SheWolf62

So I'm honestly confused. I bought 2 seats as well & was made to give up my empty seat for a passenger.
Does the fact that I bought 2 seats not matter? (I proved it, had the 2 etickets)
Is there fine print saying I have to give it up even if I bought 2 seats? (I don't think so, I looked but of course I could be wrong)
With me it wasn't the pax, but the driver who pitched a fit & again, I'm not getting it. Why does it become my problem if your company overbooked the bus? That means they've been paid twice for my 2nd seat, & while I don't care about the $12, I do care that I didn't get what I paid for.
I finally relented & gave up the seat because the driver got increasingly irate (I stayed calm & had both tickets prominently displayed ). I felt like he might kick me off the bus; but I really am confused as to what's right here.
If I'm made to give up the seat, why did I get it in the 1st place, if having the extra seat wasn't going to do me any good?

CKA1

In my personal experience on multiple carriers, the purchase of a ticket does not necessarily guarantee that you are entitled to a seat on any particular coach. In fact, it's specifically indicated that if you cannot be seated on one coach, the carrier will board you on the next available coach. And if you're causing a stink, suddenly that next available coach is nine hours away. Or two days. Or two weeks. The fact that you have purchased a ticket (or 2) does not guarantee that you are going to get two seats on a particular bus.

You can therefore either sit down in your one seat, allow somebody to occupy your second seat, or you get off the bus. In this situation, the bus driver has discretion as to who sits where and if you are to sit on his/her bus. If you cause a fight, it doesn't matter if you've paid for 1, 2, 50 seats, it's up to the driver. Getting into technical legal details with a bus driver won't matter.

I know most people would disagree, but the general spirit of the procedure of boarding a bus is to board as many people as possible. Suppose you were belligerent? Does the fact that you have purchased a ticket mean that the driver is required to transport you? It seems unlikely that the driver will say, "Ok. He's paid for two seats, so somebody who needs to get on this bus has to stay behind.". He will probably say, "He's paid for two seats, but there is another guy outside the bus who needs to go, and this fellow has no logical reason to occupy both seats.

While I could argue down a few angry pax, arguing with a bus driver is a situation where he/she has complete discretion over anything.

I once witnessed an older lady who had purchased two seats so she could transport a television set in the seat next to her. The driver said, "Put the TV under the bus. Somebody else needs to sit there. Despite her arguments her options were, "put it under the bus" or "get off". Purchase in this situation does not guarantee the honoring of any ticket in any period of time.

Chuck

cbn42

Boltbus is not like that. Their terms say:

A confirmed online purchase is a reservation and guarantees you a seat on the date and schedule you’ve chosen provided you arrive at the departure point no later than 15 minutes prior to your scheduled departure time.

CKA1

Sorry, we don't have Boltbus here.

With this T&C, it could be argued that because the second person occupying the second seat didn't show up, he is not guaranteed a seat. One cannot check in twice, and one cannot satisfy a reservation if one is not physically there.

After all, you arrive at the departure point once. You cannot arrive and arrive again. Also, one is guaranteed a seat, not multiple seats. In this situation, it is likely that a driver will, as I've suggested, attempt to seat as many people as possible.

I would very much hesitate to pull that lawyer-stuff on a driver. They can not only refuse to transport you, they can refuse to honor your ticket.

Date and schedule does not mean "Date, schedule and space". It means they will transport you, if you follow the directions of Boltbus and their employees, contractors and agents, you can get on the bus. It does not mandate that you can occupy any number of seats. In Shewolf's situation, playing lawyer and risking being tossed off over 12 dollars might sound great on paper, but doesn't apply in real life.

Chuck

EmailKid

Is this Megabus, or does Coach USA have routes. IIRC in Texas Megabus operates as Coach USA (or is it vice versa), and as far as I know have no routes of their own.

That seems more passenger friendly - if you are the passenger that has the extra seat @:-)

I do see this from both sides, but IMHO if Coach USA is willing to sell you a seat and take your money, they should not be able to take it away because they didn't anticipate how many pax want to go.

But I definitely agree with NOT arguing with bus driver. During my first bus trip in US in over 20 years I took second row on a practically empty Greyhound bus, and the driver threw a fit when someone tried to sit in one of four "handicapped" seat in row one.

As you probably guessed, they stayed empty for the entire five hour journey

Side note: I have yet to make a journey with Megabus, but see that they are willing to sell reserved seats - wonder how they would take away a seat that was paid for as well as selected in advance, and was paid for that privilege.

Bakpapier

I'd make photos of the situation clearly showing pax seated in your second seat and ask for a refund.

And never buy 2 tickets again.

Although I understand that it's sour when you paid specifically for the comfort of a second seat, imagine you are the pax wanting to board the bus and there's a space left but you can't go becuase someone bought two seats and you have to wait an entire day for the next bus.

wharvey

So, if you bought two seats, as I recall... you do not get assigned seats.

What would you do if you boarded and only single seats were available? Technically, two seats are available but not beside each other!

SheWolf62

Helpful comments, thank you! Now I'm trying to remember everything that was posted lol.
I definitely DIDNT want to get into it with the driver bc I WAS concerned about getting put off.
After thinking about it some more last night, I decided to call Coach & find out their exact policies. It's not the $12, it's not (I don't think..?) the principle, I'm genuinely curious to know why I'm buying 2 tickets if they won't be honored.
If that's the case & they won't, ok fine, my bad, won't do it again, now I know, etc etc.
Anyway, spoke to a rep at Coach (800 222 0492 if anyone needs it) & wow....
The minute I gave him the bus # & city he said, "I know which driver you're talking about, let me transfer you to the GM here."
Ummm. Ok? Unfortunately got VM but I left a polite msg & I guess we'll see if he returns my call.
Was the rep telling the truth? Who knows.
Someone brought up the sitch of 2 seperate seats on the bus but it's still 2 seats. Valid! I'd actually thought of that myself, & I guess the answer is what a lot of you suggested, get assigned seats, if an option. I know Mega does, but IDK about Coach... IDT Greyhound does that either.
I appreciate nobody flaming/trolling me, I tried to be as fair as possible in explaining what happened, & again, bottom line: am I wasting my time buying 2 seats?
We'll see if I get an answer from Coach!

SheWolf62

I should've mentioned this in my original thread:
When the bus stopped for me in Princeton, I showed the driver my 2 etickets before I got on. I said, "I want you to know I have 2 seats."
He waved me off, had no interest in what I was saying to him.
Maybe bc there was no one on the bus when I got on? If I recall, I was the 1st one on.
Sigh. Argh.

Bakpapier

The driver doesn't care. His job is to load the cargo and pax as soon as possible, make sure everyone gets on board with a paid ticket, and drive from A to B as quickly as possible. It's not like bus drivers like these are very well paid. They can't care less what passengers have to say, mostly.

And when there is a conflict such as 'there is an empty seat and someone extra wants to board the bus' then he'll just let that person sit on that seat, no matter how many tickets you purchased. He doesn't care. And if you throw a fit he has the right to remove you from his bus and go about his way as usual.

If you want a higher level of service and comfort, take the train or the plane and go business class.

Of course in the US there is usually no train except on a handful of city pairs, so you'll be doomed to drive yourself or take the airplane. It's that simple.

In europe, there are now, next to the low budget long distance busses, some higher-class slightly more expensive busses which offer a bit more service and comfort (such as ICE bus in germany). I don't know of such in the US though.

When I have to take these buses (occasionally I have to take one which takes as much as 11 HOURS to germany single trip), I take a certain substance which I won't name on this forum as it's illegal in some countries (not mine), sit in my seat, close my eyes and when I wake up I'm half way there.

It's a miserable ride but it's sort of bearable with the right substances

SheWolf62

Lol Bakpapier! I'd typed a longer post earlier about how I'd contacted Coach to find out their actual policy but it's not showing up yet, IDKW.
The rep asked me a cpl pertinent ??s, then said he knew which driver I was referring to (I'd given the bus #, date, time, pickup) & he needed to get me to his boss. Who knows if it's the truth but I got the GMs name & left a polite VM. We'll see if I hear back.

EmailKid

It was approved by your friendly volunteer moderator - actually maybe as you were typing your last post. Possibly the 800 # triggered the SPAM filter and post had to be approved.

SheWolf62

Ahh *nods*. TY!

bhomburg

I do this all the time travelling with my service dog who is too large to fit under/in front of one economy seat. I don't buy extra seats but two tickets (on planes, for mileage earning purposes). Always get two boarding passes, scan both, and explain this to the airline staff at check-in and the gate.
No repercussions, ever.

Out-of-the-ordinary experiences so far:
GAs and FAs like to place 'oversize' passengers in the aisle seat next to my empty seat (always get window and middle on narrowbodies). Had this happen a few times now, much to the immense relief of the passengers concerned who were spared the expense of buying a second seat and/or the embarrassment of encroaching on their seat neighbor. Was offered to share the cost for this once by the person.
Had the second ticket refunded (well, I got a voucher for the price) and small children placed in 'my' empty seat (with a parent in the aisle seat) on overbooked flights so the airline (AA) avoided to leave someone behind twice.

PbodyPhoto

That is absolutely not true in most cases. I have bought two seats on the same flight on several occasions and airlines. Never had an issue.