Megabus to Chicago??

Hi all,

Anyone on here have any experience taking the Megabus to Chicago? Just wondering how it was.

Thanks

Megabus to Chicago??

Haven%26#39;t heard of the Maegabus. What is it?

Megabus to Chicago??

It%26#39;s a low cost regional bus service that runs routes to midwest cities on a daily basis. There was an article in the Indy Star maybe a year ago about it. The website is megabus.com. They stop in Indy and go to Columbus, OH, Louisville, Cincinnati and Chicago. They go to other cities from other places too, like Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

I%26#39;m taking it to Chicago Thursday, April 5th and returning Saturday the 7th. For my daughter and I, the total will be $74, which is a big savings over driving up and paying for parking. From what I understand, the earlier you book it, the cheaper it is, as low as $1 one way, which is pretty good!

The website pretty much gives all the info on it, I was just wondering if anyone had any first hand experience with it and could tell me if they usually run on time and what the buses are like.

we have used this service 4 or 5 times for our son who is in college in chicago. Its great. reliable and excellent value. Book early enough and you can travel for $1

Note where you catch the bus and get off the bus in Indy is not

a great area, its only a bus stop - no building or facilities, so you wouldnt want to be standing on your own. We wait in the car until the bus comes and see our son on to the bus. There have been no problems at all.

English Expat, thank you so much for telling me about your experience with MegaBus. We are supposed to get the bus at 200 E. Washington St. Can you tell me if there is a restaurant or shop around there where we could wait? I am not very familiar with downtown and am going to have someone drop us off there who has to go on to work, so we won%26#39;t have a car to wait in.

i%26#39;ve taken it twice from St. Louis to Chicago. Paid $3 round trip last time! On the last trip, the bus couldn%26#39;t pull into the usual spot in front of Chicago at Union Station because roads were blocked so it pulled around the corner. I saw people walking up the street so I followed and found it. But we apparently left 20 people behind who did not know it was around the corner! And there%26#39;s not much they can do since the driver is the only employee and he can%26#39;t leave the bus once passengers are arriving. Not sure how they handled these passengers.

Unfortunately, it was in the 70s that day and the driver told us they ';hadn%26#39;t hooked the air up yet'; so no there was no air moving for 5 hours. Driver cracked his window and opened a hatch in back so it was tolerable EXCEPT when we got stuck in traffic for 25 minutes on and weren%26#39;t moving - then it was miserable. It would have been even more miserable with 20 more on the bus! At least we were all able to spread out to stay cool.

I%26#39;ve heard several no air / no heat stories from others who ride on a regular basis - so dress for the occasion in layers just in case!

Otherwise, the bus was prompt for all trips (barring uncontrollable traffic problems). Bus is fairly clean and fortunately, they seem to have stopped playing movies during the trip.

Thanks for telling me about your experience, Salukisgirl.

I was telling someone at work about Megabus, and she told me that friends of hers took it last summer to Chicago for a concert. Their bus broke down on the highway and they all had to get out and wait about 4 hours until a tire could be replaced. She said the company didn%26#39;t have a spare bus because so many people had booked buses for the concert, so all they could do was wait until the bus could go on.

I sure hope our experience is good! I%26#39;ll post back here afterwards so others will know in case they want to use it.

I%26#39;ve taken the Megabus to/from Chicago to/from Indy a number of times and it%26#39;s about as good of a deal as you can get.

The only downside is getting to the bus stop in Indy (Washington St. and 12th?...right by the police station downtown). It stops at Union Station in Chicago, so public trans and taxis are plentiful. I would highly recommend it. I bought two Megabus tickets for my brother and father in February and the total cost for both tickets was $.50 (including the 50 cent registration fee). This, of course, was booked about 2 months ahead of time. Good luck!

Yeah, I saw on the site where it is cheaper the earlier you book it. In fact, last Friday when I first looked at the site, it was $15 each to Chicago. I waited until Friday evening to book it so I could make sure my daughter would want to go, and when I went back on the site, the price had gone up to $22 each. Still cheap when you figure the cost of gas and parking, though. I did get the $15 rate for the trip back to Indy, so the whole cost is $74.50 for the two of us round trip. Not bad, and next time I%26#39;ll book earlier to save even more!

Thanks for posting your experience.

Ok, as promised I am posting back about my experience with Megabus.

We took it to Chicago last Thursday, April 5th. The bus we got was old. Very old. I%26#39;d bet it had NO shocks whatsoever from all the bumping and jostling and squeaking we had to endure. But, it was on time, picking us up from the Washington St. side of City County Building, and left on time too, with only about 25 passengers, so we could spread out. We got on 65, and almost immediately the driver pulled onto the shoulder and appeared to be exiting the bus. Not 20 seconds later, he was back in his seat and pulled away. Then about 15 minutes later, he pulled over again. No explanation, and several people hollered out and asked him what was going on, but he didn%26#39;t answer. Same deal, he got back in the driver%26#39;s seat and pulled back onto the highway and drove on. This went on approximately every 20 minutes all the way to Chicago! He never said anything about why, and once we got to Union Station, I just wanted to get to the hotel, so didn%26#39;t stop to ask. My best guess is that something was wrong with the door and he had to stop every so often to adjust it, as he never actually got off the bus, it appeared he was just going down into the stairwell and then going back to his seat.

The ride back to Indy was better. The bus was newer, and the driver didn%26#39;t stop except for once for the scheduled potty break (both buses had a bathroom, but they still do a scheduled stop). Several people on the way home complained that the bus never got warm enough, but I wasn%26#39;t overly cold. The bus was almost full coming back. We did leave Chicago late. The bus was supposed to be there at 2:30 and leave by 2:45, but didn%26#39;t arrive at the stop until 3:00. Since we had to wait outside, that was pretty uncomfortable.

My opinion is this: If you want/need to get somewhere that Megabus goes and want to do it cheaply, then try megabus. It was definitely worth not driving and having to pay tolls and overpriced parking fees. But be aware that since Megabus is not affiliated with Union Station, there is no place in Chicago (or Indy for that matter) to wait except for outside on the street. When it%26#39;s as cold as it was this past weekend, it was unbearable. You can try going into Union Station, which is what we did, and no one questioned us, but you%26#39;re pretty much stuck waiting in the food court or sitting on the floor somewhere since only ticketed Amtrak passengers can use the waiting areas.

I%26#39;d use it again, but not in cold weather!

I have tickets to Chicago via Megabus from MPLS. I am glad to see all the reviews on this service. I have to agree (I paid $80 for two of us round trip, but am going on a weekend, so the prices were never any cheaper...) that it%26#39;s much cheaper than gas and parking and all that goes with it.

I was suprised to hear the deal with Union Station not welcoming mega%26#39;s passengers, but I suppose it makes sense if Mega Bus hasn%26#39;t worked out something with Union Station (which I presume would make the prices go up...)

I do have a few questions for you Marleney, and anyone else who%26#39;s ridden the bus.... When you stopped so many times on the way down, did it put you late and lenghten your trip at all? Were the seats comfortable (even on the older bus)? I am assuming that with a coach bus of any type, it%26#39;s generally got decent sized seats that you wouldn%26#39;t feel too crowded even if it was full, but is that really the case? We%26#39;re travelling in the middle of the night, and I plan to get some sleep if possible~did you find that to be possible??

Thanks!