For a whopping $5.00, I scored a round trip bus ticket from Harrisburg, PA to Toronto, Ontario! yes, you read that right... $5.00, I wouldn't have been able to spend that little money on gas to get me there! So what's the catch? I've devoted much of my free internet time in the last few weeks trying to determine just that! Trip advisor, yelp, you name it....I read scores of reviews trying to figure out how in the world they could charge so little for so much!
The website boasts double decker buses, wi-fi access, power outlets, and reclining seats!! Um, sign me up! And to sweeten the pot, they're currently promoting the service by offering 200k free seats using the promo code on their site! (I didn't even have to google it...sweet!)
So what's the catch?
Catch #1: bus stop location
After purchasing my $5 ticket, I searched on the site to find out where I'd catch the bus. In retrospect, that should have been part of my decision making process. Pole #32, between the Toys R Us and Great Escapes Movie theater at the Harrisburg Mall. Not sketchy at all.
Because of the incredible parking lot- pole - bus stop system....I rushed to catch a bus that almost landed me in Philly. Not Toronto. No signs, no ticket machine, no P.A. announcement that your bus is boarding, nothing. You just throw your bag on the bus parked at pole #32, and hop on. Luckily the bus driver took a break from her cigarette to let me know the bus was going to Philly. I grabbed my bag and moseyed over to the nearest curb, rolling my carry-on behind me, and made myself comfortable as I waited for the Toronto-bound bus to arrive.
Catch #2: single decker bus
To say i was "Highly disappointed" when the single-decker bus arrived would be an understatement. Fortunately its on-time arrival lessened the blow a bit. Now I just had to stomach the idea of an 8.5 hour bus ride, at the same level of all the non-megabus bus riders we'd pass on our trek north. What's so Mega about a single decker bus?
Catch #3: why, wi-fi, why?
Okay, so the wi-fi thing didn't pan out. I was so prepared...I had my work laptop, my iPad, iPhone, personal phone, and tons of websites bookmarked that I'd saved for my reading pleasure! Ugh. Te wi-fi was definiteky there...just wasn't working. False advertising, Megabus! Luckily, I packed my verizon mi-fi, a mobile hotspot! Yes, xfinitytv app, I WOULD like to catch up on the latest episodes of my guilty pleasure, "Big Love".
Catch #4: the bus drivers are robots
There was a huge accident with fatalities that closed a major road in Harrisburg. We were five minutes away from pole #32...and BAM! Bumper to bumper traffic!!! For the next hour, we were at a standstill, which was followed by another hour of sitting on the side of the road in front of the exit we were supposed to take. We waited there for dispatch to give us the green light to take the detour. For safety reasons, blah blah blah, dispatch wouldn't allow us to go any route that wasn't previously approved by The Man. Dispatch never gave us a definitive answer so all the passengers took it into our own hands and called customer service to complain that dispatch was ignoring us instead of giving us a new route! Two hours and fifteen minutes after boarding the bus, we had made it less than five miles. Finally, our bus driver convinced the police to let the megabus go thru the closed road. We had a police escort and were the only vehicle allowed to travel on the highway. Plus 1 for megabus.
Catch #5: Clearing customs as a group sucks!
Flying is a beautiful thing. When you cross the border, you're only subjected to the customs shenanigans for which you deserve. But not on Megabus! The thirty or so passengers had to go thru customs together...and could only cross the border once all were cleared. Someone should have told me that the megabus is a breeding ground for anti-war protesters and anarchists! Long story short, we waited on the megabus for nearly an hour while one of our fellow passengers was interrogated by way of a 'secondary inspection'. awesome. I overheard the customs officer say, "so how long will you be here saving the world?". That would have been funny if we weren't already three hours behind.
Catch #6: they're concerned with your safety...which is more like a catch 22!
Basically put, the bus door kept opening up while we we're driving. For the ten minutes leading up to the border crossing, we couldn't drive 100ft without the door flinging open. The bus driver made an executive decision to drive with the bus door open until we got to the border. Once there, he advised us that we'd either have to wait for a replacement bus (it's now almost 11pm by this time), or beg the Megabus driver ahead of us, also at the border waiting for a crazy anarchist to be interrogated, to allow us to pile on to their bus and hitch a ride to Toronto. Thankfully, he obliged. And Hallelujah, double decker bus! It was just as I had imagined it! ANF the wi-fi worked. :-) ...for the first ten minutes anyway.
So, we made it to Toronto in just over eleven hours! And as crazy as the ride may have seemed...I plan on doing it all over again tomorrow for the return trip home! Assuming the wi-fi is working, maybe I'll even look up possible destination spots for my next megabus trip!
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