I just bought a ticket to New York City (the first leg of my trip home to Connecticut) aboard BoltBus, the newest arrival on the DC-NYC bus scene, and it felt great. BoltBus’s claim to fame is its ridiculously cheap $1 tickets; even with a service fee, my ticket cost me a mere $1.50. The catch? BoltBus offers very few $1 tickets for each ride, so you’ve got to book way in advance to snag the tickets before the prices jump up to $7, 10, or more. (After I bought my ticket, the price for the same bus shot up to $7.)  My ticket’s for May 10, an approximate date for when I might want to go home, based on my exam schedule. It’s still two months away, which makes the ticket a bit of a gamble, but for $1.50, I’d bet on pretty much anything.

BoltBus’s $7 or $10 fares are still a steal. Even the bargain Chinatown buses like Apex or Today charge $20, or $17.50 if you buy round-trip. (Incidentally, they also smell a bit off, offer horrible service and are notoriously unreliable. I swore them off  after the last one I took left New York a solid two and a half hours after it was supposed to.) Unlike the Chinatown buses, BoltBus also has wi-fi and electrical outlets so you can surf all the way up the eastern seaboard.  What more could you ask for?

I’d advise anyone who’s traveling anywhere remotely close to New York after school gets out to buy a ticket right now. Even if your plans change and you end up not using it, the thrill alone of buying a bus ticket for $1.50 is practically worth the $1.50.

Personally, I had thought the days of “Caveat Emptor” were far behind us. Warranties, insurance, refunds, and receipts–it’s impossible for a corporation to steal from one of the little people these days, isn’t it? I must have gotten too comfortable in this belief though, because this weekend Greyhound decided to show me who really is the boss. After purchasing bus tickets three weeks in advance and receiving a 14-day advance rate of $58 rather than $88, I was feeling pretty excellent about my decision to return to North Carolina over Columbus Day weekend. So there I was, one hour early just like the website advised, standing in line at Gate 6 to board my bus. Ten minutes before the bus was supposed to leave, the line began to move forward. (more…)