Cheap Travel by Bus from Boston – Move over Fung Wah!

I’m a big Fung Wah Bus fan myself. I’ve taken 3-4 roundtrips on the Fung Wah from Boston to New York, each only $30! It’s always an adventure knowing that wikipedia reports that “the company has also become known for its high rate of accidents” and further outlines all of its safety-related incidences! I’ve never experienced anything foul, except for some other passengers’ body odor. The convienance is great. You can book online or just show up at South Station in Boston and get a ticket. The bus leaves every hour, if not more frequent. If you miss one bus, you can hop on another. I once bought a ticket online, showed up an hour early and was ushered on the bus leaving then! As long as you have a ticket and there’s an open seat, you can get on.

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But word from a couchsurfing post has even better news for those travelers looking to save a little on transporation: discount buses are coming to boston! The two big ones are Megabus and BoltBus, both owned by Greyhound. The business model is similar to the discount airlines in Europe like RyanAir which offer customers incredibly cheap seats, like a penny before taxes cheap! To grab such bargains customers have to book at least 2 weeks in advance. I flew roundtrip from London to Dublin for 60 USD on RyanAir back in 2005 – that’s not even a tank of gas here!

Seats on these new discount buses are as cheap as $1 a seat! What will happen to the beloved Fung Wah? I guess time will tell as the price war begins.

Here’s an article from the Globe on one of Fung Wah’s biggest competitors, Lucky Star, and how it’s gearing up for the price war as the corporate discount buses move in:

Lucky Star fights back with $1 Boston-N.Y. bus fare

Posted by Paul Makishima, Globe Assistant Sunday Editor April 3, 2008 01:46 PM

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Bargain bus riders don’t need to wait until BoltBus launches service April 24 with its Boston-New York $1 fare deal. Lucky Star said that starting today it, too, will offer one seat per bus for just a buck.

The family-owned Chinatown bus company is facing tough new competition from corporate giants Greyhound Lines, which runs BoltBus in several East Coast cities, and Coach USA, which on May 30 will add the Boston-New York route and the $1 fare to its MegaBus subsidiary’s 30-city empire.
Lucky Star said it isn’t sure how long it will be able to maintain this price war — especially with rising gas prices — but it’s trying to hang on to customers.

Lucky Star already matches pioneering competitor Fung Wah Bus in pricing each seat on the 57-passenger bus at $15 one-way. Now, weekday one-way tickets purchased online will go for $1 to $15 each, plus a 50-cent transaction fee. The walk-up fare will still be $15.

Posted by Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff