Megabus DC

The bus showed up to the station and then took me to the place I had wanted to go and I am still alive. Got there 20 minutes later than expected but like who cares. They did what they said they would do.

I just returned from my nightmarish experience with Megabus last night. Now, I’ve experienced low cost carriers before — I’ve ridden on my share of Chinatown buses so I expected a more grander experience with Megabus but received the exact opposite. My ride to New York was pleasant — the bus seemed a bit dated but there were outlets available to charge my phone and the employees directed us to the appropriate areas and provided adequate direction. The only con I would note is the dated bus, limited leg room and not so clean bathroom.
My return to DC was another story. Our rallying point was the Javitz center which is in the middle of nowhere– a rare occurrence in NYC– and the closet restaurant is McDonalds. Unfortunately for us, our return was delayed by 40 minutes because of an accident and while Megabus sent an employee out to explain the situation, he was able to return to his warm car after he made the announcement. We were forced to stand outside — no chairs (waiting rooms be damned) in freezing temperatures for 40 minutes until our bus arrived. No apologies from the staff for the inconvenience, just subpar service. Once we boarded, we were greeted by another dated bus but this time we reserved table seats so we were forced to awkwardly face strangers for the duration of our trip. So if you’re comfortable potentially standing for hours outside waiting for your transportation with limited interactions with staff or few status updates, then this bus company is for you but I’m going elsewhere where my odds for improved customer service are greater.

Never taking Megabus again. Took six hours to get from DC to NYC not because of traffic but because it makes a completely out of the way stop in Newark, Delaware.

Even though we left a bit late the ride was steady and I had my own row so I slept most of the time… Due to the fact that I worked the night before somewhere. I arrived at my destination accordingly.

Would’ve given it zero stars if I could. The customer service sucks. The bus took off half an hour later than the original time. Their luggage policy is stricter than most airlines. I had one large luggage and a carry-​on luggage, but they said the carry-​on was too big and charged me $ 20 for it. Also the bus driver didn’t even know where he was going before taking off! The tickets are cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for.

I have been using them off and on for 4 years now… and I really can say this with all my heart I only deal with them if I have an early morning meeting and none of the other buses will get me there cause they are always having problems plus the always arrive later than the time giving no matter the road conditions.

The trick to taking Megabus is this: set your expectations really, really low. Then lower them some more.
I booked my ticket from DC to Pittsburgh before reading the Unilocal reviews, so by the time I boarded the bus, I expected the absolute worst. What I got was much better than I expected… but that’s because I expected my ride to match that of everyone’s nightmare reviews: basically a long, stinky, hot, zero-​star ride through hell.
My personal experience was not a ride through hell, but it was definitely not a party by any means. On the way to Pittsburgh, I got very lucky: my late-​night trip was clean, quiet and uncrowded (I had an empty seat next to me). The bus even arrived a few minutes early. If you need to take Megabus anywhere, I suggest taking the bus at an ungodly hour when no one else wants to travel.
The way back to DC was a different story. The bus was packed to the gills, and a passenger who uses a walker had trouble figuring out where to stow his walker and where to find an accessible seat without falling over. The bus driver refused to help, so the passengers around him had to help find a wheelchair-​accessible seat and carry his walker to the right place.
Then there’s Megabus’s false advertising. It loves to advertise its free WiFi and outlets for your devices, but this is true in only the most technical sense. I had a working outlet on my Pittsburgh-​bound bus, but on the way back to DC, the bus driver knew the outlets didn’t work, but only mentioned it after people complained. He actually shrugged and said they were broken because the bus was old and things sometimes just break. (It kind of makes you wonder what else will break.)
As for the WiFi: don’t plan to do any kind of work on the bus. Don’t plan to use the WiFi. The WiFi is a lie. It does not work.
This really should be a one star review, but I’m giving Megabus two stars only because it is cheap and because the ride to Pittsburgh was surprisingly undramatic and smooth. Sure, you get what you pay for. A dirt-​cheap bus is not going to be fun or organized or luxurious in any way. But low prices are not an excuse not to do regular maintenance, improve its customer service and keep in better communication with its passengers.

I wish it were possible to give 0 stars. I’m so over megabus. I have travelled with them at least 50 times and I haven’t had one relatively decent experience. Whenever there is a delay, no one ever says anything. The employees are rude and short with you, don’t care about your time in any way, and the buses are typically awful. Half of them don’t actually connect to wifi, have outlets (and when they do, they don’t work), and the bathrooms are always repulsive. So in summary: I will solely be taking the train or just not not be traveling…

I took the megabus from DC to Durham which includes a stop in Richmond, VA. Once we got on the road the ride was smooth.
Pros: cheap price, convenient locations, pretty decent departure and arrival times, decent space between individuals on the bus (compared to other buses). Felt safe. Clearly marked location for my boarding.
Cons: If your bus is running late there’s no way to know most times until it’s literally late. They will not do anything about it unless the bus is 45 minutes late, at which point all they do is track it. It cannot be tracked before that time.
Because it’s a bus you can hear other people’s music in their headphones which can be annoying on long trips.
The megabus workers at Union Station are not knowledgable of time schedules so if you have any questions just call customer service.
The wifi doesn’t allowstreaming (which is normal for bandwidth purposes)
Overall it’s decent for a cheap ride for a short period of time. I would spend more money to do a flight if the trips over 5 hrs.

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!!!

My worst experience since Indioesia in 1979.
93 degrees F in NY. Bus scheduled at 6.30 pm. Had to stay in line in the sun, no seats, until 7.10 pm
NO AC!!! During 4 and a heal hours, sweating like pigs, we were obliged to stay on our seats because theTOiLETS were BROKEN. The smell of urine invaded the 2 floors.
No excuse, apologies, and certainly no offer for a refund or even a voucher NOTIHNG
That company is like its toilets. It stinks. It starts with a S and ends with a Y.
I never had such a bad experience since Indonesia in 1979. You would have thought we had made progress since. Not for Megabus.

If I could give negative stars, I would.
I have waited 2 hours for the megabus to arrive. Meanwhile, the employees have either been clueless as to what was going on and did not inform any of the passengers on how long the wait would be. Also, the employees have been nothing but rude to us– when politely asking a question, they would respond rudely and aggressively. My sister accidentally pushed and rolled her suitcase to one of the employees and he pushed it back to her and demanded with a demeaning point of a finger, «you come over here and give it to me.»
The employees always look agitated, lack professionalism and do not understand the slightest ounce of what customer service even means.
I am absolutely furious because this has not even been the first time. I advise you to employ more professional staff members and to act quickly in the case of delays.

The bus was clean and comfortable. The driver was alert and avoiding a couple accidents that were totally not his fault.
The bus station is really big at Union Station but if you give yourself enough time, finding the bus isn’t an issue at all.

Super huge lot. It’s under the big train station which is fairly nice and on the inside. Other than that it’s a nice large pretty comfortable bus that’s comes with free wifi and plugs for phones etc. also the sonata is seats towards the front have tables.

I wish that zero stars was an option. It took us 8 hours to go from dc to New York with NO TRAFFIC, a trip that normally takes 4. I google-​mapped it before we left and they estimated 4 hours 15 min. We stopped for a half an hour to pick up extra passengers and then proceeded to drive 10mph under the speed limit. I have done this drive myself and it has never taken this long, even in standstill traffic on thanksgiving. We hit philly at the time we should have been in New York.
We also stopped to change drivers 30 mi outside New York and the new driver wasn’t even there! Even though we were 2 hours late.
I understand and appreciate the unpredictability of traffic, but if this is your general practice than do not promise a 4 hour ride. People make plans accordingly. People on this bus missed shows, planes, dinners, etc. I left work early for a 130 bus so I would have my evening in New York

This is by far the worst bus service I have ever taken. I ride the bus just about every other weekend, and I will do everything in my power to never ride Megabus again. After departing 15 minutes late for no reason whatsoever, the bus driver took the slowest route possible up from DC to Baltimore. A quick look at google maps could have shown that. His choice added another 30 minutes to our trip. We then stopped for another 30 minutes to pick people up in Maryland. That process could have taken 10 minutes, easily. And, after filling up the bus, two people with reservations were left on the curb in Maryland because Megabus overbooked.
After choosing the wrong route, leaving people with reservations behind, and stopping unnecessarily long to pick people up, the driver again stopped in New Jersey on the way to New York, wasting another half hour. This trip could have easily been 4.5 hours long. Instead it took six. On the plus side, at least I actually got to New York and wasn’t left behind.
This is a terrible company. If you want to go from DC to New York, I recommend taking Washington Deluxe or Bolt Bus. They are way better.

I’ve never had a majorly negative experience with Megabus but I’ve never really had very high expectations for it. I’ve taken it to New York on a few occasions and also to Blacksburg. There was one instance going home from Blacksburg to Union Station that the driver had to fuel up which was unexpected but the show go moving again. Another time coming back from NYC we got stuck in a snow storm and I thought the driver did decent job getting us home safely. With Megabus you just need to expect to get from point A to point B. I have noticed:
1. You need to book early. They jack up prices, especially around the holidays. I booked tickets to NYC during Thanksgiving for NYE and paid a decent price but a few weeks later, prices had quadrupled.
2. I’ve noticed that they number the «prime» seats in front and other desirable areas to get more money out of patrons which is a shame. I don’t know how enforced or popular these increased tickets are but I doubt people will buy them. Just be aware.

I can’t tell you how annoyed I am at the service from DC back to NYC… the slowest ever. The people running the service were slow, inefficient, didn’t care about being timely… arghh! So annoying and frustrating.
The bus left the station half an hour late, pulled over to pick up passengers later while the driver dawdled about getting back on the road, and that long, boring, prerecorded bus video was played twice… yuck.
Normally, for an inexpensive and direct form of transportation, Megabus isn’t bad but this trip was awful.

The return trip was not much better– it was more exciting though!
And I have to say, again, that the drivers are amazing. (except for the one who abandonded ship as soon as we arrived in Boston– see below)
The company seriously needs new mechanics or new buses or both.
Pluses:
Yes, it left on time.
And the wi-​fi worked.
And we got a table for the three of us with plugs and everything.
And there was NO construction traffic!
Minus’
And then we broke down in the middle of the highway.
Not over on the side. In the middle. Like the bus died and luckily the driver was in the HOV lane so we coasted to a stop in the buffer lane between that and the other 3 lanes whizzing by.
It was 3 am and traffic was lite. The diver and co-​pilot were ON IT. Called in, got the repair log out started working on a solution. A young, agro cop showed up semi-​immediately & started barking about how we couldn’t stay there (DUH) and then mysteriously, another bus pulled up. The drivers and co-​pilots humped all out luggage from one bus to the next (cursing all those little women with huge, overstuffed luggage) and then escorted us onto the bus. It was orderly. There were people standing in the aisles and on the stairs and basically even tho everyone was freaking out, behavior was not as brutal as one would think.
Until we finally pulled into the station in Boston. the bus stopped. the Driver got out, opened the luggage hatch and WALKED AWAY. Leaving the feral passengers to find their bags. That whole starving lemming rush started again (see prior review) Indulge me: WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??? You think you are the only one who wants their luggage and to go sleep in a bed??? Great, how about if you block the door and then stand there not doing anything, waiting passively for someone else to hand you your bag– which they can’t because you are standing there.
I came very close to losing my mind. All I can say is, people, buy a clue if you don’t have one.

Megabus is awesome… my first megabus experience… the ride is extremely enjoyable… I guess because I was on the bus when there wasn’t as many people as there suppose to be… so I guess luck!
Anyways back to my bus experience… There were comfy seats everywhere… looked like the double decker bus… I sat in the
bottom…there was two seatings where there was two mini tables where you can use during the ride… The seats are big and Comfy… with a lot of space in between… The buse driver is kind and attentive… we only made one stop for pick up… the bus was on time for drop off… so not late like the other buses… which is nice! The prices are reasonable… You can pretty much get deals online. but yes there is a charging fee which is about two dollars… which Is well worth it… Six hour ride back to New York took only four hours… great!
Mega bus is located in dc union station… up on the second floor outside of union square… the buses are numbered and need have tickets already out for check in… There is no chairs to wait… but be sure to be on time… when you miss the bus no refunds at all… even though I left dc in the worst mood… A least my ride was comfortable !