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MegaBus...not so mega?
Posted: Dec 25, 2007 in Things to do
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My experience with megabus.com wasn't so peachy as Jim's was on his adventure to Chicago.
I showed up 25 minutes before departure on a freeeeezing December 6th, only 2 others were outside, but at least I was early right? Wrong. Others started to trickle in, and the rest of us were still waiting. Waiting, for 2 hours to be exact. After calling megabus 3 times, (1 from my rather sometimes intimidating father) I heard 1. your bus will be there in 30 min, 2. your bus broke down, but should arrive within the hour, and 3. your bus is not coming, but a new one from Cincy will be there for the next departure of 11:45a. So after freezing all of my limbs off... I was planning on meeting my friends at our awesome hotel in Chicago by Noon, (no, I didn't make it by then) And perhaps meeting up with a friend that lives downtown Chicago, (needless to say that didn't happen until late evening.) Our bus ride up seemed rather quick, even the bus driver took some "short-cuts" to get away from some of the awful traffic. Union Station wasn't crazy, but the guy that hailed me a cab was, so I got outta there fast. My 4 days in Chicago was amazing, captured some amazing pictures, spent time with friends I never get to see, and even enjoyed a few slices of Chicago style deep dish. Now, the journey home was another story... I arrived at Union Station only 6.5 hours early, shocker right? Well, I had to leave the hotel by a certain time, my friends left, and frankly I didn't have much else to do. I will slide past the scary moment (or 50) that I had while waiting for the bus inside, and roll directly to lining up for the bus. So, I am already cranky as heck whilst waiting for the bus to arrive (since I had already been sitting/standing/reading forever in the "terminal") Time to board... our bus shows up, I think only 20 minutes late (so, I'm feeling good about this) Everyone runs to the bus like Brad Pitt is on board, and I'm like crap I gotta get on! There is a line full of old people pushing and shoving to get on board and I am just in awe of how rude people can be... so I politely mumble in my head some not so classy words as I board. Figured if I think they don't hear me, they can't get mad. So we are all aboard, I get car sick easily, so I hop my bum to the front seat, right behind the driver, lucky me. Well our driver was seriously scarier than Large Marge, and I wanted to hide. I guess I would rather have her for me, than against me. Okay, okay, well traffic was horrible, of course, but being in the big bus made me feel like we weren't even moving. We went 10 feet and I was already "bus-sick". Fantastic. So I'm really having the worst ride home, texting people and watching a flick on the macbook pro seemed to improve my mood slightly. We stop in random Zionsville at a truck stop/Popeye's Chicken... great 25 minutes to sit here and delay my trip home more. I accidentally spill granola all over Barb's bus, I try to clean it up so she won't bite my face off... she comes on with mash potatoes and a beer, no wait some other pop of choice. Well 5 hours later, we made it home. In the rain, cold, dark, scary... dropped off next to an all "lights off" City-County building. So the fear of being attacked crossed my mind quite a few times, thank God for mace and a knife that I carry around. Needless to say I haven't booked my next megabus.com trip.
note: my apologies for the severe use of run-on's my eyes were tired, and i haven't had the time to edit.
Yeah, the megabus can be late. This isn't news for regular travelers. If you're on business, this sucks.. but if you're just hanging out.. big whoop.
The dudes hailing people cabs at Union Station are just using the "fish out of water" folks. They just want a tip for "getting you a cab" which is one of the easier things to do on your own in Chicago. Hardly scary.
The stop in Zionsville is a regular stop on the way back to Indy. Every time I've ridden there is a stop each way.. whatever, I figure the driver needs a break.. they've been driving all day.
You're really scared to be in downtown Indianapolis at night?? come on. You're in about as much danger as bunny at petting zoo. All you need to do is call a cab service when you're about 15 minutes away and they will meet you at the stop.. or you can go down the street to the conrad or really hotel in the downtown area.. there are cabs waiting there 24 hours a day.
For the price, I'm a megabus customer as long as they are in business..
EDIT: Writing this I had no idea you were female (nor did I really care), but I do understand the potential fears of being alone in the city.. chicago or indy.
Oh darling... I lived downtown for 2 years, and worked at Rock Bottom where I had to walk home at 3am with 200 dollars cash on me... I wasn't scared, I was just trying to paint a picture. My friends have taken megabus 400 times, and never once had a problem. I took their advice and went for it. I'm not "high maintenance", I went to Mexico to build a house and didn't shower for a week. I don't care. I don't need make up to feel pretty and I rarely do my nails. I'm just saying, Chicago was great... my megabus day wasn't.
The picture you painted was that you were frightened the whole time. Like one of those people from the 'burbs that have never spent a minute in the city. Clearly this isn't the case, but it was impression that I got.
I didn't mean any offense, but the high maintenance comment wasn't about being "feminine" but rather your expectations of a cheap bus ride.. again I didn't realized you were even a girl until after my post.
bummer you had a bad experience, it's great/cheap way to travel.
darling.
So... if you were heading to Chicago 2 morrow, would you consider taking the MegaBus again??
Someone's digging up posts to get points ;-) but anyways I have a couple friends who use it a lot from Chicago back to Indy and they all love it.
could be that :)... or maybe while looking at people's pages, I saw something that interested me. i gotta gig in chicago in the middle of this month, and I HATE driving that 3 hours back home after a show. You ever been on the MegaBus?
PS you don't get points for commenting on someone else's topic do you? I thought only the ORIGINATOR got points... but I am fairly new on here, so I could be wrong...
I prefer Amtrak...I know it leaves hella-early, but its usually on time and a nice comfortable trip to Chi-town for a few bucks more than Megapus.
I prefer Amtrak...I know it leaves hella-early, but its usually on time and a nice ...
While I enjoy the Amtrak trip especially if I want to get work done (electrical outlets are available.) It takes sometimes twice as long (5-6 hours) to get to Chicago as Megabus and costs quite a bit more. I've never paid more than $8 (one way) for Megabus. The only time Amtrak is even close to a good deal is when you get the "hot deal" then it's still $30+ round trip (not expensive really, but not really cost/time efficient.)
One Amtrak advantage is the possibility of being able to bring your bicycle on the train. I really wish megabus would allow you to bring a bike (broken down), there is always a ton of room underneath.
could be that :)... or maybe while looking at people's pages, I saw something that ...
Nope you get points for commenting, not many though. I think it's three so +3 for me!
wow, thanks guys... i'm getting feedback and giving points to you guys, it's a win | win.
Too bad we don't have a China Town. That bus system out of Philly to New York/DC/Maryland/etc. was great, ran often, mostly on time, blah blah blah, but I guess this is Indy and not Philly (I forget sometimes). Good to know about the Megabus though. Better not to have high expectations. :) I just wish there was one to Cleveland/Akron OH area. Then it might be useful to me. :) Anywho...