Hello, Just to let you know I am 'topsyturvy' over on Dooyoo. I am also very happy to finally be Br...
Hello, Just to let you know I am 'topsyturvy' over on Dooyoo. I am also very happy to finally be Bronze!! Thank you to everyone for reading and rating.
Member since:02.03.2002
Reviews:472
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While being in another country it is always a good idea to find out about the different travel methods, as you never know when you might need to use them. I had first heard of the Greyhound buses through watching American TV shows as they sometimes mention it but it had never really meant a lot to me. It wasn't until I was travelling the west coast of North America that I came across the idea that I needed to get places and do it cheap as well which is when I googled Greyhound. To sum them up they are basically like the North American version of Megabus, cheap travel and an okish service.
I first ordered with them through the website because it was easier to do, they do travel through Canada and America and I was booking a journey from Vancouver to Whistler which is roughly about an hour and a half. It
is best to book in advance as you will get a much better deal, it only cost $25 for the journey which was a return and I thought that was really cheap. It depends how long distance you want to go as you can literally go from Los Angeles all the way to New York but it depends if you like bus travel or not. I can only do short distance as I get a bit restless.
The next journey I booked was done by phone that was Los Angeles to San Diego as I couldn't have my payment go through since the address I wanted the tickets sent to didn't match my UK address. They accept most payment methods. By phone the name didn't come out right on my ticket as the woman obviously got confused by my accent but the ticket still came through and again this was a couple of hours this journey but was only about $17.50 which was a bargain if you think of the conversion rates.
On both bookings I decided to just collect my tickets at the Greyhound bus stations before going as their cities are a lot bigger than us and it was a lot of hassle to get them otherwise. It was easy enough just collecting them from the ticket desk as they were always there each time. My only problem with Greyhound which seemed to be a recurring pattern was that most of the departing stations were not exactly in the safest of places. In Vancouver it was very out of the way in a part I had never come across but didn't like being in at night. Then in LA it was Downtown LA where the station was and this was a very dodgy part of town, rough with a lot of people hanging around waiting for calls at phone boxes and that kind of thing. I got a lot of comments made when here and again I was not too happy with the area. In Whistler it was fine but that is a well off place anyway and in San Diego it was central but was easy to find.
The interior of the Greyhound buses was fine, the people using the buses were mainly travellers and every day people wanting to get to places but some were a bit strange. There were times when I got newer buses then times when they weren't as new but all were still very clean and the comfort was fine. I used to sit at the front to get more leg room but they are just typical coaches really. The driver has a list as everyone gets on the bus. I found most of the time the bus left on time usually which is good and they would always make a few stops on the way which is normal really.
On my trip to Whistler, I arrived on time both ways but we didn't have a lot to do there so got on the earlier bus and the driver didn't say anything which was good as otherwise it would have been a 2 hour wait on the next bus. If it was a busier time though I doubt we would have been allowed on the earlier bus.
On the way back from San Diego was my worst experience as there were too many booked onto the same bus and it arrived to the station late as well. People were getting aggressive because some weren't being let on and were being told to wait for another bus which would be coming soon. Luckily once people who weren't booked on that exact bus were taken off the problem was sorted.
With the Greyhound buses overall service, I would certainly use them again as for the price they were very good and I got to see a lot of places thanks to them otherwise it would have cost too much. They were comfortable and usually got places at the right time as I said my only issue was where the stations were as some were just not that nice.
The website is definitely easy to use and if you are going away this summer as a lot of students and people in general seem to do then you should have a look at day trips or journeys on this to check out the prices. They usually do a few trips a day to some locations and the times they do are normally quite good as well.
There are separate sites for the Canadian and American Greyhounds but both run the exact same service, except obviously fewer routes run from Canada.
The main American website can be found at http://www.greyhound.com . There are station locators on here so that you find your departure and arrival stations fine as this can be difficult if you are not from a certain city. There are also some online discounts if you book in advance or if you want to purchase priority seating. They do Road Rewards as well for frequent travellers giving passes, discounts and free journeys to people using the service regularly. There is a contact section also if you need to make complaints or even just general enquiries. There is also now a Mexican Greyhound website too.
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May 10th, 2009
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