New Century Travel

ZERO STARS
I’ve been taking Chinatown buses for years (NYC to Boston, Philly, DC). The buses are not known for cleanliness, safety or customer service. They are a last resort for people who couldn’t catch a ride on Bolt or Megabus… and at the last minute, they are a great way to get you where you need to go faster than you thought was possible. Just close your eyes and pretend your life is not in danger. Oh and whatever you do, don’t go into the bathroom.
So that’s all a given. But the experience I had last night was a nightmare even in spite of the low expectations I already had. I’ll skip the details of the crappy service at the ticket office/​waiting area. I caught the 11:45pm bus from DC to NYC on Sunday night during Memorial Day weekend. Why? Because this was the only bus that still had seats available. (I should have taken a hint!!)
We left 15 minutes early and came to a stop at 3am… I grabbed my bag and started walking out. In the aisle, the driver rushed past me, pushed me out of his way and ran back out with a mini fire extinguisher. As I got out, I noticed the back of the bus was SMOKING. People started yelling for everyone to get out of the bus because it was ON FIRE. As I moved further away from the smoking bus, I realized I was in Brooklyn, not Chinatown. After a shouting match in Chinese between the driver and some passengers, the 4 of us who did not speak Chinese came up to him to ask how we were supposed to get to Chinatown now. «You take the train» was the response, with him pointing for us to get away from him. «But we paid money to got o Chinatown, not Brooklyn,» we said. «You always pay money» was the useless response.
After 40 minutes on the N train, I got to Chinatown and found my way home. Worth the $ 20? Not really.
CONCLUSION: If you enjoy life and don’t hate yourself, don’t ever take this bus.

Holy crap, put your football pads on; it is a mad rush to get onto the bus. And it appears that the staff just keeps selling tickets even if a bus is overbooked. They do not guarantee your seat, you have to make your own luck (like Harvey Dent).
Once you get on, don’t be picky about where you sit… just pick the skinniest best looking chick you can find and sit next to her. Odds are she’ll assume you just wanted to get a seat, and won’t judge you for sitting next to her.
Seriously though, $ 12 to Philly, is whatever. Boltbus prices, convenience, and organization are definitely worth the little bit extra… but for last minute trips to Philly, you can definitely do worse.

If you care about not drying on the road DO NOT take this bus!!!
The scariness of the experience with the New Century bus (also known as 2000 Coach, they keep changing their names, I’m posting this on their Unilocal page if they have one) has motivated me to write my first long review on Unilocal.My friend dropped me off at the station in Richmond, VA on Oct 31, 2011 to pick up the bus coming back to NYC. I approach a guy to ask if this is the bus to NYC and I am immediately startled as I realize he’s was TAKING HITS OUT OF A HOMEMADE PIPE. He’s shaken when he sees me, puts down the pipe and points hastily to go to the little waiting area. In my mind I was thinking «…I hope this is not be the driver…» and of course he was. Not only was he smoking something (I couldn’t see exactly what) he looked like he either hadn’t slept that night or had just woken up right there right then. His eyes were beyond puffy.
I was confused and hesitating if to do or say anything. But to whom? The only other person there was the ticket seller, and his English conversation ability was very, very limited. Before I could make a decision the we had boarded the bus and ended up staying on the bus, on a nervous 2 hour ride to DC with a smoked-​up exhausted driver. This was probably not a good decision on my part. The driver was changed in DC.
There are other complaints I can point out about the buses that I took (like the persistent smell of urine, a smashed headlight, etc.) but this is more than sufficient to not use this bus company ever again.

Is it possible to post without giving a single star?
LET IT BE KNOWN –this company is inexpensive because it’s «entrée» is confusion with a side of terror. The drivers are paid based on the number of trips they make back and forth. Unlike Bolt bus, who has a salaried staff, this company will endanger your life just to get in that extra trip. DONT USE THE bathroom — if you must go, pee in your seat and avoid disease.
Never again.

Reminiscent of the overpacked poorly maintained busses in India. The drivers and staff find it difficult to communicate in English. The drivers often brake sharply and suddenly pitching the passengers forward. The ac doesn’t keep the back of the bus cool. Weekends find large crowds pushing to get on, as there are never enough seats many passengers are forced to wait for the next bus to arrive. There are plenty of low cost bus services that won’t make you feel like your in the third world.

Avoid this bus at all costs. Do not ride this bus. Do not be enticed by its low fare to DC. The Megabus and Bolt Bus are also $ 20, and those are clean and smooth, and feature responsive, accountable drivers who speak English.
Our 2 AM scheduled New Century bus was a dumpy, unmarked coach that arrived at 3 AM. We were told to board along with the customers who booked on the 3 AM bus. None of the other directions given to passengers were intelligible as English. There was a mad rush to the door; we were pushed onto the bus and almost didn’t get a seat. The ride was bumpy and cramped, with loud passengers and a permeating aroma of sesame oil and piss. There was no introduction from the driver or explanation of why we were pulling off the highway when we did. The bathroom was graffiti-​bombed and littered with trash and wet toilet paper. I’m lucky my buddy pulled out his 12-​year bourbon and offered me a swig or it would have been a long night.
Do not ride this bus!

No no no no. No
Ok lady that sold the ticket barely spoke to me.
When the driver open the bus door there is no order the men bumrush the door
The lady who collected my ticker acted like she wasn’t gonna rip it to give me my half-​what was she gonna sell it again?
Some guy tried to ride with the back of his seat in my lap…& ignored me poking him then tried to get me to move to the back of the bus talking about «go sleep now» so I ever so gently shook the heck outta his seat till he eased it up. He then proceeds to talk on the phone for an HOUR!
With his sock feet all up in the air like he was in his momma house.
One stop in bay ridge BK. One stop Allen street Chinatown NYC
Take this bus as an absolute last resort-​as I had to.
We got there on time from DC to NYC so that is a plus.
Don’t expect anyone to have manners be nice or the employees to use words rather than hand gestures to communicate with you and you’ll be fine.

Probably one of the worst managed bus companies out there. Stinky buses w/​faulty restrooms, deceptive sales agents, and ignorant crew members all around with no civilized manner on how to run an important business.
I would stop giving them business if I were you and give Boltbus a try. Their bullshit is just not worth it. After nearly 5 yrs. of putting up with them I can say with absolute conviction that they’re not worth the trouble of testing your patience and wasting your time.
Oh and in case anything happens know that their buses are not insured.

biggest piece of shit ever! Got there 20 min. before i was supposed to leave, with our pre-​booked ticked, only to find a full bus. Were told that another bus would arrive soon, something that turned out to be 2 hours later.
The company has no reservation system, meaning that regardless of your reservation, you have not reserved anything. They were accepting people on the bus who had just bought their tickets from the woman in the office. The only way we managed to get on the bus was to push other people aside, old people as well as children.
Service was horrible. When the first bus left 18:00, and most of the ticketholders for that bus were left stranded, one expects some kind of explanation or compensation. The girl in the info. booth took her jacket and left the building, pretending not to speak English.
The bus itself, though rather shitty, even shittier, double meaning here, is the WC.
Never been on a worse organized trip, scam from here to Vladivostok.
–1 Star

Cramped seating, loud cell phone use and listless toddlers are just some of the annoyances I’ve encountered while embarking on a recent trip to New York via New Century Travel…
As a frequent traveler between Philadelphia and New York, I rely on good service to make my commute enjoyable and less mundane, hoping for some degree of reasonable comfort, convenience and speed to ensure a positive, memorable experience. Such things don’t always go as planned, allowing us to document a bad experience as a way of cautioning others to take heed and seek alternatives, thus avoiding frustration should they find themselves in unfortunate circumstances.
Enter New Century Travel, a discount bus service for getting frugal travelers between New York, Washington, DC and Philadelphia inexpensively. Without getting into specifics, I will say that there are alternative services, though more pricey, that get the job done better and with far less hassle. Annoyances aside, the most glaring problem with New Century has to do with its inability to adhere to schedule when we expect it to. In fact, it is not uncommon for buses not to show up or to depart well past their posted times. This can be frustrating if arriving on time is important, especially with the likelihood of running into traffic, en route. Additionally, buses may make unplanned stops to pick up passengers along the route (at non-​designated locations) or to refuel, no doubt lengthening travel. Another wrinkle is drivers who don’t use uniform routes when traveling between destinations. Its not uncommon to end up in Brooklyn without warning, even if unintentional. This, unfortunately, happens periodically and isn’t helped by non-​english speaking drivers who don’t seemed overly concerned about detours.
NCT’s rundown facilities (i.e, their bus terminal) is in desperate need of a makeover and lacks the modernization of competing vendors located nearby (Peter Pan and Greyhound). Additionally, its aging fleet of buses aren’t the most comfortable and will easily present problems for anyone over 6 feet looking for ample leg room. Once seating capacity is filled, standing is not permissible (for safety reasons) and stragglers must wait for the next departing bus. There are unisex bathrooms on all buses that often don’t effectively mask odors from use by riders who need to relieve themselves, making the journey for rear riders an unpleasant one. And if that isn’t enough to dissuade you, trying sitting around someone who yells into their cell phone during coversation, not caring about others around them. Or, near an out-​of-​control child whose parent (or parents) aren’t adept at controlling when they become irritable or ill-​mannered. Soon, you’ll have a better understanding of «caveat emptor,» leading you to wonder whether more research was needed beforehand in making a decision to go with NCT to save money.
Despite the negatives, a roundtrip ticket is $ 20 (one way is $ 12) between Philadelphia to New York City, making it far cheaper than taking the train (Septa Regional rail, $ 10, one way and New Jersey Transit from Trenton, $ 15, one way; a required connection). Buses usually depart in half hour increments depending on day or hour of travel, and if all goes according to plan, will stop at Canal street, allowing passengers access to subways (A, C, E or the 1) serving Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
Unfortunately, spartan service doesn’t provide satisfaction for demanding travelers and will likely disappoint most seeking a bargain or alternative to train travel. And with Greyhound just around the corner, NCT will need to do a lot to improve it’s image and stay competitive to retain loyalists who don’t mind a few inconveniences for a service short on luxury.

Well for $ 20 DC to NYC you can’t expect too much.
This is no frills travel, borderline dishonest, but CHEAP transportation.
Trying to catch this bus in DC can be a terrifying experience around the holidays, where like 200 people will buy tickets and expect to all be able to board a bus that seats 50. Last Thanksgiving I thought there was going to be a riot.
If you catch this bus out of NY it is a somewhat calmer scene because there are several other lines leaving from that same location. Caution: they WILL lie to you about departure time in order to sell tickets and fill the bus. Like telling you the bus is leaving «right now — right now» when in fact it doesn’t actually leave for another 90 minutes.
I have also heard many horror stories about the e-​ticket. Between the no-​refund policy and lying-​about-​departure-​time policy it seems like a way to try and steal your money.
What I do is look up the schedule online, then show up onsite and buy tickets CASH. And avoid this scene on holiday weekends if you can.
It is super cheap, but you do kind of have to work for it a little.

DO NOT USE NEW CENTURY BUS LINE! It should be reported to the Better Business Bureau (if it’s even operating legally in the first place.)
Here’s why you shouldn’t travel using this bus line…
250+ angry people standing on a sidewalk in DC all booked on the same bus. That’s right, i witnessed an angry mob waiting to get on the same bus going to new york on the 6pm bus on April 5^th, 2009. Most everyone had booked online. To make it worse the bus driver yelled and berated the upset people only escalating the shouts. Lots of yelling, pushing, and shoving ensued. The worse was when a small boy was nearly trampled while trying to board the bus causing more yelling and pushing. Scary stuff. Cops where called (but only too late — the busdriver simply closed it’s doors and sped off when they saw the cop car pull up.)
Instead of explaining the situation, the driver actually said «F*** you!» to the crowd of people and flicked off everyone before cowardly driving away. No one was given a refund. No one was offered a spot on the next bus. In fact, if you miss your bus, you technically have no right to get on the next one. No one announced when the next bus was arriving. I would think that this was an isolated incident on a busy weekend, but I’m told that it’s like that all the time. Shady stuff.
The trip TO DC from NY was somewhat uneventful: with the exception of the bus driver talking loudly on his cell phone for about 45 minutes while driving 125 or so people. That and the smell of pancakes and fishsticks. I’ve travelled most all of the chinatown buses to nyc-​dc, nyc-​boston, nyc-​philly. and it is true that you get what you pay for. So for the cost of the ticket, i kinda expected the cell phone use and the smell, even chickens in the back of the bus …
But the near riots and utter unconcern for passenger’s safety while boarding smells of something much worse… incompetence and disregard for human life.
Whatever you do, avoid New Century Travel at all cost — even if it is dirt cheap. A previous reviewer likened traveling on New Century like taking a ride on a Roulette wheel. I think it’s more like playing Russian Roulette — keep spinning the chamber and one of these days you’re gonna get… dead.
(I’m only giving this bus line 1 star because it was cheap, but even then I’m being generous. If only you can flag businesses as «in need of legal intervention.»)

So our saga traveling to DC on Inauguration Weekend starts w/​missing our 7:30 AM Bolt Bus by 6 minutes due to subway delays. Shit. I quickly whip out my blackberry and find New Century. I book 2 r/​t tickets and off we went. They had a couple of quick stops — Philly and Baltimore — but when we left the Philly depot they took a side tour to the bus wash. YES — THE BUS WASH w/​57 passengers onboard. We were all in shock, laughed, and shook our heads. People were taking pictures. It truly is one for the books at this point. We got to DC around 2:30. After two days of revelrie, the boy and I try to get back to NYC to catch the 8pm bus Inauguration night. This is how it went:
— Waited for three hours in the cold only to see a few Philly buses fillup and leave
–Man starts fighting w/​everyone in line (I think the same guy described by Rosaline C.)
–Police finally come and yell at the New Century staff for not organizing anybody.
–The boy and I decide to just go back to our friend’s place and try it again in the morning.
–Get there again at 10:30 am to find another 200 people waiting for the NYC bus — mostly people who could not get on the 8AM bus and were promised 2 more buses coming. We wait for an hour and a half.
–By 12PM I was pissed, tired, heavily congested and hungry. I whip out my Blackberry again and book greyhound bus tix home.
–Greyhound saved the day… we were home by 7:30.
Moral of the story? Leave earlier to catch the Bolt Bus!!!

Here’s the thing. New Century gets a 5 star from me in terms of getting us from NY 86 Allen St to DC 513 H St NW the day before the inauguration without a hitch. We flew thru the snow and everything, arriving in nearly 4 hours. WOW.
(FYI, be careful not to get confused with the other Chinatown bus company, Apex Bus, which is also on Allen St — 13 Allen St. They’re a competitor, so don’t assume they’ll accept your New Century tix.)
Another tip: Don’t come waltzing on the bus 5 min before departure. You’ll be SOL if the seats are all taken. Come 30 min early like they say.
Here’s where it gets 3 stars. They don’t email you your confirmation, so if you buy R/​T tickets, PLEASE print out 2 copies — they take yours. Online, it says you’ll get a voucher for a R/​T return anytime you wish. When I asked for mine, I was shooed off the bus and ignored! Now I’m left trying to talk to the barely-​English-​speaking office staff tomorrow to see if I can get another copy. Ugh.
5 for cheap, no nonsense travel. 2 for disorganized, unprofessional ticket service.

It took me from point A (NYC) to point B (DC) without any drama or transparent lies.
My complaints have to do with fellow travelers and amount of traffic day before Thanksgiving, so I’m not even going to get into all that, since the trail will lead to my laziness (for not making reservations for Bolt Bus earlier).
NCT is a solid consolation prize to Bolt Bus without all the craziness/​pushiness/​shadiness of Apex Bus and other options.
The NYC to DC bus I took made just one stop in Baltimore (no Midtown, no Philly).

Ah, New Century Travel.
Let me put it this way: It’s $ 20 roundtrip. If you travel at the right time, it’s a 1 hour, 45 minute trip. It’s $ 17 cheaper than SEPTA and roughly $ 193 cheaper than Amtrak.
So in my opinion, less than stellar buses, horrific bathrooms (unless it’s an emergency, why are you EVER using any bus bathroom to begin with?), the permanent scent of an unrecognizable chinese food dish and occasional confusion are worth putting up with.
My first trip was in May and it was alright. I bought my tickets and waited about a half hour for the bus to fill up. When it eventually did leave though, it got to Philly very quickly. The trip back was more of an ordeal as a bunch of us waited with confusion for over a half-​hour for the bus that was apparently stuck in traffic somewhere in New Jersey. However, the trip back was also quick.
Earlier this week I made another trip. I walked down East Broadway having just missed the 10 AM Wednesday morning bus. One of the (aggressive) women who work for New Century grabbed me by the arm: «WHERE YOU GOING?». I plunked down my $ 20 bucks for the trip to Philly, she grabbed my arm again and told me to wait on the corner. Huh.
Well, about 2 minutes later a bus came down the street and she shuffled me onto the bus. I don’t know where that bus came from, who was operating it, what time it left and I wasn’t entirely sure where it was going either. But sure enough, not even two hours later we were driving over the Ben Franklin Bridge.
The ride back was very quick too — 4:30 PM on a Wednesday. Left immediately, not even half-​full, rather warm though. But once again, not even 2 hours to get back to New York. They also drop you off at Franklin Street right near the 1 train if you wish to get off there.
New Century can be confusing. It’s not fancy and to be honest, I’m not 100% sure if I would take it if I had to be in Philly at a specific time. However, if you are in no particular rush and short on cash like myself, it’s definitely worth the trip. You aren’t going to get fancy for this price and that’s fine with me.

I’ve taken New Century Buses back and forth between college in DC and home in NY from 2003 – 2007 and have definately seen it change in those years. When I started, a one way was $ 15 and if you negotiated you could get a round trip for under $ 30. Back in the day, the buses were relatively new and almost always never more than ½ full, so you could take both seats or even whole aisles (although lying down, my ass always was situated in the empty aisle space so it was never comfortable). Now, with the popularity exploding, I’ve never not had to share a seat and they’ve added the decades old, semi refurbished buses to the lineup.
What’s not changed though, is the general uncomfortableness of the buses. Uncomfortable in a floor of the men’s room kind of way. Every time I go to the john on one of these buses, I’m glad I’m a man.
Some interesting New Century memories:
1. Hopping on a 2AM bus to NY the first day of Spring Break to rush home and pick up my passport.
2. Hopping the 7AM bus back to DC to catch my flight.
3. Leaving DC right after a blizzard and pulling into NY 4.5 hours later.
4. Leaving DC during a massive rainstorm and pulling into NY 4.5 hours later.
5. Leaving DC during sunny skys and pulling into NY 4.5 hours later.
6. Riding the shoulder of a highway to breeze by traffic
7. Squeezing into the last seat of the last bus Thanksgiving wednesday and staring out at the people who couldn’t board. (dog-​eat-​dog world!)
8. Smiling politely and declining as the man next to me offers me a swig from his vodka flask.
9. Feeling a slight bump as we sandwiched an SUV against the side of the bridge. Apparently, the SUV driver felt it could squeeze into the non-​existant lane next to us. It was pouring rain.
10. The introduction of the unofficial «bag handlers» (bums) on the DC side and tipping to increase the chance my bag will still be there in NY.
Good memories. Glad I’m not doing it anymore.

HORRIBLE. Just HORRIBLE. If I could give 0 stars, I would.
It’s 2 o’clock in the morning and my sister and I just got home using another bus company.
Here’s why: New Century does not honor its own online tickets.
I printed mine out and showed one to the driver in NYC. He simply waved me onto the bus where another lady collected our tickets. The ride there was fine, (albeit with no toilet paper or soap!)
On the way back, we board once again, but when the woman comes to collect my printout, she asks me where the «stamp» is. I tell her no one stamped it. She tells me the bus is not moving until I get off. The driver is called over and tells me to sign it and I’ll be fine. But the woman says, «Unless you can write Chinese, we can’t take it.» Now, my credit card info is on the ticket with my name on it, but she insists that I could’ve made copies anywhere – of course I could! I printed it from a computer! I don’t understand how I’m responsible for a staff member not doing his job. They shouldn’t have collected the ticket in NYC, I guess.
Anyway, we get off of the bus with a lot of choice words and follow her back to her station – and the bus leaves. Because I’m trying to reason with her, she says, «Why are you making my job harder?»
In the end, a random drunk man who tried to intervene and calm me down told us about another bus company around the corner, Apex Bus. We had to take a much later bus, but when we saw the Brooklyn Bridge, I was ready to kiss the ground!
New Century sucks and the service is indescribably awful. This was the worst experience I ever had and the closest I’ve ever come to killing somebody.
Is there someone who regulates these buses or is there no way to go to the top for complaints? I understand getting what I pay for, but being stranded in Philly at night is. not. cool.
(P.S.-we were dead broke and couldn’t afford more tickets. Payday is this coming Friday so I had a relative call Apex and buy tix).
Good luck!

This is the exact spot where my «Today Bus» grudgingly picked me up and pushed me aboard, so though we may be dealing with slightly different services, I think it’s safe to give my equally negative review.
Off to Philly for the weekend, I came forty minutes early to discover that the bus was already making the rounds for passengers, and that if I didn’t get on when I did, I might have failed to get on that bus at all DESPITE having already purchased a ticket.
Life is potentially unfair, isn’t it?
Luckily, I was able to hop on at the violent yelling and pushing of the women wrapped in scarves and suffocated by coats, and after the bus made another few rounds, we finally made our way out of Chinatown.
The trip lasted about as long as a car ride: two and a half hours. At one point I really really really needed to use the bathroom, so I pushed past the crowded aisle (hell, the seats themselves barely possess enough room), and headed for the blackness.
There didn’t seem to be a single light switch to illuminate my urination while the bus bounded along the highway. Somehow I managed to lift the toilet seat and hear the water sloshing inside, and did my business. As far as flushing this toilet, washing my hands, or doing any of the other normal tasks associated with the loo, none of these were accomplished; not only was there no flush handle, but no sink. Oh yes, and no toilet paper either.
I got to North Eleventh Street in one piece, but was deeply annoyed when I discovered that I could have taken a Greyhound Bus for the same price (twenty dollars). While on the surface, Chinatown Buses appear like the cheaper and possibly faster route, there are far better modes of transportation (dragging ones body through broken glass, for instance).
On my way back, I was treated with nastiness at the ticket office, though admittedly the bus got back to New York in only two hours.
I strongly recommend anyone looking for a lousy experience, and definitely a confusing one where everyone is asking each other if «this IS indeed the Philly-​bound bus,» to hop on Today’s immediately, and be prepared for epitome of mediocrity.

(This Philadelphia based company boards at Forsyth St every half hour/​hour during the week. You can read my more extensive review of this Chinatown bus service here:
)
My NYC experience of New Century? Oh the violence! I’ve never heard so many people threaten to punch someone in the face if they were pushed or shoved. Really people, chill the fuck out. Your short tempers are what’s wrong with the world.