chinatown bus question
 

I was thinking of taking a bus from nyc to boston in may.Do I need to book in advance?I saw the website and it looks there is quite a few buses that make this trip.I cant believe it only costs $20 roundtrip,ya cant beat that.

You don't need to, and you don't WANT to book in advance. Just get there, and don't show your money until you're sure that is a bus leaving at the time you think it's going to.

Check with Greyhound & PeterPan -- they're often matching the price of Chinatown buses, but you DO have to book in advance, and can't "walk up".

You can just walk up. You don't have to reserve, and I wouldn't unless you're leaving at a very popular time, like Friday at 5:30. I left Friday at 4pm and I was one of maybe 3 people who reserved in advance. Just get there about 30 minutes before you want to leave. You might even luck out and get on the earlier bus.

I actually got screwed recently by reserving ahead of time because I had reserved for 4pm, but the buses were running late and the 3:30 hadn't even arrived by 4pm but I couldn't get a ticket for the 3:30 (even though they were still available when I arrived). I had to wait for the 4pm bus that I had reserved for.

Mabel: Do you mean don't have to reserve ahead for CHINATOWN or Greyhound/PeterPan?

I meant Greyhound/PeterPan, but I was writing based on their website, not actual experience.

Oops, sorry. I was talking Chinatown.

My friend from L.A. just went from D.C. to NYC and from NYC to Boston and back to NYC..all by the Chinese buses and loved it.. I would though make reservations..

According to http://www.apexbus.com, they guarantee seat availability for online ticket. It's always a good idea to buy ticket first. I learned my lesson from experience that I could not get a ticket at bus station as there were too many online tickets sold already.