Whiskey Tastes Better…

I recently took a weekend trip to Chicago with my girlfriend Lisa.  We originally planned to drive, but we had conflicting schedules on when we wanted to leave.  I wanted to buy tickets to the Sunday afternoon baseball game at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Cubs and my beloved Minnesota Twins; she had to get home early that day to attend an audition and rehearsal for theater.  With a 7 hour drive and the baseball game likely not ending until 4:00 PM, this created a problem.

I suggested that I buy a bus ticket back to Minneapolis so I could attend the game and she could drive back early.  We both get to do what we want on Sunday, but this leaves Lisa driving all the way home by herself.  We would also be shouldering a larger transportation cost since I’d be buying a ticket and she’d be footing the gas bill the whole way home.

Then Lisa suggested we each take the bus the both ways.  We’d be able to save money, leave at separate times, and not worry about enduring an exhausting drive home.  Great idea.  We both booked our tickets on the MegaBus for our weekend trip to Chicago.

Here’s some notes and tips from my experience:

• Book Early
  The earlier you book a trip with MegaBus, the cheaper your tickets will be.  Apparently, tickets will start as low as $1 (plus $0.50 handling fee, as noted on the bus decals).  We booked our tickets for $26 each way ($52 each for the round trip).  I searched for some trips in August, and tickets were around $15 each way.The other reason to book early is trip availability.  We got our departure from Minneapolis at the time we wanted (3 PM), but our return dates were less than desirable.  This was partially our fault, since we checked at the beginning of last week and saw return times that we wanted.  However, we didn’t book our tickets until Thursday night.  At that time, there were only 3 departure times available from Chicago to Minneapolis: 6:00 AM, 7:00 AM, and 11:30 PM.  Lucky for us, it still worked out, but Lisa had to leave much earlier Sunday morning and I had to leave much later on Sunday night.
• Arrive Early 
  Get to the bus stop about 30 minutes before the departure time.  The bus usually arrives at that time and starts loading.  Seats are first come/first serve, so get there early to have better choices.  You don’t want to be stuck in the back by the bathroom or be traveling double but only have single seats available. If you don’t care about having a choice of seats, make sure you are there early so you get a seat.  Much like airlines, they probably oversell these buses every now and then.  You don’t want to arrive 5 minutes before departure and find out the bus is full.
• Bring a Pillow
  This is especially important if you are taking a red-eye ride like I did.  We drove all through the night and I couldn’t sleep well because I had nothing to support my neck or head.  I ended up sitting my backpack in my lap to rest my head against, but it was a poor substitute for a good pillow.
• Bring a Companion
  I found out that riding the bus is much more fun if you are with a friend.  Going back to the last bullet point, they also make good head rests.  You can’t lay your head on the shoulder of some stranger.  Well, you can, but it might be awkward.On top of that, companions are also good for conversation and sharing candy.
• Plan to Make Good Time
  Both of my trips were scheduled for 8 hours of traveling time, but we arrived in 7 hours both times.  This was quite surprising.  This may be due to the fact that it was a direct trip to Chicago.  The MegaBus also makes trips from Minneapolis to Madison and Milwaukee.  If we would have had to stop at those cities, it probably would have taken the full 8 hours.
• Plan on a Quiet Ride
  I always had the perception that inter-state buses can be full of loud and obnoxious riders.  When I boarded in Minneapolis, there were a few mothers loading with multiple small children, and a group of about six high-fiving, cell-phone-yakking guys in their mid-twenties got on the bus, too.  However, once we started rolling, everything was quite peaceful.  In fact, on both rides, I found the small children to be way more well behaved then a few of the adults.The only point that makes the bus ride a bit more annoying than plane rides is cell phones.  You can’t talk on cell-phones during a flight, but you can on a bus.  If they ever develop technology that doesn’t interfere with flight navigation equipment, I hope they never tell anyone.  There were some really loud, long, and profanity-laced conversations overheard during the ride.  But I guess that’s why you should always bring a music player and headphones.
• Research Your Next Step
  Spend some time beforehand and figure out how to get around once you’ve arrived at your destination.  Look up bus maps and schedules, and make sure you have some $1 bills on hand so you can ride.  We arrived at Union Station in Chicago (right by the Sears Tower, or whatever they call it now), but weren’t prepared to hop on a Chicago Transit Authority bus or train.  Luckily, our friend Jessie drove down and picked us up.

That’s all I have to say about that.  The only negative about the MegaBus is that it has limited service in Minneapolis.  You can only get to Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago from here.  Once you get to Chicago, you can get anywhere, but it may involve backtracking and more time in certain cases.  I hope they expand direct service from Minneapolis to Kansas City and St. Louis in the future.