ADO or other bus booking questions
 

1) I don't really speak Spanish but can get by. The ADO bus website is only in Spanish. I could TRY to navigate it (using an online translator) and buy some tickets for travel next week, but I was just wondering if it was that simple, or if they need some specific info (like a mobile phone # to which they send passwords) etc.? I just fill in the name, credit card details and voilà?

2) I prefer to have the tickets before I travel so that way I don't have to worry about not getting a seat the day of. The alternative is an agency who can process these tickets for me. Any ideas? Or any other bus website in English?

3) Also, I am landing around 11PM in Villahermosa on a weeknight. Is it safe to take a taxi at that time of night to the bus station and take the 1AM ADO bus to San Cristobal?

I looked at the schedule for this week and do not see a 1am bus, only a local at 11:40pm. Looks like they need only a mobile phone number.

Viaje de Ida
Villahermosa, Tab. - San Cristobal de las Casas, Chis.


14:30 Villahermosa, Tab. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chis. $402.00
5:20 OCC LOCAL




23:40 Villahermosa, Tab. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chis. $402.00
6:25 OCC LOCAL
*Precios incluyen IVA, excepto transporte urbano

If you really need to get out of Villahermosa immediately, there are more buses to Tuxtla than to San Cristobal. You could sleep there and get a bus in the morning.

I've taken the bus to SanCristobal a few times, but never from Villahermosa.
I loved when the driver called out the name "San Cristobal de las CAAAAAsas." Mexico has a great bus system so you should have no worries on that front.

Sorry my bad... #3 should be landing at 11 PM in Tuxtla Gutierrez.

If you can download their app it is really easy to use, even if you have very limited Spanish.

I am trying to make reservations for a bunch of trips around the Yucatán peninsula for next month, and the cheaper tickets seem like there are only one available at the cheapest price, the 2nd one is more, and the 3rd and 4th are more yet? We need 4. Is anyone running into this?

Sorry about jumping on, I was just logging in to pose this pricing question.

Last I read you can only pre-book ADO tickets if you have a Mexican issued credit card. That could have changed recently though.

That is my understanding too - that you can only pre-book with a Mexican bank issued credit card, so this is probably all a moot point anyway.

I used it a couple months ago but I do read Spanish fairly well, so it wasn't an issue. But usually websites like that you only need to know a few words, the schedules are kind of obvious.

I was able to book on ADO with an Amex credit card (but not Visa or Mastercard), in fact. So it can be done with an American credit card. There is some issue with Mexican websites and banking agreements that they can't take regular bank's credit cards (Visa, MC), I think, I've had that problem with Mexican ticketmaster website -- it would only take an Amex. I think they told me they weren't allowed to take regular banks cards or something, I don't recall.

BTW I used a different website from ADO, I believe, one that was called ticketbus but they are now Miescape. I think they are either owned by ADO or are authorized to sell tickets for them, they don't mark them up.

http://www.miescape.mx/miescape/Transporte/Autobus

And they take more credit cards, like Discover or Amex or even Diners Club. It appears the ADO website only lists Visa and MC so I must have used ticketbus. Although even on it, I think I had to use my Amex to get it to go through.

I don't think it has an English section, but fill in the date etc on the upper RH (Sencillo means one-way ticket, Redondo roundtrip). Fecha de Ida is the departure date. Inapam is a senior discount or something, you can't get it unless Mexican I believe, ignore that. You then get a schedule for that day

Sale is departure time, Llega time of arrival. Price on the right column. Bus type at left side (ADO, Platino, etc). You can tell by price the deluxe buses and by time if they are express or not. Select a time and date

Nombre is last name, Appelidos first name, Correo electronico your email address. You can then pick your seat selection by the figure.

Nombre is first name, apellido is last name.

Update: I have been traveling in Mexico for 3weeks, using the ADO bus app. I have had no trouble using a US MasterCard and my zip code. The app is straightforward. I had my husband try (he speaks almost no Spanish) and he got through it with a few mis-steps at first, but figured it out.

You need to download the app and set up a user account in order to buy tickets on it. Then, when you get to the Ado station, they will look at the confirmation number on your phone (or print a copy, or write it down) and give you a printed ticket. I saw people getting on the bus using their phone only, but not sure how to do that.

Also, they sell, on the app, a limited number of discount tickets on most routes. Some of them have been as high as 50% off. Going from Chetulam to Merida, for instance, we paid 297 instead of 420. Merida to Valladolid their only discount t tickets are at in inconvenient times for us. Valladolid to PDC we saved the entire 50%, also 50% off of the PDC to Cancun airport for our return home next week. The key is to buy in advance.

Silly question, however, I have heard that luggage is not allowed on ADO buses, is this corrected?

@ JerryElisabeth -- when I used ADO buses in 2009, traveling with luggage was fine. Suitcases were, IIRC, stored in an under-carriage, and only small carry-ons were allowed in the main passenger compartment. Maybe that's what is causing confusion?

JerryElizabeth, big bags are checked under the bus. They give you a numbered tag and check it when you pick up your bag. We carried on day packs only. No troubles, very efficient.

Many people use those buses for trips, in fact, most of them, so it would be crazy if they didn't allow luggage. It's like ginger said, the overhead space is fairly small, so you can only carry aboard fairly small carryons or tote bags. So no, you aren't allowed to take luggage onto the bus, it's not like an airplane, but you are allowed to have luggage.

It's just like the buses in the US that go between cities (Megabus, etc). Their overhead space is small, also.