I’ve used MegaBus seven times for trips leaving Pittsburgh and traveling to various points out of state. MegaBus prides itself on inexpensive, safe travel with ‘fares as low as a dollar’. The earlier you make a reservation the lower your fare will be; some of the more popular destinations do sell out so if you know your plans are solid you should make a reservation and pay for it as early as possible. I have never had any problems making a reservation; you do not get a ticket like you do when traveling by bus, train or air. You get a booking number; you do have the option to print out the conformation page but all you really need is the number that is given to the driver when you board the bus.
MegaBus is popular for groups to use as affordable travel; you can use it for sight seeing trips, vacations, educational field trips or just about anything else. Each departure city has a specific destination list. From Pittsburgh you can travel to Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, New York, other parts of the state and Washington DC. The website allows you to check cities that are available; you can also use it to see if there are extended trips you can take. An example of that is leaving Pittsburgh and arriving in New York City. You can use the drop down menu to see which cities are serviced from that hub. If you are going to do a connector, make sure you leave yourself enough time to get to the pick-up area as well as traffic that you may run in to. This is more of a problem during holiday travel than any other point in time.
As an example of a recent short trip I took from Pittsburgh to New York, here are the details of the trip:
There were four different times to travel with times starting as early as 6:40 am to as late as a 11:45 am departure from Downtown Pittsburgh. The advance fare ranged from $30.00 to $45.00 but you might be able to get something less than that if you book earlier. All trips were listed as being 7 hours and 55 minutes long with a stop at State College.
Luggage Allowance: You can have one small carryon bag that must fit under your seat, on your lap or in the overhead compartment. You can have one checked back that weighs less than 50 pounds; they are strict about this and if you have more than one bag you will not be allowed to bring it on the bus or have it checked even if you say that you will pay extra.
Services: Most of the buses have free wi-fi service but that is something that they can not guarantee through the whole trip. There are decent sized bathrooms and for the most part the seats are comfortable; they do recline but there is no split section between them so if you are sitting next to someone that fidgets it can be extremely annoying. There are different buses and there are different perks to them; some have drop down television screens and positionable air vents, others have nicer seats that recline a little more than normal.
Drivers: They are professional but if you get one with a sense of humor and the bus is not packed, it can make the time go a lot faster. They will encourage you to wear your seatbelts but you can get up and move around and use the restroom. They are not babysitters so if you are traveling with children, please make sure they are not disruptive.
Comfort: You are on a bus. It’s not like being on a train where you can move around different cars and find ‘the perfect spot’ to relax. The seats are comfortable and there are outlets that you can plug in to if you want to use your laptop or portable gaming device. The windows are large offering you a great view but if you are within the city limits chances are you will be better off reading a book or trying to sleep. The noise level inside the bus is going to depend on the crowd you have; if it isn’t all that packed and people aren’t half cocked it’s relatively quiet.
How Does MegaBus Compare To Other Forms of Travel? While it takes eight hours to get from Pittsburgh to New York, it is a lot more relaxing than flying. I have to travel a half hour to the airport, do a two hour advanced boarding, a 70 minute flight, at least a half hour to deplane then another 45 minutes to get out of the city into Brooklyn. Greyhound bus service has been lacking over the past five years; the prices are about the same if you book far enough in advance but from personal experience there are a lot more ‘strange’ people using Greyhound than any other form of travel. Amtrak offers you more movement but the prices on their beverages and food items are extremely high; if you are going to do a long distance trip is it more than worth it to book a sleeper cabin because that includes all of your meals.
Will I Use MegaBus More Often? With the climbing cost of gas, I will as long as the drivers remain professional, the buses are clean and the fares stay as reasonable as possible. This is not lightening fast transit but it beats driving yourself and if you can sleep the whole way, that’s even better.
Disabled Access: While I do have a prosthetic leg, I have no problem going up or down steps. I did not need special access but it is available if you are in a wheelchair or need special assistance. They accommodate service animals and care companions as well.
So far I haven’t had any major problems with MegaBus or the service overall. You do have to allow for traffic and accidents that could lengthen your trip so if you are planning a connector in another city you are going to want to make sure that there is enough time between the arrive and departure time and if possible, try to schedule it so that it is not the last departure time in case you miss your connection. MegaBus does not offer connector service booking at the website but it is easy to do once you know when you are going to be traveling. It is not the fastest way to get where you are going but it is affordable, clean and safe.
