spectastic

I bought a ticket for tuesday, but I've found little information on bicycles. According to their website, I just check it in, and pay no extra fees. It seems too good to be true, and based on word of mouth, my understanding of greyhound is that it's a little dodgy and ghetto. The local greyhound station is at a gas station, not an actual station like amtrak. Is everything taken care of by the driver? I just show up with my bike in a box and my panniers? what am I missing?

fietsbob

Consider: meet the bus @ that stop a few days before the trip, ask the drivers?

& if the place is a regular stop , the people that work in the store at the fuel station should have information.

vik 

Can you post the link to the bike info you are talking about. I can't find it.

https://www.greyhound.com/en/tickets...formation.aspx

Last time I check about taking a bike with me on Greyhound [in Canada] the bike had to be shipped separately at a significant cost, boxed and they would not guarantee it would arrive at the same time.

Colorado Kid

Having done many miles on the dog, I can say, "don't do it". I could tell you many stories but the one that sticks to mind is the one time they change the route and told no else down the line! Got dumped off in the bad side of town in the Northern part of the state. No one cared. I was told the next bus was going to be the morning. (The connect bus didn't run any more.) Great!! i had to make some q

Colorado Kid

Sorry about that...computer problems. I had to make some quick calls (in the middle of night.) Very late that night, I got to where I was going. I was later told that some folks had to sleep on the sidewalk and if anything happen to them, well tough luck. The dog doesn't care about you and never will.

spectastic

https://www.greyhound.com/en/tickets...formation.aspx

spectastic

ok the place I'll be boarding at is a package express, meaning I'll have to ship the bike. the quote for the shipment is between $70 to $90, depending on the weight. Is this service on time and reliable?

staehpj1

The fact that the stop is a Package Express stop does not typically mean you have to go with Package Express. My understanding is that Package Express is supposed to be using the bus as a shipping service when you are not riding as a passenger. You should still be able to just check the bike as baggage if you are travelling on that bus. I say "should" because the dog is always an adventure and you seem to get a different story at every station. Once here in Tallahassee a friend was told that they didn't take bikes at all (his was boxed up). After a bit of pleading his case they relented, loaded the bike, and let him board.

When I have ridden the dog I have sat next to drunks, just released convicts, and other "interesting" people. As I said it is always an adventure and I have mostly stopped using the dog.

"Take the Greyhound
It's a dog of a way to get around
Take the Greyhound
It's a dog gone easy way to get you down"
Harry Chapin "Greyhound"

BigAura

Greyhound is a company that's still being run like it's 1948, but they don't realize that and their infrastructure has crumbled and/or disappeared. Personally I've have some fun adventures using their service, but my last experience was pretty bad. My checked bicycle arrived a day later than me after they messed up a transfer. The saddest part was they lost the tracking and had no idea where it was. It did finally arrive and in perfect condition but a day late. Not sure if I'll use them again.

hilltowner

I dealt with Greyhound during the last two summers' tours. Once from Montreal to White River Jct., VT and again from Kingston, ON to Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Both times I took the bike with me (in a box), when it was loaded and unloaded from the luggage compartment (except transferring in Toronto where it got loaded in a "Package Express" trailer due to more limited cargo space because of a handicap lift on that particular bus.) Both required an extra fee of ~$30.00 CN. Since the trips all originated in Canada I can't say how it would have been if I'd picked up the bus in the U.S. but there were no problems on either of those rides.

gpsblake

Going by years of responses here, Greyhound can be a hit or miss with a bicycle. Drivers who are too lazy to make room for your boxed bike with the luggage, inconsistent policies etc. As for the bus stations, we get it, it's not going to be in the [strike]white[/strike] nice part of town, they are trying to gentrify my closest stop (Columbia) by making the station move to the [strike]black[/strike] poor part of town so they can build condos for the growing university.

Cyclebum

My take.

DropBarFan

Long ago I took Greyhound (not w/bike) on a long east-coast trip that transferred at NYC Port Authority station. Had a bunch of boxes & suitcase & didn't trust local personnel at all to automatically transfer luggage so I watched 'em load the stuff into the next bus. Then at (IIRC) DC station I had to relay stuff from bus parking spot thru station, only moving things as far as could maintain eye over.

OTOH train & plane personnel give all sorts of bad info/service so buses may not be all that bad. Bus station might not be in nicest neighborhood but airports often far out of town w/limited bike access. Bus station might be more convenient if one needs a bike box or something. & one meet more interesting folks on buses, have chatted with a pharmacist, biker dude & a newly-discharged Army vet tripping on LSD.

prathmann

Why would you need to send it Package Express? As long as it is under 50 lbs. and in a reasonable size bike box it should be acceptable as a checked bag unless you have more than one other bag that you want to check (I've always only had the bike as checked baggage and my other things as carry-on). But a regular size bike won't fit in the specified 62" (L+W+H) limit so you may have to pay the oversize fee (depends on the whim of the driver).

In theory any checked bag should automatically be transferred to your next bus if your trip involves a change of busses. But that doesn't always happen and I've found it best to watch the luggage being unloaded and verify that your bike makes it to the right bus on time. I've sometimes ended up taking the bike box over to my next bus personally when it appeared that it would be left behind otherwise.

indyfabz

The Philly bus station is not in a bad or black or white or poor part of town. It's in Chinatown, a half block from the PA convention center and this awesome place:

Home - Reading Terminal Market

SurlyLHT26in08

it is the best to google a bike shop on google maps and call them to ask if you can ship your bike to the bike shop ahead of you by UPS or FedEx ground!!!

SurlyLHT26in08

Greyhound Buses are new with WI-FI and U/L Plugs outlets

BigAura

Maybe hyperbole, but here's what a modern bus company looks like.

SurlyLHT26in08

here is the new greyhound bus and I get greyhound bus on 9-14-2015 from Myrtle Beach, SC to
Oceanside, CA (Homebase) no bike with me!

BigAura

Ok, that's a nice looking bus, and if they upgraded all their buses and other infrastructure to match I'd be back "on-board" as a customer. For now I'll more than likely be using the smaller upstarts when it works.

DropBarFan

Once stayed in Philly to see the pro race & got a great dinner from vegetarian Chinese restaurant there. Philly is a great food town.

indyfabz

Was it Charles Plaza by any chance?

indyfabz

It's what you encounter inside that's important.

mikeonthemadone

When it comes to Greyhound, one word: DON'T.

DropBarFan

I'm not sure, I see just now that Charles Plaza is now closed, but photo of exterior seems similar to my memory. Well there's still the New Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant which is well reviewed. Chickie's Deli (South Philly) makes an impressive Veggie Hoagie (w/eggplant & broccoli rabe), it's not just a lame afterthought like many veg subs.