TDudette

Lordy, Deb! Glad it went OK otherwise.

emd3: where do you park?

emd3

TDudette: I take the metro from close to my house (end of blue line) to Union Station, takes about 40 min to get to Union Station. I time it to get to Union Station about 30 min. before the Bolt bus leaves, which gives me time to get something to drink and eat at the station to take on the bus. They line people up to board the bus about 15 min before it leaves. When I get back to the metro parking garage after the trip, I only have to pay for one day of parking no matter how many days I am gone. Too expensive to park at Union Station.

It doesn't seem like a long trip on the way to NYC, I guess bc I always go in the morning in order to get the NYC by 2 pm or so. But I leave NYC usually in afternoon and it does seem like a long trip home; I am pretty whipped by the time I get home.

One thing to be careful of is that there are two drops offs in D.C. One is Union Station and one is a parking lot a few blocks away (H st., close to metro center station). If you miss your Bolt Bus returning from NYC at 33rd and 7th, you can often just hop on the next Bolt bus to D.C., but it might be going to the other D.C. location and not Union Station. This is to be noted at night. I don't like having to walk from the parking lot to metro center station at night.

Also there are two drop off/pick up locations in NYC. One is at 33rd and 7th (close to Macys Herald Square and Madison Square Garden area) and one further downtown on 6th st. btwn. Watts and Grand. If staying downtown in Soho, Tribeca, or further south, then the 6th ave stop is much more convenient.

TDudette

"When I get back to the metro parking garage after the trip, I only have to pay for one day of parking no matter how many days I am gone."

Does the bus give you a pass? Sounds great. I could park at New Carrollton and metro in. It's a great bargain.

bardo1

"I don't like having to Walk from the (H St.) parking lot to Metro Center at night."

You can cut through the Grand Hyatt lobby - right across H St from the bus lot - for direct access to the Metro Center station. Even the most cautious would have no qualms about simply crossing the street in front of the (well attended) main entrance to this large hotel.

emd3

Thanks, Bardo, I didn't know that! Once I arrived at that parking lot at midnight and was pretty disoriented as to where I was.

TDudette, no, the bus didn't give me a pass for metro parking. At our (huge) metro garage (Franconia-Springfield), the gate is up on Mon.-Fri. a.m. So you don't get a ticket. You just enter. When you leave, the attendant cahrges you for one day of parking. They don't even ask how long you've been there, they don't care, they just charge everyone for one day.

TDudette

emd3: Gotcha, thanks.

DebitNM

ok, today's Megabus report is quite different from Thursdays. We are on the bus now, going from Philly to DC. We haod reservation for 8:45 am. Got to stop around 7:50 just in time to see the 7:50 bus to DC pull out

Complete chaos, no one from Megabus to guide you, people waiting for several buses including Bolt buses.

2 people from Megabus finally show up and keep telling people to stand against the wall. Then the buses start showing up and they very slowly start loading one bus at a time.

I won't bother you with the confusion, but as it turns out, our 8:45 had been cancelled!! and we had to wait for the 9:50! It was alread very hot and humid and no shade to stand in.

They had our cell phone and email contact and no attempt was made to contact us to tell us bus was canceled.

The worst part was I had looked online the other night to see where the stop was in DC, and but in the info and it didn't show any bus at 8:45. It sbowed 7:50 and 9:50 buses. I sent an email asking; then I called Sunday when I had still gotten no reply. The woman I talked to said that when a bus is full it doesn't show up online. She didn't ask for my specifics, I accepted her answer. I should have insisted she check my reservation.

Well, for $1, I guess you get what you pay for.

Glad to have gotten the tip on going through the lobby of the hyatt to get to metro - now I just need to figure out how to buy a metro pass and get a senior discount for my hubby.

DrKateP

I would be very wary about booking on Megabus. We booked a NYC-DC trip about a month ahead for my niece (about $40, not $1). On the morning of the trip, weather was inclement, and the icy road conditions caused the roadways leading to the bus stop to be closed, making it impossible for us to take her to the bus. We called Megabus and were told to pay to rebook for the next day, and that they would issue a refund on the first itinerary. Then, instead of a refund, I received three different emails from them all letting me know that they refuse to issue refunds for any reason unless they are notified 24-hours ahead. With weather-related problems, this is impossible, of course. I won't be booking with them again, because it is impossible to know ahead of time what the weather will be like.

All I wanted was to rebook, Megabus.