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Bought 2 seats for myself on Bolt Bus, and was not treated well by fellow passengers

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Bought 2 seats for myself on Bolt Bus, and was not treated well by fellow passengers

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Old Mar 10, 2013, 1:24 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by littlemookie
....the bus ride is not a short ride, and its unpleasant to stand on a crowded bus for hours.
There's no standing on BoltBus. Everybody on board has a seat.
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Old Mar 10, 2013, 7:02 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by dgreen12
There's no standing on BoltBus. Everybody on board has a seat.
If everyone had a seat then I take back my entire post. If the standby passengers had a seat, although it may have been in the back or somewhere undesirable, then good for the OP for standing his ground. I was under the impression that the standby pax were standing. Apologizes on the confusion.
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Old Mar 10, 2013, 7:06 pm
  #18  
 
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I bought 2 seats for myself on Bolt Bus, and was treated badly

I don't get it
It was important enough to you to go through all that nonsense with the other passengers yet then offered to sell the seat for thirteen dollars?
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Old Mar 10, 2013, 8:47 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by littlemookie
If everyone had a seat then I take back my entire post. If the standby passengers had a seat, although it may have been in the back or somewhere undesirable, then good for the OP for standing his ground.
Pretty sure none of the long (or medium) distance buses allow standing pax.

Originally Posted by duchy
I don't get it
It was important enough to you to go through all that nonsense with the other passengers yet then offered to sell the seat for thirteen dollars?
Originally Posted by nd2010
Since I found a bus ticket for $13 each way I decided to buy two for myself to hopefully guarantee an empty seat next to me.
What's not to get OP paid $13 for the seat, and was kind enough to let someone have it for the price he paid @:-)

Of course the person who wanted said seat already paid for one, and most likely didn't want to pay again just for the privilege of sitting next to OP @:-)

Of course, the offer would have meant more had OP offered the seat for $13 to a standby that was left behind @:-) OK, OK, I'm ... U me ing that there were pax who didn't get on

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Old Mar 11, 2013, 5:35 am
  #20  
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Unless someone doesn't fit onto one seat when they should paid for two, because it is rough on whoever gets the seat next to them.

To buy two seats just to have the space, is against the whole spirit of communal/public transport. Just because you can buy two tickets doesn't mean you should. If you don't like random people and coaches, check out Net Jets.

All that really happened is you had to explain the situation of you having two tickets. What did you expect, people to see an empty seat and ignore it when loads pax on standby?

Last edited by EmailKid; Mar 11, 2013 at 8:21 am Reason: Deleted personal attack
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Old Mar 11, 2013, 11:19 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by sfx
a person can't have two seats on a flight because you can only ever have one BC for security reasons.
They most definately can and as a TA I've sold tickets this way.
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Old Mar 11, 2013, 11:24 am
  #22  
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you can't just buy two tickets, specific tickets exist re flights per airline. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...ir_Travel.html
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Old Mar 11, 2013, 11:46 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by sfx
you can't just buy two tickets, specific tickets exist re flights per airline. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...ir_Travel.html
Your comment makes no sense. Yes airlines will sell multiple tickets to one person. Different airlines have different policies on when they'll do it, but in general it CAN be done.
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Old Mar 13, 2013, 5:08 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by sfx
you can't just buy two tickets, specific tickets exist re flights per airline. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...ir_Travel.html
You said that one passenger cannot buy two seats. This is not true. Often called "comfort seats", and usually you just pay the base fare and not taxes/fuel surcharge/etc. The name for the second seat is usually has an extra word added, depending on the airline.
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Old Mar 13, 2013, 9:05 am
  #25  
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i said you can't "just buy" two tickets, you have to contact the airline.
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Old Mar 13, 2013, 10:10 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by sfx
To buy two seats just to have the space, is against the whole spirit of communal/public transport. Just because you can buy two tickets doesn't mean you should. If you don't like random people and coaches, check out Net Jets.

All that really happened is you had to explain the situation of you having two tickets. What did you expect, people to see an empty seat and ignore it when loads pax on standby?
Totally disagree. Private long-distance bus services aren't some communist bonding exersize, rather they are businesses interesed in selling as much as they can make money on. Based on that logic, would you also suggest doing away with business class on all airliners and just telling the folks to check out Net Jets?

And are you actually suggesting that fat customers should have more rights?
Its also not very fun to sit next to me "as a person of height" on a standard bus, especially if sleeping or using a laptop. I am glad people are largely understanding of my reasoning for buying two seats when I have to travel at busy times. Of course if I'm boarding late without assigned seat and there aren't two left next together though, that's my problem.

Of course the implicit betterness of having payed twice is a bit annoying. (Though with discount pricing you've still payed less than others.) I'm surprised none of the operators have gone for a "economy plus" section at the front of the bus where customers who pay for two seats per person are seated.
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Old Mar 13, 2013, 2:21 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by nd2010
On a recent trip from NYC to Boston I opted for the Bolt bus instead of Amtrak. Since I found a bus ticket for $13 each way I decided to buy two for myself to hopefully guarantee an empty seat next to me.
The bus was sold out since it was a Friday afternoon. There were a lot of people trying to stand by. Every time someone asked to sit in the empty seat next to me I said that I bought 2 seats and got a dirty look. Then the driver boarded standbys. The last standby tried to sit next to me and I didn't let him. I told the driver that I purchased 2 seats on the same bus, and even showed him both tickets. He thought one was a fake because the confirmation numbers were consecutive. Of course they would be consecutive since I bought one right after the other. Eventually the driver relented after calling his manager to confirm my tickets and explain the situation. The standby passenger thought I was being mean for denying him the seat next to me. I said that I'd let him sit there if he paid me $13, he didn't, and chose to leave and wait for the next bus.
I felt like its well within my rights to buy 2 seats for myself and defend the second seat I paid full price for. It's just like my imaginary friend was sitting next to me. I shouldn't have to let someone sit in the seat I paid for without expecting compensation, the price I paid for the seat. Everyone has the option to pay for 2 seats for themselves, so it's not like I'm special.
Treated Badly probably not,looked at then yes. It happens,in general people that want their way will look at you weird or unhappy,good that you offered to sell that 2nd seat,but why buy it then want to sell it when the kitchen gets out (in this case the bus was crowded).

Next time you know just to buy one seat or two but place something on top of that seat,or just sit in the middle,make it seem you really need both seats.
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Old Mar 18, 2013, 11:18 am
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by sfx
lucky to get away with that. trains and planes need a real person for each ticket for the ticket to be valid. for example one person buys two tickets for the same flight - you only get one seat.

bit much to say "treated badly" - you had to explain the situation as everyone could see the empty seat. what you'd expect?
Do an FT search for performancefitness (I think that's the handle).

They were even successful in filing claims to receive FF credit for each seat they purchased. I believe it was 4 to 5 seats at once (basically the middle section of Y on a 777).
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 11:15 pm
  #29  
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If you bought two tickets but only one passenger showed up, the other passenger is a NO SHOW and the bus can assign their seat to someone else. Who told you that you could buy an extra seat and use it yourself?

Far too many people get on a bus and try to hog two seats for themselves, because it is more comfortable. The polite ones then get stuck with a seatmate while the rude ones get more space. This game is well known to frequent bus travelers.

I don't think you were treated badly. I'm not sure what you expected to happen differently.
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 8:33 am
  #30  
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Exclamation Moderator note

Originally Posted by cbn42
Who told you that you could buy an extra seat and use it yourself?
Originally Posted by nd2010
<snip> after calling his manager to confirm my tickets and explain the situation.
<snip> Everyone has the option to pay for 2 seats for themselves, so it's not like I'm special.
This thread is generating a lot of hostility bordering on personal attack, which is against FT rules, so I will caution everyone that posts may be deleted and thread may be locked if this continues.

I am also editing the title to closer reflect what actually happened, as Bolt Bus did not treat OP badly, it was the pax who gave him dirty looks.

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