The bathrooms at the Greyhound bus stations vary from station to station. But even the gross ones usually have one decent stall. Or at least some paper towels that you use to do some quick cleaning before you use them in an emergency potty situation. One of the biggest crimes on Greyhound is the stealing of carry on bags that people leave sitting around when they walk off to do something else.
Even if you are just going to walk around the corner and come back, take your bag with you. It only takes a few seconds for someone who has been scoping you out to snatch up your bag and run with it. When you are traveling and the bus stops for breaks, I recommend taking your carry on bag off the bus with you then as well.
I know it's a pain, but it's less of a pain than having your bag stolen. One of the reasons I always use a backpack as my carry on bag is because it's so easy to carry around with me. I just sling it on my back and I'm off! When the bus stops for food and bathroom breaks the driver will typically give you some instructions about:. I've seen at least a half dozen people kicked off the bus for not following instructions.
And I've even seen the bus leave people who didn't come back from break on time. You don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere and have to wait 12 hours or more for the next bus to come through to pick you up. This may seem like common sense but after a few trips on Greyhound you will realize how often people lose or misplace their tickets. And it's always an ordeal for them to get back on the bus, and in some cases they even have to buy a new ticket.
So keep your ticket on you at all times. If someone were to steal your ticket they could use it instead of you and you would be left stranded. I keep my ticket in my front pants pocket and I check it often to make sure it's still there. There will be times during your Greyhound trip when you will have to exit a bus for it to be serviced or cleaned.
The driver will give you a reboarding pass so you can get back on that same bus, before any new passengers, when it's ready to go again. If you lose this pass, you may have trouble getting back on the bus. And if you can convince the driver to let you back on the bus it will probably be after everyone else is already on the bus and you may have lost your seat. So keep up with any and all reboarding passes you are given throughout your Greyhound bus trip. If you have questions, concerns, or security issues at any time during your trip, ask the nearest Greyhound employee you can find.
Even if it's not their department they can point you in the right direction to get your issue resolved. I've only ran across one or two employees who just downright refused to help, and in those cases I just asked another employee and got the information I needed. Bus drivers are a great source of information since they typically drive the same route every day. They have probably heard any questions you can think to ask times over so they will definitely be able to help you.
Fellow passengers are a good source of information as well. If you can't find a Greyhound employee try asking someone around you that looks well-traveled. During your trip you may have layovers and stops at Greyhound bus stations after dark. These stations are not always in the best neighborhoods so exercise caution when going outside. If I'm in a city I'm unfamiliar with I never go outside the bus station at night unless it's absolutely necessary.
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And when you reach your final destination, make sure you have made plans for a ride and don't go outside until it arrives. You are pretty safe inside the Greyhound bus station but outside is a whole different ballgame. I personally know of people that were robbed right outside Greyhound bus stations. So stay inside and don't even risk having an incident end your trip or worse.
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I enjoyed reading your tips for bus traveling. My son is a freshman in college this year and 6 hours away from home. It's actually much quicker and certainly far less expensive for him to ride the bus home on vacations. I texted him a link to this article and made him promise he'd read it ; He's my youngest child and you never quit worrying. Thank's again for the article. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. HubPages and Hubbers authors may earn revenue on this page based on affiliate relationships and advertisements with partners including Amazon, Google, and others.
To provide a better website experience, wanderwisdom. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so. For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: Arrive at Least an Hour Before Departure On your first Greyhound bus trip you will want to arrive at the station well before your bus is scheduled to depart.
Get in Boarding Line as Soon as Possible Once you learn where your boarding line is going to form, try and get in line as soon as possible. The Price - It's just so darn cheap!
10 Tips for Your First Greyhound Bus Trip | WanderWisdom
The People You Meet - I like crazy people! Sit Near the Front of the Bus Most people get on the Greyhound bus and immediately head to the back of the bus. Keep Your Carry-On Bag With You One of the biggest crimes on Greyhound is the stealing of carry on bags that people leave sitting around when they walk off to do something else.
Follow the Bus Driver's Rules During Breaks When the bus stops for food and bathroom breaks the driver will typically give you some instructions about: Where to go to get something to eat. When to be back on the bus. What not to bring on the bus when you return.
- The Daring Book for Girls.
- 1. Arrive at Least an Hour Before Departure.
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Listen to and follow these instructions! So follow all the drivers rules and instructions. They have them for a reason. Don't Lose Your Ticket or Re-Boarding Pass This may seem like common sense but after a few trips on Greyhound you will realize how often people lose or misplace their tickets. Don't throw this re-boarding pass away!
- Traveling on a Budget: Tips for Greyhound Riders.
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Greyhound gets alot of bad press about it's employees and it's customer service. But I've found that the majority of the time you will be able to get the help you need. Stay Inside the Bus Station at Night During your trip you may have layovers and stops at Greyhound bus stations after dark. Tips for Long Greyhound Bus Trips. Questions must be on-topic, written with proper grammar usage, and understandable to a wide audience.
Hi Timothy, I enjoyed reading your tips for bus traveling. Transportation Rail Travel Flights Cruises. This website uses cookies As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
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This is used to prevent bots and spam. This is used to detect comment spam. Because after all, this is Thanksgiving , and you'll already be thankful you have a seat ;. Just to be clear, the time on the ticket is completely meaningless. You show up, find out which gate your route boards from, get in that line. When the bus comes they let however many people they have room for on, if there isn't room for you that means you wait for the next bus on that route.
I've done Greyhound on the day before Thanksgiving a couple of times. It was pretty much complete anarchy as you probably imagine. I think I waited about 3 hours to board. The most frustrating part was there were empty buses at the gates, but I guess they didn't have drivers for them. Check online to see how often the route you are using leaves.
Arrive a few hours before a bus you'd like to make. Accept beforehand you may be waiting 4 hours or more.
10 Tips for Your First Greyhound Bus Trip
Bring entertainment for the line. It doesn't matter when you arrive anymore. It all depends on this number you have on the ticket. That number will determine your position in the lineup. So no point if you show up 1 hour head, if your ticket number says "50", then you have to lineup as the 50th person. The announcer will call the posistions " 1 to 10 please line up for boarding".
I guess they want to be special and adopt this system instead of assigning seats like trains and planes By clicking "Post Your Answer", you acknowledge that you have read our updated terms of service , privacy policy and cookie policy , and that your continued use of the website is subject to these policies. Home Questions Tags Users Unanswered. I'm concerned by this language on the ticket: Greyhound in NYC were using special rules on Thanksgiving that meant the time on your ticket did matter; I arrived an hour early, got a good place in line, and had no trouble boarding the bus.
However, this is Greyhound we're talking about, and to further complicate, this is Thanksgiving, the day of the year rules just don't apply ; According to one source: That's a pretty good source. The only problem with it that I see is that the buses virtually never originate "from small town X".
They start or end in major cities. MichaelHampton there's a greyhound bus route that originates from Whistler, British Columbia. Its population is only around 10, Mark's answer is good. Here's my personal experience with Greyhound. Generally DC to Philly, and the return. According to the latest policy i got ottawa - toronto and back: They've been printing these numbers on tickets for years.