I've written about Megabus before. I take it down to Indianapolis for work pretty often. I've ridden it many times, though after my one bad experience with the bus breaking down, I avoided it for a while.
So, I started taking the Amtrak down. It's a lot of fun if it's a night when the Cardinal runs. There's a bar car and food to be had, and it's a comfortable ride. Takes longer than driving, or longer than the bus, though. The Amtrak is always delayed in transit due to freight traffic, and it makes a lot of stops. This means what is about a three or four hour drive ends up being a five to six hour train ride. By the end of it it's after midnight and I'm usually sleepy and grumpy. Still, better than driving.
The return train from Indianapolis to Chicago leaves very early in the morning, which doesn't work for me. So, I ended up drifting back to the Megabus. For a while I was doing a split ticket, taking the Amtrak down and the Megabus back. That worked out well. If the bus doesn't break down, it's a comfortable ride. Sometimes, if it's crowded, it's a bit less fun, but still, usually tolerable.
Last time around, I wasn't able to book my travel until the last minute. The train was sold out, so I had little choice but to take the Megabus down. To my surprise, I was able to ride a double decker bus. A friend had warned me that the top floor of a double decker can feel a little wobbly as you bob and weave down the highway, so I sat downstairs. I had just about the entire downstairs to myself, and it was a pretty sweet setup. It had chairs organized in a sort-of lunchroom/kitchenette setup, with a set of two chairs facing front, two chairs facing back, and a table in the middle. Since it was just me, I had plenty of room to spread out, set up my laptop and catch up on work, etc. It was a very nice ride. Very quiet, and since I had just about the whole downstairs to myself, I imagined that this is what it feels like to ride on a private bus, like the Madden Cruiser. Not bad at all.
So, next week, I'm probably heading down that way again. Should I take the train, or the Megabus?
Showing posts with label megabus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label megabus. Show all posts
Megabus: My experiences
Duh: This has not been approved by Megabus, and is not authored by somebody associated with Megabus.
Somebody on another forum asked if anyone had ridden the Megabus recently. I thought you might like to hear the short version of my reply. Look for more detailed, in depth info, in the near future.
Yeah, I have taken the Megabus many (10+) times from Chicago to Indianapolis and back. This last time I took Amtrak, instead, though.
That was because during my last trip down here, the bus broke down outside of Lafayette, IN, on the highway, nowhere near an off ramp. This was at around 9pm at night. They called for a repair guy who came to fix the broken hose, but couldn't make it work. It took him 60-90 minutes to get there to fix it, and when it was clear he couldn't, they tried to get another bus to come get us. The next scheduled bus was going to stop for us, but broke down in Gary, Indiana, because of problems with the A/C. Then they were trying to get another bus to come get us from Chicago, which is a couple plus hours away. At midnight, when they still didn't have another bus on the way for us, and we were still sitting on the side of the highway, I called the cops, apologized for bothering them for the world's most minor emergency, and asked them what to do. The very helpful lady at dispatch called me back with info on how to get a cab to come get me, and it worked out perfectly. I ended up staying the night in Lafayette, and making other arrangements to get to Indy in the morning.
I was to the point where I was ready to flash a platinum card and say "whatever it costs to get me out of here, make it happen." Probably most people riding the bus don't have that ability, and I have no clue what time the rest of the riders actually made it in to Indy. Best guess at the time was that it would be 3 or 4 am before they arrived.
I've talked to Matt Eggert, manager for Megabus/Coach USA, about this, and when I explicitly asked for a refund, he offered one. Haven't seen it go through yet, and had to ping him a second time for it. This is after I emailed him asking him what the hell happened and what their plan is to fix it when stuff like this happens, and I got absolutely no response.
So, I'm not sure I'll never take the Megabus again. But my confidence in them is not very high right now. Sitting on the side of I-65 for hours, inches from traffic whizzing by in the dark, is not fun. They wouldn't even do anything to get us off the highway and to a rest stop. They don't seem to have contingency plans for when things go wrong, and that's a problem.
The train between Chicago and Indy is nice, btw. $18, and there's an electrical plug for your laptop. It's a bit slower than the bus because it stops more often, though.
Somebody on another forum asked if anyone had ridden the Megabus recently. I thought you might like to hear the short version of my reply. Look for more detailed, in depth info, in the near future.
Yeah, I have taken the Megabus many (10+) times from Chicago to Indianapolis and back. This last time I took Amtrak, instead, though.
That was because during my last trip down here, the bus broke down outside of Lafayette, IN, on the highway, nowhere near an off ramp. This was at around 9pm at night. They called for a repair guy who came to fix the broken hose, but couldn't make it work. It took him 60-90 minutes to get there to fix it, and when it was clear he couldn't, they tried to get another bus to come get us. The next scheduled bus was going to stop for us, but broke down in Gary, Indiana, because of problems with the A/C. Then they were trying to get another bus to come get us from Chicago, which is a couple plus hours away. At midnight, when they still didn't have another bus on the way for us, and we were still sitting on the side of the highway, I called the cops, apologized for bothering them for the world's most minor emergency, and asked them what to do. The very helpful lady at dispatch called me back with info on how to get a cab to come get me, and it worked out perfectly. I ended up staying the night in Lafayette, and making other arrangements to get to Indy in the morning.
I was to the point where I was ready to flash a platinum card and say "whatever it costs to get me out of here, make it happen." Probably most people riding the bus don't have that ability, and I have no clue what time the rest of the riders actually made it in to Indy. Best guess at the time was that it would be 3 or 4 am before they arrived.
I've talked to Matt Eggert, manager for Megabus/Coach USA, about this, and when I explicitly asked for a refund, he offered one. Haven't seen it go through yet, and had to ping him a second time for it. This is after I emailed him asking him what the hell happened and what their plan is to fix it when stuff like this happens, and I got absolutely no response.
So, I'm not sure I'll never take the Megabus again. But my confidence in them is not very high right now. Sitting on the side of I-65 for hours, inches from traffic whizzing by in the dark, is not fun. They wouldn't even do anything to get us off the highway and to a rest stop. They don't seem to have contingency plans for when things go wrong, and that's a problem.
The train between Chicago and Indy is nice, btw. $18, and there's an electrical plug for your laptop. It's a bit slower than the bus because it stops more often, though.
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