Hello! I've only ever written a few reviews and try not to be negative, but I had to write this one. I took megabus on July 26th from Washington, DC to New York City, departing at 8:00am. In short, we were two hours late and our driver was visibly high as a kite. The two hours late part was just annoying, but the driver being really high was actually pretty scary. More below... First off, I think that getting up to NYC for $20 is a great deal and that nobody should have high expectations about a Megabus ride. If you arrive within an hour or so of when you were scheduled to arrive without any major disasters, I think you should count yourself as well served by Megabus. I've had that happen a couple of times, and those rides were completely satisfactory. No, the wifi never works, and I've never found a power outlet that worked either, but for $20 you can't expect all that. However, I do think it's fair to expect your driver to be sober. I only took megabus because BestBus had to cancel the bus I'd booked with them, but I'd highly recommend BestBus--for $10 extra you have a consistently timely, comfortable, and wifi-accessible ride up to New York City. Anyhow, we were scheduled to depart Union Station at 8:00am, and the driver showed up with the bus at 8:20am. The other megabus employees nearby were saying things like, "he's always late," and "yeah, and he's always sleepy!" I didn't know what this meant until later. In any event, we were boarded by 8:30am, and pulled out of Union Station shortly afterwards. About an hour into our trip, we pulled over into a parking lot at White Plains in Maryland. It was raining pretty heavily and there were no amenities nearby (although there was a mall across the street that we weren't allowed to go to). The roof was leaking heavily, and because the bus was full, at least a dozen or so passengers were being rained on. We didn't know why we'd pulled over for at least half an hour, when our driver came upstairs and told us that he'd felt fatigued and had been told to pull over to wait for a nearby replacement driver. The driver was unable to tell us when the replacement driver would arrive, but kept saying it would be 10-15 minutes. Around 45 minutes into our wait, we started calling the megabus customer service line. I was just curious about the latest we would arrive in NYC, so I could start buying new transfers etc. to continue my trip. I called the megabus line several times and it was busy, and then finally got through. I spoke to a customer service representative who said that they weren't aware of where the new driver was or when we would be leaving, but that she has escalated the problem and I should call back in 25 minutes. I waited 25 minutes and called back and spoke to another customer service representative, who told me that she, too, was unaware of the new driver's location and that she was going to escalate the problem so that it could be resolved as quickly as possible. It was painfully clear that these customer service representatives were being told to read from a script and were being given as little information as possible. I don't think they were empowered to be any more helpful than they were (which is to say, not helpful). Anyhow, our new driver showed up about an hour and a half after we pulled in to the parking lot. The people who were getting rained on had mostly moved to a random bus shelter in the parking lot, because there they weren't getting as wet. Our replacement driver was one of the guys from Union Station who had taken our bags and made fun of our first driver for being always late and "sleepy." When he arrived, he was barely able to keep his eyes open. His eyes were very, very red and he didn't respond to any of the things the passengers were saying to him (at least as far as I heard). A lot of us started expressing concern at how visibly intoxicated he was (I think it was just pot), and asked if we could pull over to get him a cup of coffee so that he'd be more awake for the drive. Other passengers were just asking him if he was awake enough to drive. A lot of us were really alarmed that our replacement driver was obviously a lot more intoxicated than the guy he was replacing. It was pretty ironic, honestly. In a super dark way. If I had been given the opportunity to get my bag out of the bus in that parking lot and return home, I would have. But the driver just climbed in behind the wheel and we reluctantly got back on. I white-knuckle gripped the chair in front of me for the three hours left of our trip, and we all got there alive. It's a miracle. We arrived in New York City two hours later than scheduled. I'd booked the next leg of my trip to leave from Penn Station an hour and a half after our scheduled arrival, but we blew past that. The total cost for me to re-book the rest of the legs of my trip was a little over $100. A couple days ago, Megabus sent me a $4 voucher for me to book another bus ride. I'll never use it. read more

The Good: Cheapest way to travel. Safe & easy to find location (near metro center & chinatown). The Bad: On my recent (and only) trip from DC to Philadelphia we encountered some issues. The bus driver was late because of traffic. Okay, whatever. Once he arrives, he takes literally 20 minutes to sit down. Then he turns on the bus and notices the air pressure for the brakes is low. He calls this in to headquarters and asks for advice/new bus. They tell him to GO AHEAD AND DRIVE THE BUS! The driver at this point is very upset and does not feel it is safe to drive this bus. We pull out of the parking lot and he notices the air pressure is still too low (we hear some type of alarm going off), so he pulls onto the side of the road and parks the bus. Okay, so the bus is broken down. It happens. The bad part was the overall lack of communication between the headquarters & the driver, and the driver & us. He said he had no idea how long it would be. And that he hoped they brought a new driver because he's going home..... I made it to Philly. 3 hours late. Not recommended if you need to be somewhere on time. On the plus side, my trip back to DC was on-time and fine. (Except for an annoying passenger who told the driver her whole life story for the duration of the ride). read more

Took this bus just this weekend for a weekend getaway to NYC. It was great, no complaints from my side. I paid $16.50 for my bf and I roundtrip, yup, $16.50 for the BOTH of us to NYC and back to DC. How could you possibly beat that!! The bus is a double decker which is pretty cool. It was clean and got to NYC fairly on time. We took the midnight bus scheduled to arrive at NYC at 5:09 am, it arrived at 5:19, which I think is pretty good. Note, the longer the time, the more stops they make. This bus stopped at Baltimore & Phily to pick up more people on the way to NYC. The bus was clean and all the way up to Phily, my bf & I each had 2 seats to ourselves to lay out and sleep on. The bus did not smell and there is supposedly free internet, I didn't bring a laptop, but I saw other people using it, so I'm pretty sure it's there. I would absolutely take this bus again to get to NYC. The earlier you buy your tickets the cheaper it is. They have a limited amount of $1/way tickets available so I'd suggest looking at the bus fares asap, even so, the max amount each way is $25... MUCH less than the Amtrak that I kept looking at that prevented me from booking a weekend trip tp NYC a previous time. Amtrak is $77 EACH WAY, I paid $16.50 for BOTH of us ROUNDTRIP!!! I'm planning on booking with Megabus again for sure... can anyway say New Years Eve in NYC???? read more

I will start off by saying I didn't take this bus to NYC like most people. I took it home to SW VA about 4 hours from DC. I really didn't have much of a choice. I mean the options are bus, train (which is still 1.5 hours away) or drive. You can fly too, but that doesn't make much sense. I didn't think it was that bad. I will say it helps when you at the start or end point of a trip. Leaving from Union Station we have always left on time. It is kinda confusing which bus to get on as there are many, but the employee I asked was really friendly. However, my destination was the middle stop so once my bus to come back was about 45 min late. The buses are freezing bring a jacket. I did not investigate the bathroom so idea how those were. I will say it wasn't consistent. Three times we went on the trip from my hometown to DC straight no stopping. Then the last time we stopped at a rest stop after 2 hours. No idea why the driver was really old maybe he had to pee. When I've taken the bus it has been pretty crowded. I like sitting on the top so you can see out. Some people take the bus from KY to DC - I think it's 8 or 10 hours I cannot imagine staying on a bus that long. I will say my tickets have been cheap under $40 round trip and I didn't even buy in advance. read more

My partner and I recently took Megabus from DC to New York for Labor Day weekend. PROS: +The price: Definitely the #1 reason I would recommend Megabus. We simply cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on train or place tickets (even though we love taking the train!) and driving ends up being stressful, deceptively expensive and time-consuming...this is pretty much why we don't travel as much as we want to. Overall ticket price for two of us, round trip, was $26. Can't beat it. Also, the price was the reason we weren't extremely picky about some of the cons. +Free wi-fi: Not the strongest signal, but I wonder if sitting elsewhere on the bus would have helped with that (we sat in roughly the same spot, upper level a few rows from the back, both ways). Also, can't really complain when there's wi-fi on a bus at all. +Smooth, comfortable ride: Not an huge amount of leg room, but the bus itself is quiet and the seats are comfortable. There are seatbelts. Temperature was a little on the cold side most of the time (the A/C was on) but I was comfortable with the jacket I had brought. There are a couple rows of seats on the lower level that face each other and have small tables between them--you have to get there early to claim one. +Reasonable trip time: It was about 5 hours going up and 4.5 coming back. There was traffic going up once we reached the Lincoln Tunnel, but that's not really the bus's fault. CONS (these were only problems on the way back--I think it partially depends on your operator(s) and the vehicle they have): -No trash can or bag: WTF? Luckily we stopped at a rest stop and could throw stuff out there (other people's trash from the previous ride). -The dark: For some reason the overhead reading lights on the return bus were all-or-nothing. We spent the majority of the trip in the dark, which meant we couldn't read to pass the time. -Other people: but what can you do? Overall a great service for the ridiculously low price. Hoping they'll stay in business somehow so I can take advantage more often. read more

for a trip out to philly, i found that there were rather limited choices. i generally ride washington deluxe buses, but that's really only to new york. so from my single roundtrip experience, i didn't really have any complaints. the ride out was orderly and timely...with people lined up politely and checked onto the double decker without any hassle. without overhead bins, people are forced to keep their smaller bags under the chairs in front of them, severely hampering leg space. but in this case, since the bus was freezing, i was happy to have the bag near so i could use it to deflect some of the cold air blasting out of the vents. but a big plus for getting there on time. the ride back didn't have the temperature problems, but wasn't as quick. so...guess it all comes out as a wash at the end of the day. but cheap and effective bus travel, can't really go wrong with megabus. read more

I used MegaBus with my bookclub for a trip to NYC for the weekend. We left from NE, DC. The bus was on time, clean and comfortable for our trip to NYC and the trip back to DC. The price was very cheap. I did notice a lady get on with her dog in her purse--I was suprised--but not really b/c I don't know their policy on pets. My driver for both trips were safe and kind (you can't put a price tag on this). End all--I would use again. read more

I've never been so angry before traveling with someone (not even Ryan Air in Europe). First this was NYC to DC bus on a Sunday at 5pm. We got there 20 minutes early and the line was easily a 100 people in the DC/Baltimore line. There were plenty of empty cue lines for other cities though. Then as time went on people kept making their way into the parking lot and the line for DC/Baltimore stretched around back to the street. There were easily 300 annoyed and confused people. There were no employees that came back to us for almost the entire hour. Then they started telling people (really nasty like) for 5:30 Baltimore people to walk up to the front, and boy did that make things even more cramped. We still hadn't boarded our 5:00 DC bus. And they wouldn't walk more than half way into the lot to tell people what to do, so then a rush of 50 people starting running up front to see what he said and he screamed at everyone. The other dozen employees up front just didn't do anything to help. There was no one walking around explaining what was going on or directing. It was the most disorganized mess I've seen in my life. And even more time went by. Other cities came and went, but DC/Baltimore waited. At around 6:30 our buses showed up. And they had started to divide the line, but it was still crazy long. They loaded up most of the people in front of us in one bus, then we got loaded in a second bus. I was told it was a DC/Baltimore bus even though my 5:00pm ticket was a DC direct bus. Then they loaded up the 5:30 DC/Baltimore people. The employees were screaming and fighting each other, people were upset and screaming at the employees, hundreds of people had no idea was was going on. They had this poor girl who had been bumped from her bus at 2pm and she was promised a seat, but of course they couldn't count and there wasn't a single seat available when they let her up to board. She was in tears as we departed with out her. Then they blared commercials and awful announcement for about 20 minutes on the road (this was my first time riding the bus so I'm sure it's a normal thing, but I never read about it). Of course my outlet didn't work, my air diffuser didn't work, and the bus got a nice whiff of 409 cleaning spray every so often for some reason. No announcement from our crabby bus driver. No apologies, or that we were now stopping in Baltimore. Then final straw was when we got to DC. We pulled into the dark parking lot about 2 hours later than planned. We all got out and waited around the back for our luggage. The driver never showed up, and some idiot decided to open the door and go sifting himself for his luggage. The driver was obviously pissed and told him vaguely to get out. Then walked away. He never got out and a couple minutes later she came back and told him to get out again. She then got in the back and started THROWING luggage out, just terrible. No one stepped up so I ended up helping her remove every piece of luggage..nicely.. People were rude and didn't help me and grabbed the luggage from me crazy like as I was trying to keep up. Then she started dumping luggage out of the little luggage window they had about 3 feet to the ground and I tried to catch the stuff from falling. After all was done she gave me a stink eye like I was the jerk and didn't say thank you. That's when the 3 guys who were drinking their coffee decided to come over to help, but it was all over by then. All in all, I don't care if the fare is $5 or free (for me it was $22, only 3 less than Bolt and Tripper). I'm never taking Megabus again, ever. And I encourage everyone to boycott them. No one wanted to take MegaBus on that bus either, we all complained about it together. Take Boltbus, take DC2NY, take Tripper (my favorite but doesn't come to DC) or Vamoose bus. They're all great, just about the same price, easy lines, nice driver who talk to you and communicate/apologies, clean. Even take the China Town bus at this point. Sorry about the long post, but I'm just so upset and wanted to document my entire ordeal. read more

I have been commuting from the DC area to Boston every three weeks for the past six months, and I have used Megabus, Greyhound, and Amtrak for these trips. I've had issues with both bus lines...no issue with Amtrak ( other than the price). I have noticed that they are stopping the overnight bus from Washington to Boston in September...bummer. I've had trips where the Megabus has broken down..one time at the Delaware rest stop and once right outside of Union Station. The latter made us two hours late, and the other time they had a bus to us in fifteen minutes. One trip was particularly rainy and the bus filled to capacity in Philly. I sat upstairs and the bus started to leak every time the driver stepped on the gas. Nowhere to move to... I arrived in Boston at 5am soaking wet. I didn't even bother to complain; the kids running the show wouldn't have cared less. I figured I got what I paid for. I have had good experiences on the DC/Phil route, its just that it seems to be so hit and miss. I do appreciate that you can change your travel plans easily if it is 24 hours before you start your travel. Forget that with Greyhound. I've never had issues with electrical plugs, but the WiFi is just a disaster. Thank god my phone plan has unlimited data. So, cross your fingers and pray that you will have a safe and smooth trip to wherever your Megabus takes you. And be sure to look in your wallet and see all the green you saved. read more

The bus I was scheduled for left early and I was able to take the next one for $5 but the employees were not friendly. Also we hit bad traffic due to an accident which is not their fault but they never made any announcements about an updated eta. Busses are nice but the service isn't great. Take boltbus regularly, I plan to stick with them in the future, a much better overall experience. read more

Can there be a zero star option? Took a 5 pm bus. We were a half hour late out the gate because the previous bus had broken down. Already a bad sign. Then, the AC broke (it was 95 degrees out). THEN, we weren't even on the road for a full 5 minutes when the bus broke down. We had to sit on the side of the road and wait for a replacement bus. Seriously??? And for $40! Eff that, next time I'm taking the Chinatown bus. read more

Having read the Yelp! reviews for Megabus, I was prepared for a crappy trip to NYC from Baltimore. However, here I am, writing this 5-star review, from the comfort of my own brand new seat & table, with my laptop which is connected to the wireless and plugged into the outlets they have on the bus. I'd say I'm pretty pleased. Bus arrived just 20 minutes late into the White Marsh stop. They gladly took my THREE bags/boxes that I had brought with me. My car left happily waiting for me in the parking lot directly adjacent to the stop. The bus driver is extremely friendly and helpful. The price was ridiculously great. The bus itself is brand new and a double-decker. It has a flat screen presumably to watch movies but the driver didn't put any on. The A/C is at a comfortable level. I am one of just 10 people that are on the whole bus probably. I would DEFINITELY recommend this bus company to others! read more

This was my first time using Megabus and it will most certainly be my last. I was headed to Albany, NY from Washington DC to visit a friend for the weekend. On the trip up there, I was put on the WRONG bus by the staff and ended up in Philadelphia. Luckily for me, the bus stop was at the train station and I was able to get on a train to get to Albany. On the way back, my bus from Albany to NYC was an hour late and I was freaked out that I wasn't going to be able to make my next bus to DC. But it turns out, ALL of the buses were delayed by "an hour to an hour and a half," according to the extremely rude Megabus people at that mob scene that they call a bus stop. There had to be over a hundred people waiting for backed up buses. There were about 3 buses to Boston that were backed up along with the 4 to Washington DC. When I finally got on my bus and it left NYC, it was 2 hours late. And if that wasn't enough, the wi-fi and power outlets were spotty too. In short: I don't care how cheap the fares are, NOTHING is worth this aggravation. read more

This review is based on what I paid + expectations vs reality. I've ridden boltbus a few times before and it's been great, so I bought some megabus tickets to Philly because it was the only option. After buying the tickets I read through the other reviews and got extremely worried, thinking the whole trip would be a disaster. The line for the bus from DC to Philly wasn't very difficult to find at union station. You just go all the way upstairs and exit to the left, then follow the cross-walks until you see all of the buses. There are several small blue signs with names of cities on them, you can usually tell which one is yours because there will already be a few buses loading and unloading. Also, if you're confused, just ask the other people in any line which bus they are waiting for and they'll tell you. If you want to make sure you can sit with someone else, I would recommend getting there at least 45 minutes early so you can be at the front of the line, otherwise you could get separated because I think most of the buses end up being full. I think our bus arrived about 5 minutes before we were supposed to depart. However, we ended up making it to Philly either on time or a little bit early. The seats aren't the most comfortable, but the ones we sat in had pretty good legroom (I'm 6' and my knees weren't smashed). On both rides, we sat on the lower level on the left side of the bus behind the driver (the right side seemed to have much less leg room). Our bus on the way back from Philly to DC showed up right when it was supposed to depart, and we ended up making it back to the city about 45 minutes past schedule, but there was some pretty terrible traffic on the way back, so I can't really fault megabus for that. We found the Philly station easily, but only because it was the same place we were dropped off at. I could see how it would be confusing if that's where you were originally leaving from. If that's where you're leaving from first, I'd scout out the area ahead of time. The only way I can explain it is you walk away from the huge building with all of the pillars (looks historic, not sure which building it is) and you go under a bridge, and the "station" is on your right just after the bridge. There are just small blue signs similar to what would be at a bus stop. Oh, if you're a girl and wearing shorts/a dress, bring something to sit on (like a soft shirt), the material on the seats of the bus is itchy and uncomfortable. The wifi doesn't work very well but if you're using a phone you can probably just rely on 4g or whatever most of the way. Overall, for $6/ticket each way, it was a bit nicer than I expected, we were generally on time except for some traffic delays, and I didn't really have any issues. read more

The worst bus service ever. A 3 hour dc to philly journey turned into a ride from hell. The bus broke down 15 mins after leaving from DC. Passengers were kept locked in on the bus for over 2 hours. The mechanic who finally showed up wasn't able to do jack. The Chinese bus driver barely spoke or understood any English. Passengers were not even allowed to step out of the bus for fresh air. Finally a different bus was sent to take the passengers. This bus had no air conditioning. The passengers literally begged the driver to open the hatch in the roof which he hastily agreed to. Someone should suit these guys. read more

Horrible horrible, this was my first time riding with mega bus and my last, our bus broke down and we had to find our own way home. Called to talk to customer service about a refund and they claim they have to see more reports on the incident to receive anything, asked to speak with management and was denied and then I was told I would be disconnected, wow. DO NOT RIDE MEGA BUS, HORRIBLE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. read more

I truly thought I'd found the perfect way to travel from DC to NY. The ride there was fairly quick and relatively painless if terribly cold. However, the ride back was a nightmare. It was pouring buckets in NY, the bus was an hour late (and so were all of the others) and everyone was packed into the empty lot where there was no shelter from the rain. We stood there for an hour without any updates and didn't receive any news on when we were going to leave. If you are late to Megabus, they'll leave you, but if they're late then it's of no concern. read more

exactly what i expected. i normally fly everywhere, but for $39 from DC to Buffalo you couldn't beat it. not gonna say that anything blew me away but this is a low cost bus service, not sure what anyone really expects but it met all mine. if a cheap ride is what you're looking for i would recommend megabus. read more

I am writing this review on behalf of my mom's recent experience with Megabus. She got cheap tickets (5 dollars and 7 dollars) to travel from Philly to DC to visit me and my husband. Her Megabus was supposed to leave Philly at 8:00am. On her way to the bus, she realized that she forgot her ticket at home. While she was trying to speak with the driver, I contacted Megabus customer service by phone. According to customer service, they can't look up a reservation using anything besides your e-mail address. After spelling out her e-mail address several times, I was told by customer service that they couldn't locate the reservation and I would need to call another number. When I called the other number, I spelled out the e-mail address several more times with no luck. Meanwhile, My mom also contacted customer service with the same results. She then spoke to the driver who told her that there was nothing that he could do as everything is by number and not name. There were five empty seats on the bus at this time. My mom asked if she could purchase another seat, to which the "handler" or whoever herds the people onto the buses stated "I already sold them." Needless to say the bus drove away with no one else getting online. The driver and other Megabus employee laughed at my mom as the bus pulled out. Whatever they did, they made her cry, and she is a pretty tough lady. I get that Megabus is cheap so you shouldn't expect cushy surroundings or complain if you are late. But good customer service is free - you should be able to provide it no matter what. Treat people like human beings and they will want to use your service again. I don't get the Megabus model, treat people like animals, don't even give them the decency of telling them where they are supposed to stand, and then give them a lousy ride on top of it all. I already swore off Megabus years ago after a bad experience. My mom ended up buying a round trip ticket on Amtrak instead of waiting another 3 hours for the Megabus. read more

Megabus is pretty cheap (probably the cheapest on average inter-city bus service) and goes more places than any other bus company with the exception of Greyhound. However, you get what you pay for and the quality of service is terrible. The drivers and station staff are rude, the buses arrive late with no information to passengers. The DC to NYC bus is usually (relatively) on time but buses to other locations are not. Had a bus to Philly board 1.5 hours later and another to Norfolk 2 hours late. Drivers also seem poorly informed about where they're going. Had a bus driver take local streets through New Jersey and consequently arrived in NYC 2 hours late (checked Google Maps, there was no highway traffic to merit this decision) and my roommate's bus to Pittsburgh travelled over an hour the wrong way before backtracking. Try Boltbus or DC2NY for better service to New York City. For other destinations, consider Amtrak, rental cars, flying, or Greyhound. Or if no other option, prepare for a horrible (but low-cost) experience. read more

this is ridiculous！ we stand here for 1 hour. Still no bus even leaving. No one comes to explain! I have wasted 2 hrs here. The bus is late for more than 1 hr!!! read more

0 stars!!!!I am writing this review from the middle of nowhere..!!!After freezing off for more then 3 hours because of improperly functioning AC Megabus NY-DC broke down! The driver just stopped and got out, without announcing anything. Waiting for another bus to come and pick us up for more then 3 hours...4 AM...Finally the next bus from NY-DC arrived to rescue!!! But: 1) there was no space for everybody, 2) as soon as we got in they said we need to get out because the driver's shift is over so the bus can not move anywhere!!!!Whaaaaaat???????4 AM!!!!50 people out there freezing and the driver's shift is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Horrible management, incompetent drivers, the most irresponsible bus service I ever seen!!!Never ever ever again!!!Shut it down!!!!This kind of service and business can't exist!!Not safe!!!!Not safe!!!! read more

A nice bus when I did take it twice, but you're only allowed to trade in ticket and not allowed to ever return a ticket. So if you're out of luck like me who planned a trip that couldn't happen and never get a chance to go on another bus trip, you could get $100 tied to Megabus for a year and half (and keep counting) and keep trading every few months without a solution. I don't know when I could ever get that money spent read more

Megabus pretty much treats the customer like crap. 1. Most recent issue: I was charged $5 for trade and booking fees even though the ticket I was trading in was $4 more than the one I was getting. 2. They're usually late. 3. I once arrived to the bus stop 10 minutes early. Asked the driver if it's the 1 PM to Philadelphia. They told me it's the 12:50 PM. I figured if they specified a different time it's not my bus. They drive away around 12:52 PM. Turns out that was my bus. They left 8 minutes earlier than scheduled which is totally unacceptable. I should not have to worry if my 1 PM bus is going to leave earlier than they say they will. Spent awhile on customer support who told me on 3 separate occasions to trade in my ticket for a $5 fee online for a later bus. Turns out trading in tickets is not possible once you're within 45 minutes of your bus's scheduled departure. The fact that customer service would mis-direct me on how to resolve my issue even though they, of all people, should know that the trade in functionality would not be available at that time is absurd. I ended up having to buy a new ticket at full price and after a couple months of emailing back and forth with a customer service rep, they declined to refund me because I didn't show up 15 minutes early, like their policy requires. The main takeaway is the company and customer service sucks. They will pretty much never refund you, and they really aren't concerned with providing a good experience for the customer. Only reason I still use the service is because of how cheap it is. read more

Haven't used megabus before today. But the morning I was going to leave from Annapolis to NYC with the 8:15am bus. I arrived at 7:58am and watched the Megabus depart, over 15 min early! Several of us were stranded at the park and ride. Those that needed to be in NYC for work then had to catch a train. Customer services was able to put me on the next bus and refunded me for the 8:15am bus. But never have I heard of a bus leaving 15+ min early! They should have had the driver turn the bus around and pick those he left stranded up. But they couldn't contact the driver for some reason. Not a very happy customer. read more

Recently I went to NYC for the weekend and because of availability I took one company on the way there and Megabus back to DC. I will never make that mistake again. To begin with, the confirmation email tells you simply that the New York pickup location is "Penn Station". First, clearly they meant outside of the station, but not everyone would understand that. Second, anyone who's been to Penn Station before knows that it is not a small place. Giving their customers a bit of a more exact location is not so much to ask. Instead I had to call their automated systems (I don't want to press any number for anything. Ever!) in order to get the address. Again, if they have a machine telling me where it is - why can't they email that address to me in the first place? I arrived an hour before the scheduled departure. Thinking this was plenty of time was apparently extremely optimistic of me, as there was already a long line of over 50 people waiting for "a" Megabus - to Boston, Baltimore, Philly and to DC. People ran back and forth between imaginary lines, hoping to get a better place in line - not knowing which is the appropriate line for them. Not to mention the hordes of passengers around waiting for buses on different companies (which seemed to depart rather smoothly). Finally, at about 5:45 (the scheduled departure time) a Megabus representative shows up and starts splitting up the line into destinations, causing more confusion and scrambling for the lines. The line started moving, I have my confirmation email examined and approved and I am sent towards a certain bus. As I arrive and wait to board I am told I have to turn around and go to a different bus. This, by the way, was after passengers had already started to board. Finally the bus gets on the road. A few hours in, we stop in two places in MD, including Baltimore - which clearly had a separate line and bus back in NYC - how disorganized can one company be?! Apart from that, the ride itself went pretty smoothly except for the driver playing with the A/C way too much to be paying attention to the road. That and oh! It took nearly SIX(!!) hours to get to DC, with little to no traffic on the road. One more thing - the bus I took on the way to DC had outlets for use in every row - unlike Megabus. The one positive thing about Megabus was that the WiFi connection was somewhat stronger. In any case, I don't think I will be taking Megabus again anytime soon. read more

Megabus. Where do I begin? Ok I guess I'll start with the positives, since there's so few of them. First of all, it's CHEAP. And fairly convenient. They have buses leaving all the time and go to lots of places. That's about it. Oh, and there was spotty wifi on one leg of my trip. Now, for the terrible terrible things about Megabus. Seriously. Let's start with our trip to New York. We left Washington, DC nearly on time. The trip was supposed to be about 4 hours long. However, somewhere in the middle of nowhere New Jersey, we pull over. We proceed to sit at a rest stop for TWO hours while we wait for a replacement driver. Now, if it had been an emergency situation with our current driver, I would have understood. BUT, Megabus knew before we left DC that we would need a new driver because our current driver was going to go over her hours limit for the week. On the return trip, our bus was about 45 minutes late and overbooked. We had to go on a bus with no wifi that was really pretty gross. So, I called when we returned to DC and the customer service was TERRIBLE. First of all, it takes about 40 minutes to get through to customer service, if you're going to get through at all. (I called several times and waited for 50 minutes to an hour with no response). The lady was rude to me, she actually yelled at me, before telling me she'd give me a one way comp ticket for our problems. So, I was at least somewhat mollified. However, I tried to use my comp ticket FOUR times, and got no response from Megabus. I completely agree with the comment that Megabus has NONEXISTENT customer service. In total, Megabus was a really bad experience. I would not recommend them unless you have no other other options, because like I said they're cheap. read more

First off, let me clarify that I was only taking Megabus from DC to Richmond, and vice versa. 2-2.5 hr trip usually. Most of the reviews I've noticed on here seem to be about longer trips, such as DC to NY. I took the 6:30 am bus to Richmond , and the 6:20 PM bus from Richmond back to DC. Both were on time, and neither was crowded so I was lucky to have the 2 seats to myself. Very quiet, clean, easy rides. I can't say whether the wifi was working or not since I did not bring any wifi enabled devices with me. I really didn't have any problems with either bus, driver or set of passengers. Also - the walk from Union Station to the Megabus stop at K st & N. Capitol is short and easy...you'll definitely notice the parking lot with people, Megabus attendees, and of course the buses. Loading and unloading luggage was simple and only took a few minutes. I do think that perhaps taking early morning or late evening buses is a good idea..either because they are less popular or because most people are just trying to sleep. Then again, maybe I just lucked out. I paid less than $10 for both tickets, so definitely a deal. One thing I noticed, on the bottom of the double decker bus, there isn't much leg room, and I don't think I noticed any overhead storage there. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 was because the bus leaving Richmond was on time, but took 30 minutes to leave due to having problems turning out of the parking lot (for those that know the area, right over by Bottoms Up pizza). Pretty tight quarters, so a tow truck had to tow this one car parked in the one spot on the street that says no parking to allow the driver to get out. I've actually heard of this happening here before, so maybe that's more the city's problem. Not a huge deal I guess. Also, neither stop has any shelter so it would probably suck to wait around if it was raining or very hot. Then again, I realize this is part of the deal with many tour bus stops. read more

Traveled round trip last week from DC to Knoxville Tennessee. Megabus gets four stars for this trip because after I got off the bus in DC I realized I'd thrown my wallet into the bus trash with my lunch. Megabus staff at Union Station (Brian?) called the bus, had them go through the trash, and then had the wallet brought back from the garage (in Laurel MD?) to Union Station. Great service saved my day. Thank you Megabus DC staff! On the down side, agree with others, bus was way too cold. Dress warmly and bring a blanket! Also, driver to Knoxville behaved erratically (driving only 50mph, stopped frequently to call mechanic about problem with bus and asked passengers to call and complain). But customer service answered after only 1 minute on hold and provided dispatcher's number but by that time the bus was up to speed and they got in only an hour late (not bad for a 10 or 11 hour trip). Return trip was on time. Can't argue with the price. read more

Context: Sunday night, departing from NYC to DC on the last bus of the night (10 pm). Booked 1.5 weeks in advance, paid $27. Didn't even try the wifi, so I can neither confirm nor deny it's functionality. Given my experiences with other bus companies, this was a below average trip. It started out on a negative note. I showed up at 9:30 to find a massive line waiting for buses to DC. Turns out the 8pm bus departed around 9:20, and the 9pm bus was nowhere to be seen. We ended up departing around 10:40 pm, so it was better than I initially feared. Nevertheless, just about the last thing I felt like doing on a Sunday night before a long bus ride is stand outside in line for 40 minutes with zero communication about why our bus is late and when we can expect to leave. Once on the bus, my experience was still below average. I ended up having to sit upstairs (which I was warned about). While it sounds nice to ride a double-decker bus, it is considerably more bumpy, which makes it very difficult to get any sleep. There is also only 1 outlet per seat, located next to the window, which forces you to awkwardly weave cords around your neighbor. There also seemed to be a problem with the front door closing all the way. As a result, the wind was very loud and the bus was uncomfortably cold because of a strong breeze coming through. After stopping in Baltimore (not clearly advertised as being a bus with alternate stops), we arrived at Union Station by 2:45 am, which was only 25 minutes past our estimated arrival time. Had we left on-time and had the door closed properly, I would have rated this higher. Bottom line: You get what you pay for. If you can score one of the super low fares, take this bus. If you're debating between Megabus for $27 and something else for $30, try the other bus. read more

Went from DC to Philly and back. Left on time both times. The bus was clean and comfortable. The prices were very competitive. Leaving on a Friday afternoon, we hit a lot of traffic going to Philly and got there an hour late but that's not really Megabus' fault. The only downside for me was that the bus stopped to pick up/drop off people outside of Baltimore, which slightly delayed us. Internet was spotty but it's an extra perk anyway. Would definitely use Megabus again as we arrived back to DC perfectly on time and booking was super easy. read more

I typically love riding on megabus. I recommend it to anyone who will listen! I typically can not drive one way to NY for the amount of round trip tickets! But as I am currently sitting on the bus I wish I had driven! It is unbearably hot! I should not be sweating and dehydrating while sitting! To make matters worse I am traveling with my 3 children. They have been extremely thirsty due to the temperatures on the bus and have gone through 2 bottles of water. I am constantly waking my 4 month old to drink. :( I'm very disappointed read more

The driver refused to check my reservations and closed the door and left. We were on a bus stop waiting for 4 hours for another bus, the supervisor refused to let us on a bus. Waited the rest of the night for another bus at 5am and had to buy new tickets. read more

Customer service at Union Station is horrible! Taken the bus several times but today will be my last. I was scheduled for the 9:30 bus the guy who checks tickets announces that the bus would be 45 minutes late without even the slightest apology. Well it was 10:30 and we were still waiting. At 10:35 they start boarding and got the 11:00 people on as well, we didn't leave until 11:11. I always had a bad impression of customer service and the guy checking tickets is rude and definitely not friendly. He went around acting like it was ok to for them to be late, never provided an update or an apology. I understand things can happen in any business but putting the customer first and showing that you care goes a long way. read more

Sighs, where to even begin? Okay so we decided to book a fairly quick same day trip from Richmond, Virginia to DC area. I attempted to get a refund due to reasons which are not relevant here and was turned down. I get that they have a no refund policy but it needs to be made more clear to folks. They tried charging me 10 dollar fee to switch my return trip, did it online and it cost me $7. The phone reps never told me that as an option. I needed to take a wee so against my best judgement used the "lou". It was so filthy. Oh my god. There was a cup with boogers, and trash on the floor and the urinal was so stinking I couldn't breath. Very bumpy ride! Bus was an hour behind and it was an inconvenience for our already short scheduled trip. Needless to say we wont be taking a megabus anywhere else anytime soon. This company is hanging on by a thin thread. read more

I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS SERVICE EVER AGAIN ....They are hardly aware ...what you cal customer service ... I have used the service twice (WAS DC to NYC) and (NYC to WAS DC) on a weekend and the experience was horrible both the ways. Firstly, we had to wait for the bus for more than an hour and when it finally started from DC ...after an hour or so ..the driver proudly announced that she can not drive any more coz she doesn't have hours left for driving and federal law doesn't allow driving a vehicle after permitted hours. It was like the driver was sleeping for an hour while driving and was not aware, how many hours, she was left with ...you won't believe, we had to wait for 4 hours at some unknown place before the relief came from NYC. Got to know from the driver that the management is forcing them to drive complete 10 hours every day coz they have fired many drivers ( cost cutting) .... that girl was literally crying ...saying that she was on job since morning 9 o clock in the morning till 10 PM in the night .... when she stopped the bus ...These guys knew that she din't had enough hours left to drive till NYC but they still forced her to drive ...they were playing with our lives i would say ....and when they realized that it could lead to a major problem for them ..... they just stopped the bus and then the explanation given was that it was because of passengers safety .... as if they were really concerned ... read more

I was really upset to find that when I bought my tickets to take Megabus from Boston to NYC at 5:00 pm on Saturday, May 19, 2012,that my ticket along with the small number of others schedule for this trip were placed on a dirty, dingy chinese bus to NYC. This is called false advertising. If their website specified that the number of tickets purchased determines whether or not they travel vs. sendingyou on a chinese bus, I would have chosen Greyhound or Bolt. This isn't the first time that I have had a bad experience with Megabus. I thought that after the my trip and complaint from a year ago, they would have improved their services, but they have not. There service has actually gotten worse and this will be the last time that I travel on Megabus Boston. Their service is extremely poor. If they intend to send you on a chinese bus service, they should place this information on their website. Surprisingly, I have noticed that there are not many websites were you can read reviews about their poor service. James D. read more

THIS BUS IS TERRIBLE!!!!!!!! You might find some reviews on here that say otherwise, please do not take those into consideration. I was stranded in the middle (not on the shoulder, no in the middle!) of the highway for well over two hours. Apparently this was due to engine trouble. Throughout all of that time all the driver would tell me is 'call customer service'. So I did call, and you guys know what they did? They hung up on me, TWICE! MEGABUS IS NOT WORTH IT. Yes, it's cheaper, but I'd rather have the piece of mind that I'm going to make it to my destination safely, than save a little bit of money and risk my life. read more

Absolutely unreliable, irresponsible and disgusting customer service. First and last time to use Megabus! If your friends make your reservations, ensure that it is not Megabus! The bus was 2 1/2 HOURS delayed. To add insult to injury, the staff were clueless as to when the bus would arrive so that we could board and leave. The staff told us, "we will find out when you will find out." Megabus will not reimburse your ticket unless their buses are 2 hours delayed. Judging from the conversations on the line, Megabus' reputation absolutely sucks; Therefore, we were all wondering if we would depart at the 2 hours minus 5 minutes so that they would not have to reimburse us for grossly inconveniencing us. Because of this delay, we ended up travelling through rush hour which greatly delayed our trip even further. My friends and I surely were glad that we did not have an airplane to catch. Avoid them at all costs! There are many alternative options to travel inexpensively... but reliably, for goodness sake! read more

We booked tickets with Megabus from DC to NYC, but unfortunately had a family emergency that prevented us from being able to take our trip. We tried to change our reservation to a later date 14 hours before our scheduled department. Because the website requires a 24 hour notice, it would not let us change the tickets, so we called the Customer Service line. The woman I talked to informed me that she couldn't do anything because she used the same website to which I had access. Upon asking to speak to her manager, she told me the manager could not do anything to help me. After asking several more times, she put me on hold. When I was taken off hold, the same woman came back and told me I couldn't talk to the manager. When I asked to please talk to the manager, she told me to write an email on the website. I told her I preferred to please talk to a manger. She hung up on me. Customer Service and respect is important no matter your line of business; we will not be purchasing or riding on Mega Bus again. Our return tickets from NYC to DC were through Best Bus. We called them at the same time and they were extremely accommodating and understanding and, though it was less than 24 hours notice, able to change our tickets without any trouble. read more