lack of standardization sometimes comes at a price—Chinatown buses have hit the news lately for being involved in crashes and for drivers working way beyond the maximum number of hours. If you have a sense of adventure though, and are super low on cash, you should check them out. You can find a list of East coast and West coast Chinatown bus services here.
Bolt Bus and MegaBus
If you’re not that interested in fearing for your life while you ride the bus just to save a few bucks, you still have other options open to you. Bolt Bus is a low-fare carrier with a whole new fleet, equipped with wifi and extra legroom; consider them the Jet Blue of buses. A ticket from New York City to Washington, D.C., will cost you less than $18 one way.
MegaBus is yet another low-fare bus line. They have a fairly large network in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as some Southern states. It’s not quite as snazzy as Bolt Bus—they say they will make a “reasonable effort” to ensure that you have wifi on your trip, but not every bus is brand new like Bolt Bus’s fleet. The same New York City to Washington, D.C., one-way ticket costs $15 on MegaBus.
Other Deals
It pays to book your ticket well in advance online; for Greyhound tickets, you can save as much as 50 percent when you book more than two weeks in advance. This general principle applies to most bus lines as well. If you’re not in a hurry, avoid booking a trip on a commuter line during morning or afternoon rushes, when prices are higher.
Greyhound also offers a student discount card called Student Advantage. The card costs $20, and students with the card can save up to 20 percent on tickets. If you’re planning to go on long trips in the United States via Greyhound, it may make sense to purchase one. The discount does not apply to Greyhound Canada tickets, however.