Train/Bus price comparison

[Shortline]

Just booked a trip on short notice, leaving tomorrow, OKC-AUS, for 2, returning this week. Total price? Right around $204 total, for both RT. On a whim, I also priced it on Greyhound, just to see how much cheaper the bus is (though I would fly, drive or take the train anyway). Thought it was strange, but the bus is almost twice the price....not quite, but close-$376 for 2 RT tickets OKC-AUS on the big grey dog. Wow-Train is much cheaper, at least in this instance. No real point here, just thought it was interesting, I always assumed the bus would be much cheaper!

 

[jebr]

Interesting, especially given Megabus' competition there. While through-ticketing isn't available, booking the legs (AUS-DFW and DFW-OKC) separately leads to a cost of around $40 per person round trip. Maybe the through-ticketing is what drives the price up, but when I missed a connection from Megabus to Megabus, they accommodated me as best as they could (so I don't worry as much about missing connections now with Megabus).

Still crazy that Greyhound is so high, considering it's competing against flying, trains, and other bus services.

 

[Gingee]

I would much rather take a train. More room, more relaxing, not many traffic jams, etc.

 

[Guest]

For NEC, I tried Vamoose Gold Bus last week and was pleasantly surprised. Nicer than NER Business and much cheaper.

 

[TimePeace]

For NEC, I tried Vamoose Gold Bus last week and was pleasantly surprised. Nicer than NER Business and much cheaper.

Kinda hard to believe... what details made it nicer than NER? Is there a cafe? Bigger seats? Lots of room to walk all around all you want?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

For NEC, I tried Vamoose Gold Bus last week and was pleasantly surprised. Nicer than NER Business and much cheaper.

Vamoose stinks! I can't believe you liked it! Poor ride, poor seats, poor driver!

Note that Geyhound fares get extremly high in holiday season and when not booked in advance.

 

[jebr]

For NEC, I tried Vamoose Gold Bus last week and was pleasantly surprised. Nicer than NER Business and much cheaper.

Vamoose stinks! I can't believe you liked it! Poor ride, poor seats, poor driver!

Note that Geyhound fares get extremly high in holiday season and when not booked in advance.

This week isn't a holiday week, though. The Thanksgiving travel is done, and winter break travel (for college students) probably won't start until at least the end of this week, with most being in a week or two.

Also, while I haven't personally used Vamoose, most of the things I've heard/read about them are positive. You seem like an outlier.

 

[Old man vagabond]

Also, while I haven't personally used Vamoose, most of the things I've heard/read about them are positive. You seem like an outlier.

For what it's worth, out of 100 reviews, Yelp gives Vamoose 4 out of 5 stars.

 

[jphjaxfl]

There is no comparison between train travel and bus travel no matter how cheap the bus is. A bus can never be as comfortable as a train. Amtrak knows that I refuse to be bustituded more than an hour. If a train gets terminated enroute, I head for the nearest airport or wait for the next train.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Also, while I haven't personally used Vamoose, most of the things I've heard/read about them are positive. You seem like an outlier.

For what it's worth, out of 100 reviews, Yelp gives Vamoose 4 out of 5 stars.

Yeah, yeah. Looks like most Vamoose pax don't have much travel exp. That's all I can say when the seats are hard and narrow and the bus is unstable as heck.

 

[jebr]

Also, while I haven't personally used Vamoose, most of the things I've heard/read about them are positive. You seem like an outlier.

For what it's worth, out of 100 reviews, Yelp gives Vamoose 4 out of 5 stars.

Yeah, yeah. Looks like most Vamoose pax don't have much travel exp. That's all I can say when the seats are hard and narrow and the bus is unstable as heck.

Have you rode on it once, or many times? If once, perhaps there was just a genuinely bad bus mixed in. I can't imagine most people ranking it highly because they "don't have much travel experience." Megabus and Greyhound are both rated lower on Yelp than Vamoose is.

 

[Blackwolf]

Upon my first visit to the Vamoose website, it is pretty obvious there are two separate offerings for people to choose from.

Vamoose Standard, and Vamoose Gold. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

Standard:

Gold:

I dunno about you, but hard and narrow are not how I'd judge the seats in that Gold bus!

 

[Shortline]

That Gold service is actually a bus I could ride, at least for a shorter day trip. Anything over 4 hours or so though, I'll fly or train. Never heard of vamoose, but if they split up something like the double decker mega bus's like that, with standard and gold seating I could see using that for some trips. Really wish there was some good options for me to KC. No way to take the train, I hate the 5 ish hour drive, but am not going to subject myself to the OKC bus station and normal bus service. Just not my thing. If they ever connect the flyer to KC, I'll be in great shape. Until then its just a necessary evil to drive, just can't justify the expense of flying and rental cars for what can be reasonably driven. I COUL see taking that Gold bus up though!

 

[Old man vagabond]

Gold:

I dunno about you, but hard and narrow are not how I'd judge the seats in that Gold bus!

Those Gold seats, while not the same as AMTRAK seats, look pretty good to me.

The AMTRAK coach seats I sat on last December on the west bound SWC were so uncomfortable that I'm bringing an 'eggcrate' cushion to sit on,

(and I've got plenty of my own natural cushioning).

I found myself constantly wiggling around trying to get comfortable. I never did get comfortable, and I sat in a number of different seats .

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Also, while I haven't personally used Vamoose, most of the things I've heard/read about them are positive. You seem like an outlier.

For what it's worth, out of 100 reviews, Yelp gives Vamoose 4 out of 5 stars.

Yeah, yeah. Looks like most Vamoose pax don't have much travel exp. That's all I can say when the seats are hard and narrow and the bus is unstable as heck.

Have you rode on it once, or many times? If once, perhaps there was just a genuinely bad bus mixed in. I can't imagine most people ranking it highly because they "don't have much travel experience." Megabus and Greyhound are both rated lower on Yelp than Vamoose is.

I rode Vamoose Standard for two round trips, four buses. Haven't ridden Gold, but Standard obviously has hard, narrow seats in the picture.