When I usually go to New York, I hop on the Vamoose Bus, which used to be $25.00 a trip (roundtrip $50). Most DC/NY buses depart in the middle of DC which can be sort of a hassle if you do not live in the capital. This one picks you up right in Bethesda, Maryland, 2 blocks from where I work. I'd usually just walk over with my luggage on a Friday and get to New York by midnight.
The problem is Vamoose recently raised their fares from $25 to $30, which upsets me a little. We aren't exactly living in a lively economy right now, so it boggles my mind why they would raise prices considering that most other buses cost an average of $20 per trip. Vamoose has always been a mixed bag in terms of quality. They lease some of their buses from 3rd parties so sometimes you get nice posh buses with Wi-Fi capabilities, and other times you get broken lights, stinky bathrooms and horrible drivers. Some are rude to the point of indecent and some are so nice you want to kiss them. Some consistency would be nice. But if you like the danger of the unknown and taking gambles, Vamoose will hit the spot. Along with this extremely bad business decision, the consumers are starting to complain and you can see that their Yelp reviews have been slowly going downhill in the past month since the fare change.
The solution: Tripperbus.com is a new company that recently opened up to cater to those in the Bethesda area who travel to New York. They are still new so they have kinks, but they earnestly are trying to improve in order to compete with Vamoose in such a downhill market. Their fares are $25 a trip and after 4 trips, you get a free one. (You can do this with Vamoose too, but you now have to sign up to be a member online in order to reap this benefit.) One of the best things about Tripper Bus is that it leaves right from my office. Well, down a few steps...but now I can forego the two block hike with heavy luggage.
I love capitalism.
2 comments:
I've taken that bus trip twice now! And I was planning another one soon. Thanks for the heads-up! So, how've you been?
I usually take vamoose to go back home to MD, but this last trip I used tripper. I liked it!! The bus pickup/drop off locations are more convenient and I like the free wifi!
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