After a short 3 day stint in Kansas City, KS and in MO in October 2022, I headed north towards Des Moines on a private coach bus. It's pretty awesome that there are alternatives to road tripping other than in a private or rental vehicle. Prices are pretty affordable too versus airline tickets, depending on your final destination. I found Jefferson Lines as a means of transportation from Kansas City, MO to Des Moines, IA on a one way express on the morning of October 27, 2022. I learned months ago during planning that Kansas City and Des Moines do not have direct service line by Amtrak and it would take longer if I had to do Amtrak than a direct service thru a coach bus service. Didn't plan on renting a car, so I found Jefferson Lines as the best ideal method of getting to my destination the best way possible. I booked my bus ticket a month or so prior to departure online. The seat was a good deal, valued at around $60 with applicable taxes and surcharges. Upon arrival on an Uber from my hotel that morning, I arrived at the bus station on Troost Avenue here in Kansas City. The Bus station was not the best, since it just seems like a commuting station for those who just want to get out of the city and onward to other places. There are restrooms in the facility, but didn't need to go at the time. There is plenty of seats and a small fast food restaurant for those passengers who needs food for their travels. I'm sure the bus station is cleaned daily or at least at regular intervials, but at the same time, it just looks like it has seen better days. The overall experience here at the Jefferson Lines was good as it can be, I suppose. I got to where I needed to be - at an affordable price. The experience at the4 bus station seemed to be an interesting experience, not that I haven't seen before, but just different. Once the time came for my departure, those who were bound for Minneapolis via Des Moines lined up, myself included. After checking in with the bus driver, I managed to get a good seat with a power outlet. These buses tend to come with a power outlet these days and it was nice to have that amenity on board while cruising thru Missouri north bound into Iowa. The bus itself seem clean and there was restrooms in the back of the bus, which I did not use. Our bus driver said that there will be two stops along the way to Des Moines, which I was delighted to know that there was restrooms at these rest stops. Ended up getting a large drink at a Subway restaurant near a small, small town in Missouri before crossing state lines. The ride itself was fairly smooth and I was wearing a face mask, since majority of the bus was occupied. Didn't want to get sick during my ride there and have to suffer for the rest of my trip. The ride was uneventful and seemed to be the next best thing besides driving there yourself. The only problem with these kinds of coach buses is that there are set times of departure, versus getting a rental car. It's cheaper, but it depends on whether you need the rental car after your arrival destination or not. This Jefferson Line trip started from Kansas City, MO to Des Moines, IA. The bus station is located on 1101 Troost Avenue. They accept major credit cards, if you are booking your ticket online. If you decide to arrive in person and buy tickets, they should have a ticket window to purchase with cash. As far as parking goes, there's probably parking in a local parking lot nearby if you're doing a day or overnight trip. What I did was arrive in an Uber here and went cross state lines on Jefferson Lines. Everything seemed straight forward here. Know where you want to go, book it, and get then get on the bus when it's your time to depart. After booking your ticket online, they give you a confirmation email with your e-ticket. Just got to check with your bus driver upon departure and you'll be okay. While flying may be faster than sitting on a commercial bus, it probably just depends on price and whether or not you're in a rush to get somewhere, I guess. I enjoyed my time riding the Jefferson Lines and hopefully you will too. I don't think they have wifi on board, but they do have power outlets. 4.0 stars for the overall experience. 4.0 stars for the service and 5.0 stars for having rest stops with restroom facilities. 4.0 stars for a clean bus with air conditioning. Support local! B read more

It was wonderful! Smooth as silk, nice clean bus, very affordable, on time and the driver was super friendly. Des Moines to KC read more

Jefferson lines is flying by the seat of thier pants for good customer service. My concern is missing connections and customer service. I follow a route that takes me from Southern Minnesota to Joplin , MO with a layover in Kansas City, MO. Twice this year I have had 2 different bus drivers who did not know how to get to the bus turminal in Kansas City. Granted, the night time arrival on Troost is poorly lit and in a seedy side of town. It also doesn,t help the streets are one way the closer you get to the station. Even so these bus drivers rely on the passangers or ask people on the street how to find the terminal. Add to that the time wasted going around in circles with the one way street scenario. I have missed my final connection because of this waste of time. I would think the JL leadership would support thier drivers by makins sure they know where to go. Just put up a big ass neon JL logo sign that says You Are Here! Today's debacle is tried a different route to southeast Kansas where there is a 2 hour layover again in Kansas City terminal. I unintendedly fell asleep and missed getting on the bus. The assistants at the station told me they are not to call out in a loud voice anymore upon a buses departure and the driver left from the wrong door, I was not waiting closer to the departure door. Even thou it was my bad for falling asleep and did not think to put on the cell phone alarm, It just feels like a circus with coordination. Calling the JL care line, the assistant is considerate, but you always know it will be a run around because buying another ticket is the usual answer. read more

Warning About Jefferson Lines - A Cautionary Tale From a Former Trainee I feel compelled to share my experience with Jefferson Lines to warn others, especially those considering leaving a stable job to accept a position with this company. I was offered a position and left another job based on an official offer letter. I traveled to Minnesota and completed their required training program successfully. When I returned to Kansas City for the mentorship phase of the job, I was abruptly terminated without any written warning, coaching, or conversation. The reason given? That I had allegedly "complained" about the erratic schedule while adjusting to the training--not to HR, not in a formal setting, but in a casual conversation with a manager while still in Minnesota. That comment was apparently reported to headquarters, and I was let go without anyone even speaking to me first. I received a text to report to work at 11:45 PM, then later another text saying my mentorship was terminated. I was blindsided and put in a severe financial bind with no explanation, no opportunity to clarify, no accountability from management. It felt like a clear example of poor communication and a toxic "good ol' boy" system. Diversity in leadership? Nonexistent. Support and respect for trainees or new hires? Lacking. There were a few bright spots--my trainer in Minnesota, Don, was excellent and professional. But much of what I experienced was fake smiles and backdoor politics. Jefferson Lines talks a big game about safety and professionalism, but from my experience, they do not prioritize employee well-being, family balance, or transparency. This company operates on favoritism, and if you're not part of the inner circle, you're expendable. Think twice before accepting a position here--especially if it means leaving something stable. You deserve better. read more

0 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worse day of my life. I had a trip scheduled for 5:20am to Tulsa Oklahoma. The driver arrived at 4:45 AM and started to seat previous riders that was already on the previous bus when it came time for people to get on that was not a part of that group. It was 5 o'clock so I walked up to the driver and told my name he told me to get on the bus. I had my bag sitting to the side and I explained that to him I put my bag on the bus as I was trying to pay my phone bill where I have Wi-Fi he screamed in my face. Telling me to get on the bus multiple times we had a slight argument and he felt bad about 20 minutes later when it was time for the bus to pull off and offered me my ticket which was impossible racism is a understatement we are diverse. We are human. You are not supposed to disrespect people like that no matter your status or your statue he said he wanted me on the bus so that he could count, 20 mins before but I was already checked off on his device and he could of counted from the bus door. I pray that they train their drivers on communication skills and respecting people boundaries. I've never booked Through Jefferson was sent here by greyhound. Worse day of my life............/........ Took the next bus two hours away from my stop and costed me 80 extra dollars read more

I enjoyed the assistance received by the driver, George and how he was able to accommodate me during the meal stops so that others could assist me. People like him are hard to come by now days, will definitely be travelign with them again when warranted. read more

I had a good experience travelling for the first time on Jefferson lines. Took a 4.5 hours trip to Kansas City and pretty much enjoyed it. The driver was kind and helped everyone with their luggages, patiently providing instructions to the nearest bus stop/cab pickup. We reached 10 minutes late but that's okay. I just wish they have heating facilities under the seats he he. read more

your drivers don't show up in time, plus you have buses running all hours of the night, but can't get in contact with anyone. you and greyhound have horrible communication skills, with the staff and the customers. no one knows what going on, we should have left over an hour ago, now I have to hope the other buses with wait for me to show up two hours late, probably not. Jefferson lines only thing that deserve capital letter is that L experience the company provides it's customer. read more

I purchased two round-trip tickets from Duluth to Minneapolis, one for myself and one for my wife. We normally drive ourselves but decided to try Jefferson Lines for the first time on this trip to see how it would work out. Our ride from Duluth to Minneapolis was good and things were looking promising, however on our return trip we arrived at the pick-up location around 10:40AM for our 11:00AM departure and did not see a bus. We waited 5-10 minutes and decided to call customer service to see if the driver was just running late. They notified us that our ride was cancelled and we were NEVER notified ahead of time. We were left stranded at the airport and were given the option to bump to a later bus that left at 2pm or one at 3pm. We then found out that the 2pm bus ride was over 7 hours long, and the 3pm bus was over 6 hours long. We needed to be home sooner than both so had to pay $400 for a rental car in order to get home on-time for personal reasons. You can imagine how frustrating this was for us. Why would we not have been notified of the cancellation when we checked in for our first leg of the round-trip journey? We would have never taken the bus if we would have known that we wouldn't be able to get home. We would have just driven like we usually do. I tried to speak to a manager using option #3 on their toll-free line customer care line, but I was sent to voicemail for someone named Sarah. I left a brief message asking her to call me back but I never got a response. I also used the refund request option on the Jefferson Lines website and submitted by request on 10/8, but I have not heard back from that either. read more

Driver Jim outta Kansas city is very professional, curtious and friendly. Thanks Jim!

It's my first time taking this bus line. I was nervous from all the terrible reviews, but it was pretty consistent. I took the bus from Kansas City, MO to Ames, IA at 1:30 am arrived at 6:26 am, just 6 minutes behind. Definitely arrive there 30 minutes prior, since they load up the bus pretty early and leaves about 2 minutes early and the bus driver was pretty nice. read more