Bolt Bus to NYC?

[notnatalie.livejournal.com]

Have you tried it? Thumbs up or down, or other suggestions to NYC (I won't do Fung Wah anymore!) It costs $15 one way the times I'm seeing, I'll pay more though if other options are clearly a higher quality or safer ride.

Comments

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

Thumbs up for the ride itself-- comfortable and smooth and with outlets and (spotty) wireless. And a neutral meh to the utter disorganization in the boarding area when taking it from NYC to Boston.

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

Though it's not nearly as disorganized as Megabus, which goes to like 8 locations from NYC, compared to Bolt's 2.

[kalibex.livejournal.com]

Nah, but 've done Megabus (wifi), Boston Deluxe (leaves from outside the Pru), and Lucky Star (safer Chinatown bus).

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

I like Bolt - clean, new buses with wireless (that sometimes doesnt work, but eh). The boarding area is a zoo, as mentioned above, but it does leave you in a convenient location.

[skexy.livejournal.com]

I did bolt once; it was ok; but I prefer to stick with greyhound for the convenience of going from south station to port authority. Bolt's drop off was standing outside penn station; ok for going down there; but it sucks if the weather's inclimate and you have to wait for the bus back. All the little company's have pickups all over the place on street corners.

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

What you call convenience I call the sketchy honor of having to make my way through the humanity at Port Authority ;) I'll take the Bolt Drop off Location, even if I have to suck it up and be slightly soggy from rain.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

Amen to this. Nobody ever yells gender-based obscenities at me for failing to let them steal my stuff in front of the Tick Tock Diner.

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

This, and hey, Tick Tock Diner, it's a diner, and neglectful staff aside..well, it's a diner!

love it

[wellthan.livejournal.com]

Love the bolt...
* I've found the boarding organized and not so zoo like. Most of the drivers actually board passengers by "letter group"and it tends to go smoothly.
* Buses are not overbooked so you always get on when you are scheduled to (unlike greyhound/peter pan)
* Internet is better than it used to be.
* The seats have more leg room than other buses because there is a clever cutout on the back of the seat in front of you.

[yourenotwithme.livejournal.com]

It's right outside of Penn. That's 100% convenient!

To the OP, Bolt is 100% awesome. Do it.

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

works swiftly and well.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Bolt

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

I was just in a long-distance relationship from NYC to Boston and took Bolt all the time. It's fantastic and the only way I'll go between the cities anymore. The wifi is amazing, bring a laptop and make sure you're at a seat with an outlet (ALMOST every seat has one). I have never felt unsafe. The drivers are good and I think the majority of the people who ride it are college students. The people working for them are generally really nice too, as long as you are nice to them and follow their rules. The boarding process is a little confusing the first time, but just look for the line corresponding to the letter on your ticket-- A, B, or C. If you create an account and are signed in when you buy your ticket, you get to be in the A group and board first, as long as you're in line when they start boarding (15-20 minutes before the bus is scheduled to leave). Five minutes before they leave, they let people on standby on the bus, so make sure you get there before that or else they can give your seat away. If you miss your bus, do standby for the next one. You can have your ticket texted to you, which I always did, and you also get an emailed copy so you can show them the email on your laptop/internet phone or print out a paper copy.

Also, do NOT take Megabus. I have had tickets for them four times. Three times they were >45 minutes late (twice I was waiting in NYC in the rain because their stop isn't covered, though Bolt's is, for the most part). The fourth was during a snowstorm. Bolt canceled a day ahead of time, and texted and emailed me to let me know. I switched to Megabus, making absolutely sure to check the "text me if there are service changes" box. I got there to find nobody at the place where the buses supposedly left from, and no sign. Other people showed up too. We waited, and finally someone called the service number only to find that all the buses that day were canceled. I had no email, no text. The kicker is that Bolt automatically refunded what I'd paid. Megabus required me to call the company with my reservation number, and then they had to call me back later in the week, in order to get my refund.

Re: Everything you ever wanted to know about Bolt

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the internet connection is pretty crap but it does the job. You can't do streaming movies (at least not without major buffering issues, and everyone else will hate you for slowing theirs down, and I think they even block Youtube), but you can check email and forums and whatnot.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Took Bolt from here to NYC, and then on to DC, and back. Was a good experience overall, as bus travel goes.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

I've also done the long distance relationship in NYC thing, and both me and my boy love Bolt. In fact, when I'm traveling up from DC to Boston at the end of the summer, I'm planning to do a double Bolt trip --outlets are godly, and when the wireless works, I'm pretty much in heaven.

(And when the wireless doesn't work? Well, then I kick myself for getting cranky about a first world problem and pull out a novel)

~Sor

[madrigal.livejournal.com]

I liked Bolt Bus. It was a comfortable ride, the wifi worked, and there is a stop halfway to grab some food. If you book early enough, you can get the $1 fare.

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

I love BoltBus. I've taken it twice and found the buses clean and comfortable (for a bus.) I even got a $1 fare last time I went! Yeah, getting dropped off on a street corner in NYC isn't so great but it's still midtown Manhattan (much better than being dropped off in Chinatown!)

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

I am a fan of Bolt. The one caution I would take is to double, triple-check your return reservation. I, and another person in line with me, somehow printed out tickets with different return dates than the ones we put into the website, so we had to buy new ones. Possibly we both just made dumb mistakes, but check anyway.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Love it. More room than the other bus lines, cleaner, you don't come out smelling like Peter Pan cinnamon, you can join Bolt Rewards for free and ALWAYS get bumped into the A group (to board first), cheap...and sometimes the internet even works. The boarding location in NYC can be tricky to find if you don't know the area, but it's right by Penn Station, so don't let anyone tell you it's remote - you can get anywhere from there.

Downside is you have no flexibility with the timing and have to treat your ticket like a train or flight - can't just hop on the next bus if your plans change. I find this a small concession to big benefits.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I prefer the Chinatown buses because of the flexibility. They have a good idea how many people will show up, so they run extra buses as needed.

I've never been turned away from the next bus when I show up without a reservation, even at peak weekend hours. Meanwhile, Bolt and Megabus are often entirely sold out a day or two before I want to travel.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I want to talk to these people who think Penn Station is remote. It's one stop away from the Port Authority, and it's in the middle of Midtown. If you're trying to get to LI or the parts of NJ that are on NJT, it's MORE convenient than the Port Authority. Who are these people?!

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Bolt is my fave BOS-NYC bus. Personally, I haven't had a problem with the wireless the 4 or 5 times I've taken it.

[rozhinka.livejournal.com]

Having tried all the South Station to NYC buses, I also prefer BoltBus. On my last ride down a couple of weeks ago, the driver did not do the rest stop at the fast food place, so do not count on it. On the way back, I was allowed to board an earlier bus that had empty seats.

[ron_newman]

I used Megabus a few weeks ago and it was comfortable and mostly fine, for $13 each way. The southbound bus arrived in NYC about 40 minutes late, but I don't consider that to be Megabus's fault. I got on an earlier northbound bus than I had a reservation for by paying a $5 change fee at a booth across the street from Megabus's NYC stop.

I'm not sure I'd want to do northbound Megabus in rain or winter weather, though, since you have to stand on the street instead of waiting in a bus terminal building.

[acidgalore.livejournal.com]

I like Bolt. It's generally clean and the seats comfortable. WiFi is slow, 3G is faster, but hey, it's an added convenience. Also, when I was coming back from NYC, there was epic traffic jam on the interstate, so the driver took side roads and made it back to Boston on time.

[gothic-hamlet.livejournal.com]

I love the Bolt.... when its services work. I will happily pay extra for the comfy seats, wifi, roominess, and friendliness of the driver. However, out of the 10 or so rides I've had, exactly half of them have had dead wifi, or have even put me on another, far more uncomfortable bus with zero explanation. These regular "oops"es miff me the heck off, but given the other choices out there I'll continue to ride with them.

[notnatalie.livejournal.com]

Thanks all! I am avoiding the computer this trip so I'll stash away the Wifi info for another time. I'm thinking I'll at least take Bolt there and see what works out for the return.

limoliner

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

if you have the money i highly recommend limoliner

assigned seats, comfortable, first-class chairs, bus steward serving food/drinks, and wifi and a clean bathroom, and satellite radio.

http://www.limoliner.com/

[ron_newman]

Tagging this 'mbta' just so it doesn't get lost.

Also, there's a new bus service to NYC from Alewife (and Riverside), starting next week: World Wide Bus