I definitely recommend giving Megabus a try! I took it for the first time from Washington DC to Pittsburgh and expected the worst. I'm pretty easy-going and didn't have a strict time schedule. It was much better than I expected and I will definitely be using it again. Similarly, my 19 year old took it from Raleigh to DC to Buffalo and was fine with everything except maybe the safety of their bus stop locations at night. Which, I agree with. The DC stop is in a wire-fenced in parking lot. You might think the megabus comes to the nearby bus stop near the road, but it doesn't. Parking on the street was crowded. You'll probably have to walk some. I don't think parking was allowed in that lot. I could walk there pretty easily from Union Station and I use a cane. There were lines with orange cones with signs of cities to indicate lines. I felt it was organized. The people I was near were super friendly, and a few said they ride it often and never had any problems like reviewers talk about. (Although it appeared to me that most bad reviews were for buses between DC and NYC. ) Buses ran on schedule for the most part (maybe 20 minutes here and there, but that's expected.) Drivers were very friendly. Luggage was handled fine. The bus was clean, smelled fine, the bathroom was clean and didn't smell bad. Seats were narrow, but cushioned and fine. The aisle was narrow. I had problems with my over-stuffed backpack walking through. Not much leg room. Tall or heavy person might want to sit in back, there's no arm rest in the middle of seats. (I'm only 5' 2" so not a problem.) Fortunately, I think everyone except a few people got their own seat. There is storage on top. It was air-conditioned. All you need is your confirmation number, you don't need a printout or i.d. or anything. Myself and others on the bus were not able to get wi-fi. First, I thought it was my computer even though it worked fine at Union Station. But I asked other people and they couldn't get wifi either. Once I got in a hotel room, it worked - so certain it was megabus. It said you were connected, but you couldn't get on the internet. But the plug was working and convenient for cell phone and offline stuff. (Next time I'll bring headphones and audio books!). I would not go on megabus expecting wifi. The bus was quiet. I was able to sleep. (Admittedly, I had been up for 24 hours, so pretty easy.) On the bus ride from DC to Pittsburgh we did stop to eat at a travel center. (Bit pricey for me. Bring food if you're on a budget.) We did not stop from Pittsburgh to Buffalo. Pittsburgh stop was near the convention center, however it was under the bridge, near French Street, although on megabus it's listed as Penn Street I think which is a few feet away. If you tend to sleep on buses, be aware that they might not announce when you reach your destination. Just seems like it would be standard procedure and a nice thing to do during those groggy look-out-the window instances and all you see is unfamiliar landmarks. I definitely recommend giving it a try. I would NOT arrange travel with short arrival times between concerts, job interviews, etc. Megabus is definitely worth the price. So many advantages over driving, and I generally like driving and prefer to drive. (Granted, I live in a rural area.) But gas is crazy now. (And my car is on its last leg.) I did not feel the 1 trip was unpleasant at all. Update: Left Behind I'm adding after traveling on about ten different megabuses. I had one somewhat bad experience, and nine just fine. The bad: A bus driver from Knoxville to DC left SEVEN us (unrelated) at a bus stop somewhere in VA when we stopped on a break. This has happened before to other people, I've read it on reviews, and I met a girl another day who was left in Buffalo. Kinda wondering if it isn't the same driver. Worse, the bus driver tried to blame it on two teenage guys for ordering food and was yelling at them totally trying to throw the blame on them. (The others didn't order food.) The bus did turn around and pick us up, thanks to riders who reported empty seats and his assistant. Other than that ridiculous trip (pretty sure that's a bus driver with an ego problem), my other nine or so trips were just fine. In fact, a couple were excellent with WIFI and everything. I've also taken a couple greyhounds recently - and I thought about this - but if asked, I'd take megabus over greyhound. Not much difference in the physical aspects, (except I like the cupholders on greyhound), but you don't have to go through the ticketing and luggage process with megabus like you do with greyhound. It's simple show your reservation number and throw your luggage in process. But, doubtful you'll get wifi, and you might get a bus driver with an ego - or many of the very nice professional ones I've had. After more megabus experience - I still give them a four. read more

This bus is absolutely the worst means of transportation you could ever imagine. I would give it no star if it let me. I had a two way ticket from Richmond to DC returning in the afternoon. The agent in the Union station took me to a wrong bus to New York instead of Richmond even after I told him several times that I am going to Richmond and himself also checking my ticket. I figured when I got to Baltimore and from there after discussing several times with them I was put ina bus back to DC and am still waiting for the next bus to Richmond which is at 11 pm. I was supposed to be home by 7 pm and now I may not even get there by 3 am and nobody is reponsive of this amount of time loss. The customer service simply told me I cannot doanything to get a refund. That was my first time taking it and it will definitely be the last time. Do not waste ypur money and time on this rubbish. read more

Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money parking for 2 nights at our DC hotel, a group of 14 of my friends decided to take the Mega Bus from NYC to DC and back 3 days later. The tickets were super cheap in comparison to what we would have spent if we drove down. We all bought our tickets in advance on the mega bus website. The earlier you purchase the tickets the cheaper they are. You have to bring your confirmation email with you or just show it to them on your handy dandy smartphone. We all got to the meeting place nearby Port Authority where the bus was picking us up early so we could all sit together. They promptly boarded us on time and off we went! We were all able to sit together which was nice. The bus is a double decker bus which was cool, we sat on top in the front. The people in the first row get a nice view of the road since they are by a big window. You are allowed to have one luggage that they store for you under the bus along with one carry on bag. There is wifi on the bus along with outlets which is great if you want to watch a movie on your laptop or get some work done on a long trip. To my relief, there was a bathroom on the bus and it was surprisingly pretty clean. The seats were a little tight and I could see it being awkward if you were stuck sitting next to someone you don't know or someone much bigger than you. I was next to my boyfriend so lucky for him i was leaning on him the whole time attempting to sleep. After a while my knees got cramped but you can always attempt to get up and walk around, just make sure you hold on otherwise you'll end up falling on someones lap! It took longer to get home since the bus made a pit stop in Baltimore to pick up some people but overall the experience on the bus was great considering the amount of money we saved by taking it. I would definitely consider taking the mega bus again since I am usually one of the people stuck driving on group trips and it was nice to just relax and be driven to out destination! read more

You get what you pay for, and that isn't much. Pro: - They are probably the cheapest option for trans-city travel on the Northern East Coast Con: - My last six trips (3 RT) have been between 1-2hrs+ late. I'm not exaggerating. It also doesn't help that it's winter and waiting even a little longer than you absolutely have to is almost unbearable. - One of my buses actually broke down and we sat for 1hr on the side of the road before the bus magically turned back on. We were told that after we had waited 2.5 hours for the bus to arrive, we would now have to sit here and wait for another passerby bus to hopefully stop and start filling in their empty seats. - My last bus, scheduled for 7:20pm from Philly to DC, never arrived. At 9:30pm we were told that no one knew where our bus was, but that they would try to fit us into the 8:20pm bus-- which was going to be 1.5hrs late. Because of all my other experiences with them, I gave up and went into the warm comfortable train station and paid for a last minute-- but wonderfully luxurious-- train ticket. - Customer service is a joke. Don't even bother. They are understaffed, under informed and uncaring. Nothing is a guarantee. Their "systems go down" right when you are trying desperately to change your ticket. They have a ZERO return policy. They say that any queries have to go through their website, whose customer service section is neither informative nor easy to navigate. - I have sat on plenty of their buses where the WiFi and/or power outlets haven't worked. But, depending on how long you wait for the bus to arrive, and how cold and miserable the weather is, you won't care--- any type of warm seat will seem totally acceptable. My advice is skip MegaBus in the winter when it's inhumane to wait that long or be stranded. In the summer...... use it only if you REALLY REALLY can't afford it and you don't value your comfort. I kept giving them another shot, but that was it. I'm through. read more

Took a round trip bus from Washington DC to NYC. From DC to NYC the bus was pretty empty. We were able to choose any seats we wanted. The ride was ok and got there a little behind schedule. It did not drop us off at Union Station like the ticked specified, it dropped us off a couple blocks away at a undisclosed location. To top it off it was 5 in the morning and first time in NYC. I just wished they had told us where we were going to get dropped off and plan our route accordingly. From NYC to Washington DC had a 3:30pm scheduled time. Arrived at the location at around 3:00pm. I didn't think we needed to arrive hours before. This isn't an airport. I guess several busses were to meet around that time and the crowds of people were overwhelming. Negatives We didn't board till 3:45. The two guys loading the bags were just complaining about all the bags people had. We were one of the last ones to get into the bus and very limited on seating. Forced all three of us to get separated on a 5 hour ride. Bathroom had no toilet paper and barely sanitizer. The driver was ghetto and rude and just in a hurry to leave. I had to tell her that I wanted to make sure that my bf had boarded already and just gave me attitude telling me that she had to get on the road. It's not my fault you guys are disorganized. Overall I will NEVER ride with Megabus again. Very disorganized company. read more

$28 is the price to learn to never use Megabus! NYC to DC. I purchased a direct bus route with a reserved seat. I arrived on time. Megabus was 1.5hrs late. I had to stand outside NYC in bitter cold. No one knew what was going on. Numerous buses to Baltimore that were scheduled after my DC bus left before me. Attendants just started throwing people on any bus going in the right direction. It was chaos. I was placed on an older, regular charter bus finally. It also stopped in Baltimore. When I asked Megabus to return at least my $3 for a reserved seat I was never given, or potentially more for my inconvenience, they simply said, "Tough. Deal with it!" Megabus does not care about its customers. For $28, they decided I'd be better off as a lifelong critic than actually conducting any type of customer service. They should not be in business. DO NOT USE MEGABUS! They aren't worth your money. read more

Be forewarned that buses never depart on time, and during weekends 30% of time expect greater than 2 hour late departures. Once on board, power outlets may work 1/2 of the time, wifi hardly ever. But I do appreciate the ticket-takers, luggage-loaders and the drivers - they are nice and helpful (if you're considerate of them). Also seats are comfortable, bus is fairly quiet, ride is smooth. There are so many simple things management could do to improve customer experience - for starters they could provide reliable status (I'm pretty sure every bus has a GPS system on board) so that we don't have to stand out in cold in winter and steamy heat in the summer (if you use app to check status or ask attendant you get a "no information available" response). If there are any 6-Sigma Black-Belt consultants with connections to MegaBus HQ ... please try to convince the company to hire you for improvement projects. read more

I will never take Megabus again. I was not aware of other companies but boltbus and Megabus, now i know better. I took Megabus from NYC just b/c boltbus was sold out. next tiem, i will rather walk to dc and this is why: 1. It was more expensive than boltbus and with much less to offer 2. There was no organized line to wait for the bus in NYC. it was a mess, no one knew which way to go and on top of it, the bus was half an hour late. 3. The wi-fi wasn't working 4. It was much dirtier than Boltbus 5. The Megabus (a.k.a the Polar express) was freezing all the way to dc, we asked the driver to turn it down a notch but that didnt work. I was curious why Megabus had so many free seats, even lastminute. I finally know why . read more

Take this reviews serious, I am very cheap and I thought megabus was the answer to my trip. REALLY, please take grayhound or any other service available other than Megabus. 1. Poor customer service, no room for complaints. No helpful staff to improve service. 2. Rude bus driver from Hampton to DC, He refused to let me in the trip claiming that my reservation was incorrect. 3. The bus driver refused to call customer service to verify because he could not waste his prepaid phone airtime. 4. Seats are very uncomfortable, my rear hurted bad when I got to my destination. 5. Wi Fi,!!!!a joke, it does not work, it loads to make it seem as it is available. 6. Pay cheap, you get it expensive,. So why not pay money to get what you pay for. 7. Ood concept for the owner, but experience for the riders who are attracted by the outside beauty megabus. 8. Six buses on line, no direction or labels to identify the bus you are travelling with. 9. The worst bus driver to assist mankind rude, inexperienced, careless and there for a pay check only. 10. For the worst poor review on yelp and everywhere, please do not ignore this reviews, they are so true that will help you avoid ridding this sketchy business. The grayhound staff fell sorry for the way I was treated on that day, they immediately approached me to see if there is any help I could take advantage to get to my destination. I swear never will I use this services again or will recommend it to anyone. Please Megabus is a mess to be called a business,, avoid this bus service and save your self some money with this funky business. read more

Be VERY AWARE! MegaBus EXTREMELY RACIST and NOT CUSTOMER ORIENTED! They advertise some of the LOWEST fares, but BE VERYCAREFUL...you may be getting just what you have paid for! The bus we were on originated in WASHINGTON, D.C. heading to Atlanta, GA. A late afternoon into the early morning trip. Starting from standing in line when a man without any bags cut the line and attempted to get on the bus, fumbling around on his cell phone with the passenger checker, ad was eventually allowed to board the bus, who by the way was sitting IN OUR RESERVED seat and then tried to tell us to sit somewhere else when we asked if he could move! Then there was the woman who tried to take over the ENTIRE table area we were supposed to share, and the empty seat and area as well. Later in the trip, after the drivers switched to a new driver, this woman decides to put her BARE FEET up on my husbands RESERVED SEAT and becomes irritated when we asked her to move them so he could sit down in his seat. She became quite beligerant and loud as she continued to rant and rave how rude it was not to be able to stretch out on a long trip, runs to the driver, crossing the rope barrier we had repeatedly been warned not to cross especially when the bus was in motion, and continued to rant. At the next stop, the driver who tried to help sort out the situation asks US to show him a hardcopy of our seat reservation information, but NEVER asks the excessively loud woman to do the same. To be fair the driver suggests we all take our bags, which by the way the woman had 2 bags OVER THE MB LIMIT, which was never addressed. We put our bags underneath the table and of course SHE COMPLAINED she didn't have room for her feet. She then proceeded to empty out her bag of an OVERSIZED laptop, notebook, agenda planner, and various magazines and spread them out over the ENTIRE TOP of the TABLE we were supposed to be sharing. She acted as though she was busy pouring over her pamphlets and was humming to herself, as we just didn't say a word other than give her a blank stare before we went back to sleep. From the start of her complaints we knew we couldn't win when dealing with a simple-minded, irrational, loud, negative example of a human being, so let her rant while we sat back and looked at her and said nothing. Our lack of reaction to her beligerent behavior seemed to just anger her even more to the point she had started to rally other passengers to support her in her situation. These passengers began to say mean, inappropriate things directed toward us. We just ignored them and refused to engage in their low-life, simple-minded accusations. We found it very interesting that even though this woman was obviously being unreasonable, how willingly the other passengers were in stepping in to help her. BTW, just in case you were curious, we are Asian and every one else involved were BLACK. With the exception of our 2nd driver who was also black and who later apologized for such a challenging experience on our trip, all the others involved were exceptionally rude and were clearly without a doubt racist and seemed quite proud of it. I've sent in a statement to the MegaBus website email. Which is the only way MegaBus deals with customer issues. According to their website, I should get a reply in 3 to 5 business days. To say the least, this was the absolutely LAST ride we will ever consider taking on MegaBUS! read more

Megabus looks fancy but it's the biggest scam. They advertise free WiFi and they don't have it on the buses. Not that it's slow or not working, the driver literally told me it's not installed on more than half of the buses. I called customer service & they told me it's not guaranteed. Even though it's written on all the buses. Definitely using greyhound if I ever travel by bus. read more

cheap, efficient, safe and on time...what more can u ask for? lol the DC location is moving to Union Station, which is awesome for me b/c it will only be three blocks away from my apt read more

I have been a proud advocate for the Mega Bus. I've been a customer for 2 years now and it's always been my go to resort for traveling from DC to NYC. However, recently I took it for Memorial Day weekend and I wasn't as pleased as usual. My bus was scheduled to leave at 7:40 a.m. and I arrived to find out that we hadn't boarded a bus yet nor had our bus arrived. Myself and 15 other people were standing in the wrong line, and it didn't help that there aren't any signs to let you know which line is what; you basically have to walk down the line asking people. Then to make matters worse, the lady who was checking our numbers was yelling at us because she was mad we weren't in the correct line, then when we asked her where to go she just shooed our line towards the back and told us to wait very rudely, then when a bus arrived, we didn't leave till about 8:30 a.m. or so. I was very shocked with Mega Bus because I'm used to DC staff being timely and in order but whomever was running that shift early morning was not on their A game. To add insult to injury, not only did the OUTLETS NOT WORK, but the WIFI WAS HORRIBLE. This was a big issue for me seeing that my phone is my means of communication so I needed it to be charged especially being a woman traveling in a major city that I'm not too familiar with. My GPS was my guide but since the outlets weren't working, I didn't have enough juice to get around. Then the wifi was on and off, it would connect and then disconnect. Don't offer these services if they aren't working. I wasn't the only one pissed off, but everyone was asking the driver what was wrong with the outlets and wifi. So, unfortunately I had to travel back on Mega Bus from NYC, who's idea was it to move the stop all the way to 34th street between 11th & 12th! I liked the old stop which was behind Madison Square Gardens or better yet, move the stop near Penn Station because that requires people to walk literally 6 or 7 blocks depending on where they are coming from. Also, there weren't any signs to signify that the mega bus stop was there! I had to keep asking every step I took. Finally arriving, the bus outlets weren't working again, and the wifi wasn't working either. I was really disappointed with Mega Bus, I have referred friends/family but I will no longer be using your services after this experience. Hopefully, they actually read these reviews and will take time to change. From now on, I think I might have to just go to Bolt Bus or even China Bus!! read more

I booked an overnight Mega Bus from DC to Knoxville, then I found these reviews and was wondering what had I done? Nonetheless, what was done was done. This review is only for the DC to Knoxville route, as it was a better experience via my return and deserved a different review. First of all, this is a discount bus service. Therefore, I'm willing to write off a lot of things. Am I willing to write off obnoxious staff? Not so much. Our journey begin in Baltimore, where my wife and I caught the Marc-Penn train down to Union Station. We grabbed dinner and went outside to catch the Mega Bus Shuttle, which according to the website operated every 30 minutes. The shuttle never came, so we had to walk there. Thankfully it was only a few blocks from Union Station. THE STOP Many people have complained about the lack of shelter at the bus stop. Let me describe it this way; there is no shelter. Therefore, be prepared for whatever the elements throw at you. THE BOARDING (sounds like a movie name, doesn't it?) Two staff members called for our route and we showed them the printed out e-mail and they pointed us to the bus. Now for the reason I gave Mega Bus a one star review. We meet the driver. He was already a little irritable, which I could partially understand for someone who drives a bus all night for a living. My wife and I were preparing to board and he told my wife she couldn't take a small laptop roller bag on the bus. I ask why and he responded "It's got wheels". He was already on the cranky side so I decided it was best not to argue with a man who was going to be driving me for the next 10 hours. I should note the website says nothing about carry-on bags with wheels not being allowed. Once boarding the bus, we secured seats right towards the front of the bus. I wish I recorded everything with my phone that happened in the next 5 minutes. A woman boarded the bus with a small child (maybe 3-4 years of age). The child obviously had a cold or something. There were no more double seats on the bus available so the same guy who handled our bags said that she and her son would have to sit separate from each other. Obviously this bothered the mother, her child was already upset, and he demanded again that they would have to separate. My wife and I were the closest to this situation and I offered them our seats so that she could sit with her child. The driver then barked at me "YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING". By this point, the child is very upset, crying, and the driver's behavior is unacceptable. There were two seats next to us with the driver's luggage in it (wheels on the luggage too at that!). The driver then jerked the luggage out of the seat and put it in another seat. He then demanded that they sit down there. The child is screaming at this point. He walks to the back of the bus muttering something about sick people before coming back to the front, still muttering. It was 11:01 pm at this point. Two additional guys tried to get on the bus as he was coming to the front. He stopped them before they got on and said "YOU'RE LATE, YOU CAN'T GET ON THE BUS". Yes, he was really yelling this. The guys said "seriously?". The driver said "YES". He then stepped outside the bus, argued for a minute or two with them and then said "so and so needs to check you in". He was referring to a woman who was the second driver that was sitting near us on the bus. At that point, the woman driver huffed, groaned, and slammed the papers she was holding on her lap before going outside. Eventually, the drama was resolved, we were all boarded, and taking off. Everything was fine minus the child who was still visibly upset and crying, continuing to do so for at least 30 minutes. THE RIDE The ride was exhausting, but not terrible. For a night time ride, it was annoying that every time they switched drivers, every single light in the bus was turned on. They also complete a lot of paperwork, taking 10 minutes or so each time, leaving the lights on during this. I understand that paperwork needs to be done, but please TURN THE LIGHTS OFF, PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP! So expect to be woken-up every 2-3 hours. Also pack a snack and water, they didn't let us off until 7 hours in! We did arrive on time to our destination, but I felt like crap the rest of the day. I paid way to much for these tickets and no I didn't get the $1 deal. Next time I'm driving. read more

Being poor means wasting a lot of time and putting up with a whole lot of inconvenience. That is basically the mega bus experience, it can be incredibly cheap but that doesn't make it pleasant. I just took the megabus to Toronto from Washington DC, and I paid $130 round trip. That wasn't a special or anything and I actual got the ticket pretty last minute. I couldn't have driven the car that I don't own to and from Toronto for much less than that. So how was the trip? I lined up 45 minutes early so that I could get a plum seat. The bus came on time and was almost totally filled by the end. The seats aren't bad for a short trip to New York, but they are very cramped to try to sleep overnight. Wireless didn't work at all for the trip. We were woken up in Baltimore, Harrisburg, some random rest stop about half way on the trip, Buffalo and at the border. Of course this makes it impossible to really get a refreshing night's sleep. Aside from the non-working wireless, my main problem with this trip was that megabus totally screwed up the schedule and so we sat in Buffalo for over an hour longer than we were supposed to because they were in the process of switching the schedule from a 9:30 pm departure to an 11:00 pm departure from DC. They had made the switch for those of us in DC but hadn't for people going from Buffalo to Toronto, so that meant an extra 90 minutes on the bus for those of us who got on at DC, as we waited for the Buffalo people to show up. Obviously, there is a big difference between spending 11.5 hours on a bus, and spending 13 hours on a bus and of course it means you cannot rely on the schedule. Really annoying. Return trip itself was more pleasant but we were again over an hour late, this time at the border. All I want is some reality about the schedule. I took Megabus again last week from DC to Hampton Virginia. It should only be a 4 hour ride leaving at 7:45 pm and arriving at 11:45 pm. At that time I had people willing to come get me. When the bus didn't leave until 10:00 and I wasn't scheduled to arrive until 2:00 things got more difficult. I understand buses are late, things happen. There are a couple of reasons this was particularly annoying. First, we saw bus after bus departing empty for the depot, and we were standing there in line for a bus that is stuck in traffic coming from Philly. Second, it was clear that this happens every Friday and Saturday night. It is one thing to have an error, it is a second thing to have a schedule that is not realistic and to do nothing about it. Overall Megabus is cramped, unreliable, impossible to do work on. The wireless would be great, if you could depend on it to work, or if you had enough room to use a computer. I'm poor, which means I need megabus if I'm going to have mobility, it certainly doesn't mean I like it or the experience. read more

Hooray for Megabus! Fab experience. Took the 5:15 a.m. bus to NYC and slept the entire way. Arrived at 9:30 a.m. refreshed and ready to take on the City. Quiet, clean and efficient (even with the stop at White Marsh). Can't beat it for $19! So...to Megabus....Keep on Keepin On! read more

Megabus has the worst customer service ever! I booked my Megabus ticket on a Wednesday and I received an email from a company called RBS stating that they charged my credit card. However, this was not a confirmation. Therefore, the day before my trip I was looking to print out the confirmation and I called them and they said my reservation did not exist. I asked how they could charge me for something that I did not have. They agreed this was a bad policy. They blamed me for not calling sooner. When I tried to get a refund the Customer Service agent told me to call back and then hung up on me! I have ridden a number of other buses before (Bolt and Washington Deluxe) and never had this much of an issue with the Customer Service. read more

Second time rider here (and last) and prior Bolt Bus customer. The bus A/C on the first trip (DC to NYC) was too cold - driver said he couldn't adjust. - so we froze our @sses off for four hours. The A/C on the return trip was broken with temps in excess of 90 degrees onboard. Although they announced they were "doing everything possible" to fix the A/C I sat and watched them (driver and other guy) do absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, on the lower level where I sat, a Nigerian couple wandered about the bus searching for a missing cell phone, disturbing all the other customers, without being told to sit down. We stopped in Delaware for "a break" and the driver and his associate left the bus unattended for more than five minutes. We arrived in DC over an hour late. No offer of refund - just a disingenuous apology. I plan to cancel another reservation I placed for a couple months out. read more

I'm never riding Megabus again and neither should you. The service is laughable and deplorable. Left DC for NY around 8pm (1 hour later than the ticket I purchased). Around midnight and about 40 mins from our destination, the driver pulls over in an empty and dark gas station (it was under construction) off the NJ turnpike and tells us he has hit the max number of hours he's allowed to drive (wait, what? He didn't know this would happen when we left?). Note: I don't ask for much -- I've been riding buses between DC and NY for years and just ask to get to my destination safe and sound. Internet and outlets on this bus line rarely work -- that's ok. Bus temperature can be a hit or miss -- I'll deal. Again, just get me where I'm going within a reasonable amount of time. Anyway, the driver tells us another driver is supposed to take over for him then 10 mins later, he tells us the driver isn't coming but another bus with 40 seats (there are almost 70 of us) is coming soon and will take us the rest of the way. The other bus finally shows up...with FOURTEEN empty seats...not 40. You can imagine the rush to the bus door. Glad no one got trampled (just a matter of time before that happens I'm sure). The driver tells the rest of us we will have to wait for other buses as they rolled down the highway and he had no idea when those buses would show. Again - please note -- it's now close to 1am.... I'm a woman and I'm feeling unsafe. Half an hour later, a group of us decide to risk our lives and get on a minibus with a complete stranger who pulled in to buy gas (everything your mom told you NEVER to do) and we get a ride to NY for $5 a piece. I decided to go with this option rather than wait for hours in the dark lot off a highway with a driver who had no idea what was happening. A passenger called Megabus customer service while we were all standing there and he tells us we're all getting a refund. I have his name and employee ID number and call Megabus the next day to check on my refund and they state they have NO record of the incident or refund promise. What a sleazy company. I've filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and writing one here. And I never write reviews. Do yourself a favor, skip Megabus and walk instead. read more

I have a story that parallel's Liz D's review from today, for a trip taken yesterday, so wanted to add my two cents, that Megabus is at the very least going through something strange. On April 15, I took a bus from DC to New York, and it took 7 1/2 hours instead of the usual 4 1/2. Outside of Trenton at the Woodrow Wilson rest stop, the driver stopped. He got on the radio to talk to the dispatcher, and had it on so we could all hear. His English was not particularly good, but it seemed like he was telling the dispatcher that he had been driving too long (4 hours) and that he was unable to go all the way to NY. We stopped for over 30 minutes. Several people went down to ask him what was going on. I went down to him while it was stopped and asked him what we were waiting for. He immediately told me very rudely to go back upstairs. I asked if it was going to be a while if it would be possible for us to go out into the rest stop. There were children, and after many hours, people were hungry. He said no, that that would be a big mess. I said that it was already a mess, and he got very angry, saying he had made no mistakes, that he said he was doing what he was supposed to do according to federal regulation and U.S. law. I asked if it would be possible to turn the air conditioning down, as everyone in the bus was extremely cold. He said, "this is not your house, don't tell me it is too cold." I went back upstairs as he ordered. After a while he started driving again. and went to Grover cleveland rest stop. We waited there for maybe 45 minutes, while another busdriver was supposed to come. same thing--he wouldn't allow people to go into the rest stop. we called customer service, and I also had someone hang up on me, and tell me that I had to email requests for compensation. When we finally got going again, it was so late, that we caught rush hour going into New York, which easily added another hour to the trip. I don't know if the driver had in fact been he was asked to drive too long, and was only trying to be responsible, or if he was trying to make some kind of a statement. Either way, it was incredibly screwed up. I got a refund for my trip, but no explanation. I may ride again, but I am thinking at this point, that it might be time to look for other options. read more

DON'T DO IT! AVOID MEGABUS AT ALL COSTS! How bad? Here's a complaint letter I sent to the company -- not that they'll change anything. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours into the trip, the driver pulls into a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike. Great, I think -- we're getting a bathroom and refreshment break. Wrong. The driver announces: DON'T NONE OF YOU GET OF MY BUS! The passengers comply. 10 minutes later she comes back with a Starbucks coffee. The passengers complain -- they ask her if it's legal for her to leave a bus full of passengers unattended, why she had to stop just for herself, and other questions. Her response: STOP COMPLAINING! DAMN! The passengers don't appreciate her response or her VERY belligerent tone. Many threaten to contact MegaBus to complain. The driver's response: GO AHEAD AND COMPLAIN! IT AIN'T GONNA MAKE NO DIFFERENCE! THEY AIN'T GONNA DO NUTHIN! THEY'D RATHER HAVE ME GET A COFFEE THAN FALL ASLEEP! The passengers are worried now. They start yelling words to the effect of, If you're that tired, why are you driving a bus? She yells back: SHUT UP! Y'ALL LUCKY TO BE GETTIN' TO NEW YORK AT ALL! This is what I took from that exchange: Megabus drivers are so confident that no disciplinary action will be taken against them that they show up for work without sufficient rest and treat customers with extreme disrespect. Further, also empowered by no threat of consequences, Megabus allows its drivers to compromise passenger safety so much that they are "lucky" to get to their destination. Oh, one more thing: the baggage handlers feel similarly empowered. I didn't hear the whole exchange, but a passenger voiced a complaint. But I sure heard the response as the baggage handler thrust the passenger's back at him: "You're lucky I don't slap the shit out of you." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Megabus my ass. It should be Megaiditots bus. Never again. read more

On my first MegaBus trip, I rode from DC to Christiansburg, VA on Tues., Nov. 20th. The lines at Union Station are confusing and the staff isn't the most helpful (although they aren't rude, either), and so it's really up to you to figure out where to go. Having received an email that morning stating that the MegaBus was going to be 20 minutes late, I was surprised that when I arrived, not only was the bus there, but the line was really long. We ended up sitting on the bus for 30 minutes before finally leaving, although the bus driver was friendly, explaining that those of us on the top will notice the wind and also explaining how double-decker buses are still experimental in the mountains. We stopped at Whites truck stop on I-81 for a 15-minute break, making us an hour late to our Christiansburg destination. On my return trip on Sat., Nov. 24th, my parents drove me to the stop in Christiansburg and we waited. And waited....for an hour. The wind was blowing, the temperature was freezing, and those of us waiting weren't prepared to stand outside for that long. When the bus finally arrived, we got stuck in traffic because UVA was playing VA Tech that day - at Tech. We arrived in DC around 10 pm, only two hours after our scheduled arrival. After having such a wonderful (sarcasm intended) experience with MegaBus, I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to, once again, ride it home for Christmas. Vowing not to be in the back of the line this time, I arrived an hour and a half early and was the fourth in line. Again, the lines were confusing and the employees were only halfway helpful. The bus also arrived early but we weren't allowed to get on until 9:30. The AC was broken on the top level, meaning that we froze the whole way to Christiansburg. We stopped again at Whites truck stop for a 15-minute break. About 30 minutes and 30 miles after we left the rest area, a state trooper pulled us over. He informed our driver that we left a person behind at Whites and we had to go get her. Our driver said that, ordinarily, the person would just catch the next bus, but since the trooper pulled us over, he had no choice but to go back and get her. So, once again, we were an hour late getting to Christiansburg. For the return trip, we learned our lesson and my mom called MegaBus before we left, asking if it was delayed. The representative said it was only five minutes late, so we went ahead and left. When we got to Christiansburg, the mobile app stated that the bus wouldn't be there until 3:48. When 3:48 came and went, my mom again called MegaBus, asking where the bus was. The representative stated that they weren't sure where it was, but it would be there soon. After waiting outside for an hour, we received an email stating that the bus would be an hour and a half late from that time, meaning it would be there around 6. My mom made her third call to MegaBus, where they told her that the bus had broken down and it would be 45 minutes for a new bus to get there and then another 45 minutes for that bus to get to us. My mom told them that we were standing out in the cold, with no shelter, and that we wanted information for a refund. The person gave her Megabus's email for information about refunds. Everyone went back to his/her car to wait and at 6 pm, a regular charter bus pulled up. We loaded our luggage and off we went. Since there were so few of us, we each got our own row. The bus was clean and had outlets, so I have no complaints there. When we got to Union Station, the bus driver drove around the building twice before one of the passengers went up to him and helped him figure out where to go, although I can't really fault the driver since he wasn't a normal MegaBus driver. And to top it off, we all got a refund for that trip. Parting words of wisdom: The MegaBus route from DC to Christiansburg ends in Knoxville, TN. If you hear people saying they're going to Knoxville, you're in the right line. Get to Union Station EARLY. Fifteen minutes early is not enough and you'll likely be in the back of the line. Don't be afraid to ask which line to stand in. The lines are mismarked, which makes them confusing. Everyone else is confused too, so just ask. Don't expect to get to your destination on time. If you HAVE to make it by a specific time, I wouldn't recommend riding MegaBus. But if you have some leeway, go for it. The Christiansburg stop has no cover - none. It gets cold out there, and in the summer, it will be very hot, so be prepared. Ladies, don't dress to be cute; dress to be warm. My mom offered her gloves and coat to a young lady for both of my return trips because they were unprepared. I would also recommend that you get a ride with someone who will stay with you until the bus is there, in case it's late or cancelled altogether (yes, this happens). If your bus is really late, inquire about a refund. It worked for us. read more

Customer service is horrible at least when the bus was arriving late they do not provide you any information on ETA until the bus is 45 minutes late which is not helpful since you can't park at the location you get picked up at. When I was trying to get information about the bus this customer service lady hung up on me. read more

The BEST directions I can give you that are somewhat 'approximate' is that it across the street from the St. Phillips Baptist Church, which is: 1001 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW I mean, 'the parking lot on K and North Capitol Streets' just does not cut it, it's not specific, some people actually take Metro and even drivers need more that just 'the parking lot on K and North Capitol Streets'. You can take the METRO to UNION STATION and walk down N. Cap Street. Either way, people who ride on the MEGABUS, even after reading all the bad reviews, at least now you know where the parking lot is located, which will eventually lead you to the bus. read more

So I went to NYC from DC for New Years. Pros: -The bus was on time both going and leaving NYC -The bus had decent Wifi -The people on the bus are friendly and not shady Cons: -If you are taking the bus during rush hour, expect to be late. Going up to NYC took me 7.5 hours (stuck on the NJ turnpike), however, going down took the normal 4.5 hours. Overall, it was a good experience and I will probably take this bus again. read more

Horrible experience over all; next time I will have to just pay the extra money to take a more established charter company. You get way you pay for and with Megabus you get the absolute bare minimum nothing more. Not to mention the ride was extremely bumpy and the their "WiFi" is virtually non existent. I was over an hour late because the driver had us stopped at a random bus stop for 30 minutes in the middle of nowhere read more

I believe there's something about yelp that forces people to write either when they've had an exceptional experience or a really bad one. Unfortunately, when it comes to travel experiences, getting you there on time doesn't qualify as an exceptional experience, leaving those who had a bad trip to be the most likely to review. This was my experience: I showed up at 6:00am on a Saturday for a 6:15 bus that got out at 6:35. The staff weren't very helpful, but it was abundantly clear where to stand in line and what to do. Despite leaving late, the bus made up time because I decided to travel during a low traffic time. Returning from NYC, the parking lot was filled with people, but I was on my bus less than 5 minutes after arriving and on the road early. The driver was extremely friendly and helpful, and we got back early. So, yeah, I had a good experience, but if I didn't, I wouldn't be blasting megabus on yelp, because, frankly, sometimes you get what you pay for. Complaining about megabus is like going to Walmart and reviewing that the selection is low end and the staff unhelpful. Megabus is what it is, a discount transportation service. If you're taking the bus to NYC (most likely), you're travelling along one of the busiest interstate corridors in the country. Traffic gets bad during bad weather, and sometimes for no reason at all. The staff might be rude, but maybe because of the self entitled people they have to deal with on a regular basis. If you've got a problem with it, feel free to book a round trip train ticket at 4x the cost or another discount bus service that is equally susceptible to delays. read more

Took megabus from Boston to New York City. Took bus DD771 and the driver was the worst. He was slamming on the brakes the ride was so jerky it made me sick. We sat in traffic for over an hour and then when we got through the worst part the driver took us to New Jersey adding on another hour to the trip. Out of all the times I have traveled to NYC I have never had a driver take the most out of the way route. Not sure if this is typical of megabus, but I definitely will never travel this bus line again. The wifi connection was non-existent as well as the onboard entertainment. Our bus arrived 2 hours late. I would not recommend this bus line to anyone. read more

Took the bus from NYC to DC twice. The first time I got there an hour early but had to pay an additional $5 just to get on the earlier bus even though there were seats. The second time was a disaster. The bus was an hour late to get there and we got caught in the rain and was soaked. The driver wanted us to pull out our phones in the middle of the rain. We had to sit on the bus four 4 1/2 hours soaking wet. My medication got destroyed and now I have to buy more. I will not be using them again and I suggest you find another bus. read more

My thoughts? Boltbus over Megabus. At Megabus, the NY to DC ride always stops at Baltimore which lengthens the commute. I much prefer Boltbus which is direct and rarely makes any pit stops. read more

Megabus is terrible. My first trip with them and COVID-19 (clearly) forced the trip to be cancelled. Rather than offering me a discount code to travel with them somewhere else/some other time, when I called Megabus they said I can reschedule my 2 tickets from dc to New York and can't change anything but the dates. They said because they had to cancel the trip, I could no longer change to the discount code. Very inconvenient and inconsiderate considering everything going on. Definitely won't book with them or recommend to anyone again. Now I'm also out 60$. Thanks Megabus.. read more

After reading all of the yelp reviews for this transportation vendor, I must be one of few lucky customers because my experience with Megabus round trip from New York to Washington, DC went well. If you decide on go with Megabus, my best piece of advice is to sit on the first floor of the bus to get better wi-fi connection, there's also the lavatory on that level. read more

Sure, cheap. But. On my last trip, the bus driver 1) talked on a cell phone (without a hands-free device) because a passenger asked him to talk to her friend; 2) almost hit a person pulling out of a parking lot (prompting him to shout, 'Oh shit'); 3) played music on all of the bus speakers throughout the ride; 4) stopped and bought a soda ten minutes from our destination; and (5--the whopper) BACKED UP on the SHOULDER of the highway, while traffic was whizzing by. Apparently, he missed an exit. I was going to give it three stars, because, hey, it's cheap. But I started fuming again when I wrote this! Also, it lies. You buy a ticket from D.C. to NYC, and that means a stop in "White Marsh, Md." and a stop in New Jersey to switch drivers. Cheap. But weird. read more

I was trying to book a trip from DC to NY and their website shows me this screen: "We are sorry but your reservation couldn't go through. Try again later" (or similar). So, I did it again and, when I review my bank account I realize it was booked twice. I call customer service right away and, they tell me they can refund the tickets but not the booking fee. It was their website that provided me with the wrong information and tell me they can not do anything else about it. Worst customer service ever! read more

On the advice of a frequent rider, I purchased tickets from NYC to Washington, DC instead of booking Amtrak tickets. For $20 each, the fare was less for 3 of us than 1 Amtrak ticket. We pulled the trigger and booked it. Then someone mentioned bad reviews and we checked out Yelp. I have to say, that the 2 star rating made me nervous. HOWEVER, the bus was on time, clean, comfortable, wi-fi was a little slow (every one on the bus was on at once), there were electrical plugs at all the seats, and a bathroom on-board. It occurred to me that since everything went as expected , I usually like many if not most others, would normally have not bothered with a review. I think that is the most likely reason for low ratings here is because only those who really had an unusually good experience (what would that have looked like?) or a bad experience bother to review. So here. You can be comfortable giving them a try. I'm glad I took the chance. read more

If i COULD give it a negative 1 i would.Let me start off by saying that MegaBus has one of the most unprofessional staff ever! First of all we are in 2020 where the Corona Virus has Unfortunately hit the United States. I had made travel plans to New York City for my spring break,i purchased 4 tickets to leave on 03/11/2020 from Dc to NYC and return 03/12/2020 back to DC. Since over the weekend NY was declared State of emergency my friends and I decided to not risk it and not go to New York anymore.Our first thought was "lets cancel the trip and get our money back".We cancel and got a refund from the hotel we booked but MEGA BUS made it sooo complicate and stressfull. So i call them and they told me that "MEGABUS" could not refund us that we had to email COACH USA?????? and i asked for a phone # to call and they said that there wasn't a phone #???? what ever we were like F it lets just go somewhere else after all its our spring break we all asked off from work so why not try a new place....So now we are planning to go to Philly. I tried changing my route and their website was only allowing me to change one ticket at a time and it told me that i was getting 10 minutes to do the changes..... as i was doing the changes i only got to change 2/4 tickets when i realized that the other 2 tickets had disappear. I call MEGA BUS AGIAN and the rep was so unprofessional... after me explaining to her what happen she told me that i basically lost those tickets that I PAYED FOR ..... so i go and asked her " so what your telling me is that i lost my tickets and money " she said " yup" WTH!!! so now i had to purchase 2 new tickets to Philly i have emailed coach USA and hopefully they can resolve my issue through email ..... read more

I Love megabus! It's so cheap and the buses have free wifi and a bathroom.They have outlets on the bus, so no worries about dying laptops, droids or iphones. :) My favorite part was that I got a double decker and got to see trip in a whole new view! Sometimes you can even get a trip for $1!! How awesome is that? This location in dc is awesome they have a parking lot and an organized system with separate lines for each destination. This location also has a lot of departure options such as Philly, NYC, Boston and toronto. So far I've used it for Philly, Boston tomorrow, buffalo ny two weeks from now, toronto next month and NYC in the near future! I'm a big megabus fan! Prices cannot be beat! Quality is great. The .50 cent booking fee is nothing and the change fee is a $1 I think an 24 hrs before and $5 on the spot. near union station metro. Big fan ride megabus now! Also a bonus they have hand sanitizer on the bus! read more

2.5 stars. The reservation: Easy, cheap. The buses up and back from DC to Philly: On-time, clean going there (6:35am bus); kinda dirty returning (10:35pm); The on-site customer service: Rude, which I subtracted 1 star for; The driver; Not rude. The wifi: Nada, which I subtracted 1 star for. And minus 1/2 star because 3 is too much and 2 is too little- I did arrive alive and on-time. read more

People have horror stories about Megabus, but I've got no complaints from my recent trip from DC to New York. I paid extra to get one of the front row, upper level seats, and it was awesome. The leg room leaves a lot to be desired, but I loved the vantage point, and also being able to pick my seat and not worry about getting there early. It's the first time I've taken a bus from Union Station, and the whole operation was easy and clear. The ride took forever, but that's because we left DC at 4pm and hit horrible Baltimore rush hour traffic. But we left on time, the driver was courteous, and the bus was clean. Oddly, we stopped to pick up passengers north of Baltimore (a surprise to me) but it only added a few minutes to our trip. read more

Zero reliability and horrible, horrible customer service. I will NEVER use this so-called service again. My wife and I showed up for a 6:15am departure from Annapolis to NYC. The bus arrived on time, but then broke down mechanically and could not depart on time. The driver informed us that another bus was on way and we should be able to depart within the hour. Well, by 7:30am the replacement bus still had not arrived, so we had to cancel my trip because we would miss our appointment at the destination. I called customer service to refund my ticket, but the rep told me the Terms and Conditions we agreed to state that the company will not refund tickets. In actuality, the Terms and Conditions state they will not refund tickets due to circumstances beyond their control, such as traffic, weather, etc. But my point was that the mechanical conditions of the buses they drive are, in fact, within their control. The Customer Service rep's response was that the CONDITION OF THE VEHICLES WAS NOT THE COMPANY'S RESPONSIBILITY. At that I asked to talk to the manager. After explaining the situation again, the manager was adamant that the company would not refund my tickets due to a mechanical breakdown of the bus. Well, thank you, Megabus, I am now out $175 (price of two round-trip tickets) because you can't maintain your own vehicles. Next time I'll pay a little extra and take the train. read more