Chinatown bus program: Apexbus Rewards
Mar 5, 2008 | 11:37 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Washington, DC USA
Programs: UA; Amtrak
Posts: 2,002
Chinatown bus program: Apexbus Rewards
Apexbus (https://www.apexbus.com/ ) launched its Apex Reward Points frequent buyer program (https://www.apexbus.com/ApexReward.aspx ) about a month ago. Thus far it's the only reward program I've seen from a Chinatown bus company.
You earn 1 point for every dollar spent on tickets at their website; their street operation is quite low-tech, so I don't think it's possible to get points for walkup sales. As with airlines and Amtrak, you only get points for tickets that are actually used.
Their website is rather uninformative about redemption, but based on a recent purchase, it seems the program lets you redeem 10 points per dollar towards a new ticket. You can only redeem if you have enough points to cover the price of the new ticket, i.e. no points+cash redemptions.
According to the TOS points do not expire so long as you have activity once every three years. I don't know how long that will last. One doesn't patronize these companies for their customer service.
For the uninitiated, Apex is one of the larger so-called "Chinatown bus" or "dragon bus" companies that connect major US cities. They've expanded beyond the original Chinatown-to-Chinatown ethnic clientle to become popular among students, backpackers, and cheapskates like me
. For one, I don't need to venture into Washington's revolting Greyhound terminal or its sketchy neighborhood; more importantly, at $35 round trip from DC's Chinatown to either Penn Station or Chinatown in Manhattan, it's half the price of Greyhound and an eighth the price of Amtrak. I fly if I'm in a hurry and take the train when I can redeem AGR; otherwise the bus has been good to me.
You earn 1 point for every dollar spent on tickets at their website; their street operation is quite low-tech, so I don't think it's possible to get points for walkup sales. As with airlines and Amtrak, you only get points for tickets that are actually used.
Their website is rather uninformative about redemption, but based on a recent purchase, it seems the program lets you redeem 10 points per dollar towards a new ticket. You can only redeem if you have enough points to cover the price of the new ticket, i.e. no points+cash redemptions.
According to the TOS points do not expire so long as you have activity once every three years. I don't know how long that will last. One doesn't patronize these companies for their customer service.
For the uninitiated, Apex is one of the larger so-called "Chinatown bus" or "dragon bus" companies that connect major US cities. They've expanded beyond the original Chinatown-to-Chinatown ethnic clientle to become popular among students, backpackers, and cheapskates like me
. For one, I don't need to venture into Washington's revolting Greyhound terminal or its sketchy neighborhood; more importantly, at $35 round trip from DC's Chinatown to either Penn Station or Chinatown in Manhattan, it's half the price of Greyhound and an eighth the price of Amtrak. I fly if I'm in a hurry and take the train when I can redeem AGR; otherwise the bus has been good to me.
Mar 7, 2008 | 7:56 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: NYC
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 278
I'm not sure why the OP seems to dislike Greyhound so much, but Greyhound also has a frequent traveler program called Road Rewards.
Regarding pricing, Greyhound only charges $38 round trip (NYC-DC) with their special e-Fares, so it's essentially the same price. Amtrak's cheapest round trip is $138, which is only 4 times more, not 8 times.
Regarding pricing, Greyhound only charges $38 round trip (NYC-DC) with their special e-Fares, so it's essentially the same price. Amtrak's cheapest round trip is $138, which is only 4 times more, not 8 times.
Mar 8, 2008 | 7:21 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2006
Programs: UA, bmi, AA, CO, DL, B6, AMEX, Hertz, Most Hotels
Posts: 3,042
Speaking of buses - Bolt Bus
runs btwn NYC and DC for $1.00 and has a rewards program
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...99#post9379899
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...99#post9379899
Mar 9, 2008 | 6:28 am
#8
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,291
runs btwn NYC and DC for $1.00 and has a rewards program
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...99#post9379899
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...99#post9379899