Greyhound non-refundable tickets - what if I miss the bus?
 

Haven't used Greyhound before and would like to try. Non-refundable ticket is much more cheaper than regular, but what if I miss the bus I chose? Can I take another one the same day (there is one every hour on my route)?

I read their T&C several times but can't find anything in this regard.

yeah actually the driver told me that the ticket doesnt guarantee a seat
so i.e. with the bus you have if they had oversold you would have gotten bumped to the next seat on that route..even if it is MANY hrs later!
they do not guarantee seating!
also non refundable means you will not get your money back, but it can be credited towards another ticket need be.

sourse: i traveled from burlington to boston last month on a non refundanble ticket. at the transfer pt , bc my bus was late, i miss the conection and panicked that i couldnt get to boston. the station explained i have a ticket to boston - just wont get my money back.. and told me to wait for the next bus or come back another day!

E-mailed them and they say theres $15 charge if I miss the bus. Thats really strange as the seats are not guaranteed, looks like they want all the restrictions like airlines but none of the responsibilities.

Besides T&C say date change costs $15 on non-refundable tickets, not time chage.

that sucks..when it happened to me last year they just let me on the next bus - no fee

i am taking another one and booked a 11 am departure but now my flight time is backed up and it looks like i will have to take the 2 pm bus

if they give me grief at the station i will let u know
which day are you taking ur flight?

I didn't get an impression that the rep quite understood what I asked so maybe there is no charge after all.

My flight is Jan 14.

Never had a problem with taking a later or earlier bus on same day as long as there was space

well viks
i am testing the system jan 7
my flight gets in at 3 and i will 100% miss the bus and take the one 3 hrs later


will update you with what they say/if they fine :confused:

boy i hope leemaj is right..i was hoping they didn't just let me slide last time just bc it was kindof their fault the connection was late!

Greyhound tickets are not actually for the time and date printed on the ticket. They are valid anytime between the two points. The only exception would be something like peak v. off peak. Greyhound will sell an unlimited number of tickets for any given bus. If there are enough people they will just run another bus.

This rule works well for some and not so much for others. If you are traveling from the first stop or at a major station you are probably fine. As greyhound will probably have extra drivers and buses they can use, plus the odds of being the one or two pax stranded are low. If it looks like there is a long line and you may not make your bus, spend the $5 to get 'priority boarding' this will allow you to cut in front of most of the people in line.

The biggest problem with this system is for pax who are traveling from small stations or worse yet from 'limited service' stops. Odds are small stations are going to be the 3rd, 4th or 5th stop a bus makes which means it could be full and unlike major stations there aren't extra drivers and buses sitting around. Limited Service stops are on the side of the road, at a KFC, or airport. At these stops there is no customer service or a way to checkup on the bus.

Not true for advance purchase tickets I think.

My personal experience with the DC - NY route (which also has at least one bus an hour) is that nobody looks at the time of the ticket. I've tried it several times (taken an earlier bus, or a later bus, than my ticket) with no problems.

For what it's worth -- if you're anywhere along the NE corridor, BoltBus (part of Greyhound) and MegaBus are both cleaner and generally terminate in less-odd parts of town. MegaBus does stop at intermediate cities, while BoltBus operates out of NY with direct trips to Philly, Boston, and DC -- but I find it's hard to beat their fares. BoltBus also has a similar policy with respect to the time listed on the ticket, space permitting.

well sort of, if you purchase a 7 day advance ticket on Jan 3 it won't be valid until Jan10 at the earliest. However you could juse it 10 day or 20 days later

Summer of 2004, the driver didn't let me in saying it was full. This bus was going to Richmond, VA from Birmingham, AL. I didn't know what to do until I saw a bus to DC nearby. The driver was doing a last minute check around the bus before leaving. I told him my case of missing the full bus so let me in - didn't have to talk to anybody else. Good luck, this bus was less than half full all the way. Two hours after I arrived in DC, there was a bus leaving for Richmond, which took me there. Took 4hrs longer than the original schedule but I won't complain.

Your experience sounds typical from what I have heard from others. Things just sort of happen, there is no guarantees.

they didnt charge me
i just explained i was late and said sorry and they let me on.

Thanks for the update sweetpi3 !

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