DC2NY: The standard of traveling from DC to New York on a bus

(Disclaimer: I'll put this up at the beginning of all of my reviews for the buses:
1. This is not based on a single experience, but multiple trips from each company. I'll try to point out the highs and lows so you know what to expect.
2. You can't blame traffic on these guys. The Turnpike is a bitch no matter what you drive. Some are smarter than others, but you can't pick and choose your drivers for any of the companies. Having said that, expect the bus ride to be around 4.5 hours on a good day or late night, 5 hours or more on a Friday afternoon in traffic.
3. I'm a bit of a paranoid internet user. I don't like sharing internet connections on a bus, so I carry a datacard with me. Or I bring movies with me on my laptop. But I have tested them all at various times. And all the bus companies have had buses that had broken wifi. Count on it!)
4. Oh yeah, and I don't use a bathroom on a bus. Some buses will make rest stops. Use them.

Where does DC2NY Pick you up:
DC2NY has three locations in DC and one in NYC:
Dupont Circle is pretty easy to find, I'll post up a map and picture courtesy of google maps where the pickup spot is. Get off on the North Entrance.

The 14th and H pick up spot is a little trickier, but not far from MacPherson Square, in front of the Cafe Philips:

The drop off is at 14th and I, but I won't show u a picture of that since it's so close and it's not like you'll get lost GOING there.

The Union Station pickup is quite a weird one. You'll need to head up the escalators that are in the middle of the terminal area of the train station, then walk out to the bus area up another set up escalators. You'll see the area below. Note that Boltbus is also here as well as Washington Bus:

The New York spot is on 33rd and 7th. They also duke it out with Bolt Bus for this spot as well. And yes, it is in front of the adult video store.

What Makes DC2NY So Special: 
Service:
I don't know how I got into using DC2NY, but for me personally, it is my favorite service. It was started by a group of people who saw the business opportunity of having a comfortable bus system between NYC and DC. It's scary to think that 10 years ago your only choice was the Chinatown buses (shudder). The one thing I must say about the management for the company is that they are very hands on. If you take the pick up from DC you'll either see Asi the president taking your name on the list or a nicer European guy (I forget his name at the moment) do so, and they will also help you with your larger bags and place them under the bus and keep an eye on it. If you take the New York stop, you'll see the long haired Avi do the same. I've yet to see another bus company actually do that. Also, buses will take votes as to whether or not they take a rest stop. Most people choose to go straight to NYC. Except one time where it was a buncha stupid kids who wanted a rest stop. Those bastards. They also wanted to watch the Nutty Professor 3.

 
Amenities:
Another nice touch is that they give you a bottle of water, which doesn't offset the price or anything, but it's a nice touch since you will be on a bus for 4 hours. They also offer a choice of movie, which could be interesting (The Blind Side, Quantum of Solace) or crappy (The Nutty Professor 3? Really?). If you're a picky movie watcher I'd grab a book or movie instead of trusting their taste. If you just like watching all sorts of movies you'll be fine. Internet is pretty decent when it's there.  I got around 1 mbit a second with a 100 ms ping. Good for surfing, but you're not going to be streaming a movie. Also, power plugs are available on every other row of seats.

Here's another twist to DC2NY though. They have some buses that they own, but occasionally on busy weekends they will actually contract additional buses, which is why you see things like World Tours and DC Trails and the like. Some have the plugs, others do not. Service is the same, just the buses may be arranged a little differently.

Pricing:
$28 one way, $50 round trip for members if you book it online. Also, as a member, if you do at least 6 one way trips (I think it was 6), you get a free one way. They switched to a points system now with the beach buses, none of which I've used but the points should be the same.

For non-members, it's $30 one way, $55 round trip if you book it online.

If you walk up, it's $35.

The downsides (because you know nothing is ever perfect):
They don't tell you on the website, but some of the Dupont pickups that occur before Union Station pickups are the same buses. Meaning that if you get picked up at Dupont, you're not actually going yet and that adds some time to your trip. Also, especially on Fridays Union Station pickups have to wait for that other bus to meander through the crappy DC traffic from Dupont to Union Station before slogging northward towards I-95. So sometimes that 5:30 from Union Station doesn't leave until 6pm.


Conclusion (and tips):
I guess it's because I like it when people take that extra step and provide some customer service, and they do treat their customers like customers rather than cattle to stuff into a bus. They're reliable, friendly, clean, and I reward them with my loyalty.

Some tips and things to note for DC2NY:
-Book at least 3 days ahead of time if you want a specific bus time. Also, do the membership thing if you use it alot. Membership online is free and you save at least a couple bucks.
- I've never taken the beach bus. That's all on you.
-There is very little overhead space in the bus. Don't be a dick, just carry your backpack and tuck it under your seat.
-Vote to go straight there. Do you really want to spend an extra half hour traveling on top of the 4-5 hour bus ride? Movie is up to you.
-Again, wifi may not work and movie may not be what you want. Bring a book or something else to entertain yourself. 

Next up, Boltbus! Stay cheap you guys!

Review of Bolt Bus coming soon...

Planning to head up to NYC in two weekends to see the significant other and I'm finishing up the Bolt Bus review. The more I stew over it, the more I'm starting to think I prefer Bolt Bus over my current favorite, DC2NY. Course, I'll have to retest that by taking them this go around.

But which one will I not try to review soon? Megabus has me a little worried. Check this out:

Megabus = Megasauna? - Apparently the AC in the Megabus didn't work. That's a scary thing for those double deckers.

Bus drivers don't know how to get to NYC - I have NEVER had this issue happen to me, and I've traveled up to NYC at least 30 times. the worst adventure I've had was the day before Thanksgiving, where it took us 8 hours to get to NYC. Why? Jersey Turnpike traffic, and it was the day before Thanksgiving.


I think the buses are handy, but again, regardless of who you take, you're still bound to the rules and conditions of the road. I would avoid taking the buses:

• Day before New Years
• Day before Christmas
• Day before the 4th of July
• Day before Thanksgiving
• Day before any Federal Holiday, really.

In reality, any time where people with cars would think about driving a car is usually a bad time to take the bus. Chinatown, DC2NY, Vamoose, Bolt, or Mega, you'll all be in roughly the same crappy traffic. So don't be dumb.

Check out the bolt bus review shortly, Otherwise look at my old review, which covers nearly all modes of transportation from DC to New York in the archives.

Price and other Updates

Alright, this is going to be a quick update. I've spent a week of August on vacation for my best friend's wedding, and work is hard...I need to finish my brief article on mooching online, but give me some time. I blame video games.

My girlfriend just bought a Panasonic U12 Series HDTV (42 inches) for roughly $650 for her mom.

Not a bad choice, especially if a bunch of AV Guys approve: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1139625

Probably not the best for a pro setup, but it works if you just want an overall good setup. As you can see, tv prices are dropping, and hopefully this will continue through the fall for another few weeks. If you want a tv, now is the time to get one.

Other changes:
-Goozex.com is now supporting the trading of blu-ray and dvds! Now I'm using my points to buy blu-rays that I've wanted, like Dark Knight, Iron Man, and The Watchmen. Quite handy.
-In terms of bus trips, I've confirmed that DC2NY now has both electrical outlets and wifi, so if you're up in Dupont or closer to Dupont than the Metro Center, it might be a better choice. Sadly, I'll be taking the chinatown bus to Philly tomorrow for a rafting trip, then NJTransit for New York >.<

Pray for me. Shop smart and cheap.

How to travel between NYC/DC on the cheap...

UPDATE 8/10/2010: I did a stand alone review of DC2NY: http://ppgeek.blogspot.com/2010/08/dc2ny-standard-of-traveling-from-dc-to.html


Sorry about the delay in posting. I’ve spent the past week with my ass planted on the couch at my girlfriend’s apt in Manhattan. My “office” looked like this:

Anyway, I am now at home, stuck in the foot of snow that has drifted into Portland. All this traveling between DC and NYC made me think that as cheap geeks, we also have to be frugal in other parts of our lives to save money for gadgets and/or food.
A little about me: I live in DC, my GF lives in NYC. Distance is a little tricky. I'm cheap, therefore, I can't afford to take the airplane or train that often (altho I do sometimes, if the traffic sucks aka Thanksgiving 2k8).

For most of us poor/college/young folk, we have the bus. We're not talking about your parent's Greyhound. Nowadays, there is a fairly large market for bus travel. Most of these buses will take you from DC to Philly, New York, or even Boston. Even other smaller companies focus on the niche locations like Richmond Virginia and various places in upstate New York. For me, I spent a good chunk of college taking the ones from Philly to NYC/DC, but nowadays it's just DC to NYC. Here's a breakdown of most of the available transportation systems that I’ve taken.

Airplane: Fast but not wallet friendly
I have a friend who works in DC and she travels to NYC to see her boyfriend and she frequently takes the plane to get to NYC. Jetblue has a flight that travels between DC and New York for $150 and there are other shuttles that travel between the two cities for roughly the same price. You gotta book it way ahead obviously. Flight takes roughly an hour and a half. You can’t even get to Philly by car that quickly!

Pros: Fastest way to get to NYC, convienient from DC (Reagan or Dulles) and JFK (Long Island Rail). No worry about traffic, and if you pack light, it makes travel a cinch. Wireless on some of the beta flights.

Cons: Compared to other traveling methods, this isn’t cheap. Also, for some people, air travel might suck due to fear of flying, small seats and such. For me, I sometimes don’t plan to head to NYC until the week of, which makes booking a flight not cheap at all. And, if you stay for a while, luggage costs start to bite into that price also. No plugs for laptops. And the wireless is limited to Amazon and email, and it’s slow as all hell. Security also very annoying.

Train: Crazy train, running on the track...

Amtrak trains are my personal fave when I want to spoil myself. From Union Station in DC to Penn Station in NYC, it puts me literally at the door of my gf’s apt and I live on the red line metro, so it’s no biggie to Union. Also, you can carry nearly as much crap as you want onto the train, as long as you’re willing to haul it. Very straight forward, and regardless of weather or traffic, the regular regional rail trains take just about 3.5 hours to get to NYC. Oh, and you can plug in your laptop, which is nice. The prices range from $67 for the off peak, late at night trains to the $200 or so for the Accela trains, which are terribly overpriced and stupid to save 15 minutes. Average price for an afternoon or so is roughly just over 100 bucks, and cheaper if you have a student advantage card.

Pros: Pretty fast, no traffic concerns. Price reasonable for the service you get. Comfortable seats, plug ins for your laptop or whatever gadget you got, space to stretch out, fairly smooth ride. If you don’t live near midtown, you’re smack at Penn Station, so you can use it to get anywhere else in NYC.

Cons: You can still do better than $100 if you’re scrapping by on cash. No wireless. Honestly, I like the trains, I just think the price is still a bit much. I guess, if you try to get DC late night, the metro doesn’t run after 12…oh, and don't ever get Accela.

The BUS SECTION
The buses are pretty much the way I travel. Cheapest way to go. There are several bus companies, but they all have their nuances, which I would like to discuss here. As a method of transportation, here are the Pros and Cons, with each bus service’s pros and cons listed in their sections. (Note: I have not taken Megabus before so therefore I did not review it this time around. I will update this again at a later date.)

Pros: Cheapest way to go. Depending on the company, you can get the same amenities found in other modes of transportation. 4.5 hours on a bus is just a full nap to some people like me. They take off all over DC and at almost any time of the day.

Cons: Slowest way to go. Depending on traffic and time of year, it could take anywhere from 4 hours for an off peak trip to even 8 hours on the day before Thanksgiving.

BOLTBUS- what Greyhound should be
Boltbus was started by Greyhound and Peter Pan Bus Lines (No Joke!) to try to get a piece of the DC- NYC route pie. The buses are very clean, and they have wireless on the buses with fairly decent speeds, depending on how many people are on. Also, they have power plugs, which is huge when you’re spending a couple hours of the road and need juice. Picks you up near Metro Center in DC and drops you off right near Penn Station. Also, if you get the seats early enough, you can have a seat for a buck (Good luck on that...it sometimes takes two months ahead to book a buck seat, and most buses only have two dollar seats...)! But usually, the price is about $25 bucks one way, though the prices go up from a buck until they fill up.

Pros: Solid Wireless, Powerplugs, fairly accessible pickup point for most people, clean, and decent price, with the chance of getting a really cheap seat. Get 8 one ways or 4 round trips and get a free one way!

Cons: Probably the first of the bus companies to sell out if you try to get a seat the same week. Those dollar seats go weeks ahead of time.

DC2NY – The Upscale Way to Travel
DC2NY is owned and run by a small group of guys. I don’t know specifics of the ownership, but I know if you want a solid bus, they offer what I think is the standard. Bus picks you up from DuPont Circle and drops you off at Penn Station NYC. They have wireless, play a movie during the trip (everyone gets to vote), prices are good and they offer a discount if you are a member, which only involves signing up with your email address. Every 6 one way trips you get a free one. The people are really nice and very helpful. Oh, you also get a free bottle of water.

Pros: I live two stops away from Dupont, so it’s a quick jump over. Wireless is decent, water bottle comes handy when you forget, I like the movies they show, and I’ve gotten to know the people pretty well. Vasily is a hoot. Member and frequent traveler program is a nice little plus.

Cons: Seats go pretty quick here also. Not the fastest bus, but not the slowest. These guys are my fave. (Update: Plugs now too!)

VAMOOSE- The Kosher way to go.
Vamoose is also very convienent, and for a while, was run by a group of Hasidic Jews (My Jewish friends refer to this as the Jewbus), but l think they may have been either bought out by someone else or management changed or just had more help. 25 one way, but every four trips you get a free trip with the coupons from the tickets. Picks you up in either Bethesda or Rosslyn and drops you off near Penn Station. The most barebones of all the buses, but works quite well.

Pros: Price-wise, this is probably the way to go. Very convienent if you live on the outskirts of DC and need a ride. If you take it from Bethesda, it puts you on the edge of DC, which makes the ride a bit quicker. With the coupons, makes traveling VERY cheap.

Cons: Bethesda and Rosslyn are a bit far if you actually live inside of the city, no wireless, no plugs, no movies even.

NEW CENTURY TRAVEL, and the other Chinatown Buses – ehhhh……

So here is the breakdown with the Chinatown buses. They pick you up in Chinatown DC, and they drop you off in the Chinatown in NYC. No wireless, no plugs, they pick you up, take your ticket, drop you off. The original DC/NYC/Philly bus companies and were the ones that started the price war between all the other bus companies. Fung Wa, Shung Fa, New Century, etc, etc. (Update: Warning to everyone: DO NOT USE THE WEBSITE TO BUY TICKETS. YOU WILL ENCOUNTER NO HELP IF THE TICKETS ARE BAD)

Pros: I guess if you are near Chinatown, it might be nice. I’m convinced you can go to Chinatown NYC/Philly/DC in the dead of night and there’s still a bus to DC at like 2am. The drivers are mad fast, which is both a good and bad I guess. I once got to NYC in under 4 hours using New Century…

Cons: The people are sometimes rude, the buses never really come on time, sometimes not even come at all. Occasionally you make a stop in Philly or a shady stop in Baltimore. No frills trip, this is the way to go if you decide to go on the same day all of a sudden, and everyone else is booked up.

Conclusion:

These different modes of transportation just show you the variety of available modes of transportation there are between these two cities. Always research and look into the locations for these places to find out what is best for you. Different people have different priorities, so look these places up if you want and plan appropriately. Even if you live in the boonies and want a cheap way of getting into the city, look some of these companies up and give em a shot. You might save a good deal of cash and time.

So there you have it. Pretty much all of the conventional means of getting to NYC. If I missed any other than Megabus, let me know and I will update. I may add the Philly ones later as well. As a college student for either of those places (or even Philly and Boston), you can see friends in those places with little effort. It helped me keep in touch with friends all over the East Coast during college, and keeps me sane with my girlfriend now. So remember, travel smart, travel cheap.

Uber fast conclusion: DO NOT USE NON BOLTBUS GREYHOUND.

Appendix:
Pricing Breakdown (for one way unless otherwise indicated):
Jetblue: $150
Amtrak: $67-200 depending on time of day
Boltbus: $1-25 depending on when you get it. Free trip after 8 one ways or one round trip.
DC2NY: $28 nonmember/ $25 member. There is also a break on round trips. Free trip after 6 one ways.
Vamoose: $25 one way. Free trip after 4 one ways.
New Century: $20 one way. I think $35 round trip. Been a while. Don't use unless you're stupid