You couldn't pay ME to get on a bus. I don't care about the people on the bus, I just don't trust that the bus won't break down, that the driver will drive properly, and any other number of company-related things.

Everybody has exactly one experience with Greyhound, and they will never ride again after that experience.

Mine was a few years back, I had bought a car on ebay, and decided to take a Greyhound bus from Buffalo to Columbus, Ohio to pick it up.

What a disaster. The bus picked up a load of ex cons, directly from jail. Still wearing their prison issued plain shirts and pants.

Then we drove through the inner city of Columbus, and picked up some more upstanding citizens. The one guy who got on was so coked up, he had bloodshot eyes, and had his head tilted back on the headrest of the seat. He was stuffing tissues up his nose, his nose was dripping blood.

If you must travel by ground, rent a car. Its usually way cheaper than greyhound, and will get you there faster.

In college myself and a few of my friends took Greyhound from Minneapolis to Milwaukee or Chicago sometimes, and we all had nothing but horror stories. My worst trip was when the bus stopped in Ass Rape, Wisconsin, and sat on an interstate exit while we waited for a replacement bus driver, because the current one was over his limit for driving hours. I also caught the flu on that trip. A friend got his wallet stolen off of him while he slept on the bus. My friends now use Megabus (tickets are $1 to $20 round trip). I either fly or drive myself; I'll never go Greyhound ever again.

If you are traveling on a budget, I highly recommend Amtrak. Yes, train travel is slow, but its slightly more enjoyable than bus and its not used by convicts straight out of prison.

There's only a few bus trips I've taken that haven't been horrid. I went to college in the hills of New Hampshire, so bus was the only method of transportation to the nearest airports (Boston, Manchester, or Burlington). Most of those were nice trips, because those were friendly, helpful, non-greyhound bus people.

Then again, I took a bus from NYC to Boston. Never again.

That is really a shame. I have never had anything but good experiences with them. I once got on the wrong bus, ended 5 hrs from my destination with no money and they sent me home free. A second time I lost my x-country ticket and they let me on anyway. A third time a bus was full so they let us stand and refunded the tickets for the entire bus because 6 or 8 of us stood for 2 hours, and was entirely their idea. Any time the bus is full, they usually send another. Maybe the policies are different in the US as opposed to Canada but I doubt it as it is the sams company.

That is a shame. They were probably confused by your having luggage to carry your belongings rather than trash bags. Speaking from experience, the Dallas bus station is grim.

One way Austin to Albuquerque for 2 adults one child on Greyhound was 207 for a 7 day advance purchase and takes 19+ hours. Same on Southwest Airlines is just over 300 and takes three hours.

Montey's tight and all, but that doesn't seem like much of a choice.

Too bad you have to forego your right to personal privacy to travel by air. For those of us who don't take that for granted, air travel simply isn't an option.

Amtrak isn't cheaper than flying.

I find it funny when people choose the CHEAPEST, most disreputable choice available and then complain.

alvin- you don't have a right to privacy when you're on someone else's property.

Small claims time for this family. Well, depending on how much the plane tickets cost, could be too expensive for small claims.

Amtrak costs more, but you get leg room and most of your fellow passengers aren't scary.

Not to mention that the Greyhound bus depot in Dallas is in a dangerous location in downtown anyway. Avoid it at all costs.

Once on a trip from California to Texas on Greyhound the bus driver on the bus I was on just up and walked off during a stop at a restaurant because he was mad that he got called in on his day off! We had to wait around quite a while for the replacement driver to arrive. I guess we were lucky he didn't throw his fit out in the desert somewhere where we would have all just been stranded.

It's about time Megabus and others muscled in... Greyhound has had a free ride in this market for decades. With airlines getting more and more expensive, there IS room for an upscale long-distance bus service. As it is, I never consider Greyhound because of the trashy clientele and Greyhound's highly urbanized locations, which are difficult for suburban people like myself to get to. If the market will bother to offer a change, I'll take it.

And I agree -- small claims court all the way... most likely they will settle the case.

In Pittsburgh they moved the greyhound "terminal" from next to the train station in downtown (which wasn't really accessible by bus but was at least walkable) to a "temporary" location under an interstate overpass, where you have to climb hills and go through blighted areas of town to go anywhere. No wonder the local colleges are operating their own buses come break time.

I have traveled long-haul and short-haul across the United States and Europe by bus, on Greyhound and other lines, and I never had an experience anything like this. If you keep your wits about you and make reasonable accomodations for your personal safety and comfort - the same as you would for any urban transit - express bus lines can be an economical and pleasant way to travel. I hope that Greyhound comes through and makes things right for this family.

@swalve: I was waiting for some moron to blame the victims here.
Maybe they couldn't afford any other transportation, so we should cut them a break. Greyhound screws them over and it's their fault for thinking that wouldn't happen.
Next time, think before you type instead of trying to impress everyone with your quick wit.

@ALVIS

Constitutional rights (right to privacy) are not waived when a person enters private property. You are thinking of the former Soviet Union.

I also deplore Greyhound:

On the Montreal-NYC route, the bus broke down on the New Jersey Turnpike. The bus driver tried several times to resurrect the bus, but to not avail. Stuck, in the middle of August - without air, and without a way to get off the bus.

Not ideal, but shit happens.

The kicker, however, was when somebody at Greyhound decided that they would 'tow' the bus, fully loaded with passengers. Since the passengers couldn't exactly exit the bus on a busy expressway, towing the passengers to the nearest exit(a 30 second drive)would have been a plausible solution. But, instead, the bus was towed OVER an overpass, probably the scariest moment of my life. The bus came close to tipping over more than once, to the point where I had to close my eyes and pray we'd be safe. Then, after driving for 10 minutes, the bus dropped us off at a different exit, where we had to wait another hour for a bus to pick us up.

I made phone calls, wrote letters to upper management, and NOTHING. They wrote back to say they would re-imburse my tickets, but never did anything.

Of course, after that incident, I'll never step foot inside a Greyhound bus again... and I cringed listening to Harold's story, yet none of it was really surprising.

SWALVE- Your theory on constitutional law is fortunately completely wrong. See Bond v. United States, 529 U.S. 334 (2000). (holding that squeezing a bus passengers bag is a violation of 4th Amendment's proscription against undreasonable searches); Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91 (1990) (overnight guests have a reasonable expectation of privacy)

If your theory abour private proepry property were correct, the police wouldn't bother to get warrants. Instead they could just wait for suspected criminals to enter a Target or a Walmart to perform a search.

That Greyhound Bus Station in Dallas is absolutely horrendous! Or, at least it was the one and only time that I ever used it. It was packed full of people, and I had no idea where I was supposed to be to get on my bus. I finally went through a door I don't think I was supposed to use, and asked an employee where the bus was. I also used Greyhound a lot in college. Luckily, I've never had any bad experiences after getting on the bus.

@IDEALGIRl

Actually Alvin is right... not to get into a legal argument... but our Constitution protects us from our government... NOT from private corporations. Only legislation can protect us from corporations.

So your freedom of speech and privacy are most certainly vacated on private property. These rights hoever, do tend to exist when they are created by law (not the Constitution)... our Federal and State legislatures establish the freedom of privacy and speech on private property.

However, these rights are never as great as our rights to freedom of speech and privacy vis-a-vis our government.

Long story short... if you stand up IN a Starbucks and try to exert your freedom of speech you CAN be kicked out immediately. If you make a sign and walk on the public sidewalk and obey the law in other regards then you are allowed to stay on that sidewalk with your sign.

On privacy... if the government (Police, etc) goes through your drawers in your apartment it violates the CONSTITUTION. If your landlord goes through your drawers then it (most likely) violates statute (Federal, State, Municipal, etc).

Just to be clear...I'm all for freedom of speech and privacy...let's just understand where we can fight and what we can fight...and how we can fight! :-)

APDL, Esq.

PS: Yes I'm a lawyer...the aforementioned post should not be construed as legal advice, always consult your own attorney. :-)

I spent my junior year at Oxford. I took the bus every time I went to London and found them reliable, clean and convenient. There were three diffrent companies competing on price, service, etc. on the same route. I don't understand why this can't be done in the US along the Boston-NY-Phil-Baltimore-DC corridor.

@uricmu: You forgot to mention the fun fact that the temporary Greyhound station in Pittsburgh is also located next to the county jail.

I've traveled throughout the northeast on Greyhound; and never had any trouble with 'em. Sure, you have you stand in line for seats (kinda like most people do in airports anyways.... yeah, you know you do it...) but so far, so good.

I had an absolutly horrid experience with a bus when I was in 8th grade and therefore will never get on one again. I think if you gave me the choice I would fly, albeit I would try to become as informed as possible about flying before attemping it as I have never flown on a plane before.

Lets just say it involves a broken down bus with a lot of 7-8th graders on the way home from a class trip to Cedar point and getting stuck at a gas station in the extreme ghetto of (somewhere in ohio, I think it was cleveland or cincinatti) for several hours in the middle of the night while they sent a new bus out to pick up the group. Later we found out that they had knowingly sent a faulty bus for our trip, what kind of company sends a faulty bus for what is essentially a kids field trip???? They didn't even have the proper safety eqiupment like a flashlight, thats right I had to lend them my flashlight, thankfully someone like me was smart enough to bring one on the trip!

I tried to ride Greyhound from Philly to DC. I didn't have as bad a time as some of the other commenters, and not nearly as bad as the OP, but it was a horrible experience nonetheless.

Soon after I found the "chinese bus"; a small bus company run out of chinatown that goes from NYC all the way to Richmond, VA. It stops in Philly and DC, and makes a quick loop in Baltimore, but otherwise is non-stop so it's faster, it's more efficient, oh and it's half the price. Round trip tickets from Phily to DC and back only cost $28, compared to $43 for Greyhound and $80 for Amtrak. Hell, I can't even put gas in my car for what it costs to take this bus.
There are downsides. The station in DC is in the basement of a house in chinatown, the employees don't speak but a few words of engrish, they don't announce which bus is going where and they don't care if you miss it or not. The bus itself just shows up at the corner and you're supposed to magically know where it's going and that you should get on it. For the value though, I think it's worth it. For those who are interested, check out the site at www.2000coach.com.

Taking a bus as an adult is one thing but taking a family....Just dam.

When I was flat broke and living in NYC, I had to take the Greyhound to Boston for a job interview. The difference between a bus and a train ticket was about 50 bucks. I'm in my suit, heels, and stockings, waiting for HOURS in the Port Authority that smelled like pee and upchuck. The bus was to capacity, and I sat next to the guy with the worst BO. The driver informed us that the toilet was broken, so we could (and this is an accurate quote) "fill it up, but don't empty" the commode. My mouth-breather seat-mate stared at my breasts the whole ride, and when we finally pulled into Bean Town he leaned over and whispered in a grainy voice, "Would you like some company tonight?" Such a harrowing experience I would never take the bus again.

I will say that the Greyhound system here in LA at Union Station are not only clean, but also work with public transportation and Amtrak lines for your convenience.

I rode Greyhound from Birmingham to New York City when I was 17. The drivers were short and rude and my misunderstanding made my 22 hour trip turn into something like 27 hours. But I really wasn't expecting much. You can't really blame the drivers for attitude if you stop and take note of 85% of people who are there riding. It really was the cheapest way for me to travel that summer, and all in all it wasn't that awful. I'm pretty sure I saw Ron Jermey at a South Carolina bus stop at 3am, or maybe I was just delirious... anyways, if I could afford a better route of travel, I will obviously take it, but the bus wasn't that bad.

Unfortunately I'm a Greyhound veteran. I've done Seattle to Grand Forks, ND three times, Seattle to Portland, Seattle to Spokane, Portland to San Diego, and Denver to Chicago. Greyhound sucks. Greyhounds sucks bigtime. I'm not at all surprised by this story.

Amtrak is well worth the small premium. If you have to take the bus and you're in the midwest, do the megabus. Cheaper, cleaner, faster, and safer than Greyhound.

Here are some problems with Greyhound.
1. Despite the typically bad neighborhood where stations are located, the police/security presence is slim.
1.a. Criminals can hang out in a station all day, learn the lay of the land around, find all the nooks & crannies within the station, and wait to feast on the happless, exhausted travelers who have to carry all of their luggage with them while on 3 hour lay-overs in the middle of their 21 hour trip. As stated in # 1, the police/security presence is not optimal.

2. If you have no car, little money, and no friend willing to drive your carless broke ass, then Greyhound is pretty much your only option. The bad thing is, like a vain pretty woman, Greyhound is self-aware, and uses it to their advantage. They can treat their passengers like crap, hell, like crap's crap, but the passengers have no other options, so why should Greyhound care since this seems to save them money? Granted, if that passenger makes enough money one day to buy a car or take a plane, Greyhound loses that customer, but there always seems to be someone to take their place. Also granted, if they treated their passengers better, they'd get more passengers.
2.a. Examples of being treated like crap include: losing luggage (see the OP), leaving passengers in the middle of a trip, slow service (at the counter, on the road, etc), missing connections due to the slow service (and then not caring that they've put you in that situation), horrible accomodations, filthy buses, filty stations (like, you know, the bathrooms?), etc.

3. Travel times are through the roof - and that's scheduled travel times. Actual travel time go beyond the scheduled times maybe 3 out of 4 trips. A trip that I can make in 6 hours by car is scheduled at 15-18 hours by Greyhound.

4. Greyhound, despite being one of the only commercial means that goes to a fairly localized level, has had to cut back on the number of locales that they cover. It was in an effort to save costs, but it cut off some small communities that now have no means of commercial travel.

I'd be happy to see Greyhound put to sleep, but I know that it would strand lots of people who need to travel, that is if no other company was there to replace Greyhound. Competing with Greyhound on a national scale will be a slow and expensive process, much like competing with a utility. Greyhound has the infrastructure in place that all competitors will have to match.

@ALEXPDL

Thank you for clarifying that issue, I stand corrected : )

About about 2 months ago, my husband took a trip on Greyhound from Jackson, Mississippi (horrid station with Lacresha attitude counter reps!) to Lafayette, Louisiana. Only affordable way he could get there at the time as I had to work and couldn't take him. It's a 4 hour trip one way via car.. 8 hours on the Greyhound.

He told me he asked the driver of his bus, if that was the bus to Lafayette. You couldn't hear the announcements of which bus was going where at what gate, because of all the loud buses and talking people. The driver looked at him and asked him if he was "on drugs or just dumb"...???? That's customer service for ya. Hubby told him to go fuck himself when he got off in Lafayette.

Greyhound drivers are old, crotchety men that couldn't pass a piss test to drive an 18-wheeler.

We made the decision that from now on, we'd pay for another mode of transportation, even if it put us in the poor house.

I have only taken Greyhound once for anything other than service in the next state over -- going from Houston to Louisiana, the price difference versus flying is a bit more dramatic, especially if you're going on short notice.

The big thing one should pay attention to for budget ground travel, IMHO is the foreign bus lines that are getting U.S. routes. I've been quite pleased with the level of service versus the price. I paid about $80 to go round trip from Houston to Monterrey. Since I took the overnight bus, I just slept on the bus, and didn't really lose that much time.

The bus was much cleaner, both in appearance and in smell, than anything I've ever seen Greyhound provide (BTW, they would have charged 50% more for the service, and I would have had to walk my baggage across the border).

I'm fortunate enough to have only taken short trips on Greyhound (180 miles). Obviously this person encountered some real asshole employees, but I contend that it is mostly the fault of Greyhound management and their policies. The employees get frustrated having to deal with such a crappy system. After you've told a few hundred people that their bus is overbooked and watched them burst into tears it is easy to get jaded.

Greyhound has the worst overbooking policies I have ever encountered. It says right on the ticket that having such a piece of paper does not guarantee you will get a seat. It all depends on how many people get on the bus at the stop before you. The town I go to school in is the last stop before Seattle, so I have yet to see everyone waiting at the stop with a ticket get a seat.

Also, their prices aren't that great for shorter trips. I can drive the 180-miles home for cheaper than a Greyhound ticket. (Obviously there is depreciation and maintenance to consider as well.) For longer trips, say 800-miles, it is definitely the cheapest way to go. But there are externalities to consider, like your mental health.

The last time I rode on a Greyhound was because I had recently collapsed a lung and could not fly on an airplane because of the pressure changes.

While on my 26 hour trip, I fell asleep. While asleep I was robbed. I eventually found my wallet empty in the back of the bus on the floor.

I reported to the driver $200 in cash and my credit cards were stolen. At which point another passenger accused me of probably stealing from them because I had been crawling on the floor (looking for my wallet).

Greyhound did nothing for me and never even notified the police.

Worst travel experience ever.

I tried Greyhound once and won't ever do it again. For a bus from Reno to San Francisco, I arrived over an hour before the bus' 6:45 p.m. departure. There was a line of only about 5 people, but unfortunately the station was being manned by two employees incapable of handling anything more than a basic transaction.

By the time I got to the front, it was 20 minutes to departure. I was informed that I couldn't buy a ticket because tickets have to be purchased 30 minutes in advance of departure, and that I'd have to wait at the station with wine-soaked failed gamblers for four hours to get on the next bus. After much debate through gritted teeth, I finally convinced the attendant to let me get on the bus.

While the driver was actually pleasant and efficient, I spent most of the trip trapped in my window seat by the aisle-seat passenger, who insisted on carrying a full-size folded up comforter and massive tote bag in her lap. Although she wasn't as bad as the scraggly potheads in front of us, who merrily toked up together in their seats. When I finally did arrive in San Francisco, I was greeted by the sight of a homeless man urinating against a wall and runaways camped in the station.

Unfortunately, it's probably the only option for poor people. Planes and Amtrak are more pleasant, but also more expensive and going by train takes forever.

@AlexPDL: If you're telling us to ask someone else, then why should we bother listening to your advice? It doesn't make you look good when you say something, then proceed to say "I'm telling you this, but I dont think my advice is any good, you should ask someone else."

I sure as hell wouldn't hire you with an attitude like that. I'd rather hire someone who has faith in their own words.

Considering it's a 4 hr drive to the nearest train station that's still functioning, it's either fly, Greyhound, or renting a car.

I've never taken Greyhound, but I do wonder why they tend to suck so much. I've taken buses in Europe and Central America -- good experience every time. The buses in Central America totally surprised me -- brand new Mercedes-Benz coaches with reclining seats and food service!

Something to ponder, supposedly TSA spends money on Greyhound security.

"Constitutional rights (right to privacy) are not waived when a person enters private property. You are thinking of the former Soviet Union."

Soviet Union circa 1975 = United States circa 2015

@werdna:
I don't think I've ever heard the words 'Amtrak' and 'budget' in the same sentence without a negative in there somewhere. Amtrak is now more expensive than flying, at least in the Northeast corridor.

Re interesting bus experiences: The last time I took a Peter Pan bus, there were two drug mules behind me who spent the ride comparing the quality of their heroin.

@Buran: Don't get your panties in a bunch, he was just covering his ass. Seriously dude, how do you get

I'm telling you this, but I dont think my advice is any good, you should ask someone else.

from

Yes I'm a lawyer...the aforementioned post should not be construed as legal advice, always consult your own attorney.

It's a standard disclaimer, dude. I don't think that any of the lawyers on this site would actually endorse their views and opinions as "legal advice". More trouble than it's worth.

Wow, maybe it's just me... but I've never had any horror stories from riding the bus. I've done Toronto-Ottawa, Ottawa-Boston, and a number of NYC-Boston trips on the Fung-Wah and the Greyhound... never had a single problem. Maybe I'm just lucky.

@ideagirl:

You don't need ID to fly, btw, you just get the more detailed search (i.e. SSSS).

We don't even have a Greyhound terminal anymore. The only options to get out of here is a car or flying.
At least here flying is not just a little more it is much more than other potential options.
Flying to Chicago $500 round trip
Amtrak to Chicago $165 round trip (but you have to drive 3 hours to get to the station)
Greyhound was $75 round trip (when we had it)

Why are they not expanding Amtrak?

For those traveling between NYC and Boston who can't or don't want to fly, there is apparently also Limoliner as a choice. {Prof. Jonathan}

I'm really surprised at how many commenters say that Amtrak is a viable option. The Amtrak route nearest me habitually runs 10-12 hours late, derails about 5 times a year, and is incapable of giving accurate estimates as to when a late train will arrive. And the last time my mother-in-law took a train, a passenger decided it would be a good idea to bring along a giant plastic bag of live crabs, all of which died en route and began to smell up the train. I wish I was making that last part up...

Sheesh, I've never ridden a Greyhouse outside of Texas or the Midwest and it sounds like I don't want to. I've never had a problem with Greyhound and I've certainly never had problems with the passengers. Sure, most are poor, but that doesn't bother me. Poor and criminal aren't synonymous.