Having experienced this many a time (for a while, I was living in NYC while my now-wife was in Philly), I would pay the extra money easily for the convenience of Amtrak - it's at least an hour faster, and you don't have to worry about getting stuck on the NJ Turnpike in traffic. If you do want to go on the bus, personally I felt the best ride was on the upper deck of a Megabus. I got lucky once and had the entire bus to myself for a trip back (due to traffic causing buses to get misaligned) - I enjoyed the front of the upper deck all alone immensely! That said, the difference between Bolt and Megabus is virtually negligible. Either is preferable to the crummy Greyhounds out of the Port Authority. They are also both quicker than taking NJT to SEPTA (transferring in Trenton) - and if you get screwed with one leg being late, you could miss the connection and end up sitting at the station in Trenton for 30-40 minutes waiting for the next train. Not worth it.