4

When trying to book a long-distance bus trip in the USA, I was surprised to see that everyone seems to just automatically assume that everyone is willing to spend 40 consecutive (or almost consecutive) hours on the bus. I tried to find tickets that would involve traveling during the day and staying in hotels/motels/Airbnb/whatever during the night. However neither Wanderu nor the Greyhound website offer the option to even search for such tickets (other than manually), let alone book them (other than as separate segments, which comes out much more expensive than a single ticket).

It looks like you don't even have the option to choose among several possible routes (for example to ensure that, even if you can't avoid traveling by night, you at least stay on the same bus for the whole night).

The first obvious question is, did I miss something? Is there actually any way to do this?

(Of course I can still do it by hand; but the network is quite large and complex, and it looks like I'm likely to miss some unexpected options that an automatic search would uncover.)

If no, what do other people do in this situation?

I can understand that some people want to get to the destination as quickly as possible; but surely I'm not alone in wanting to stop for a night, if I have the time for it! (Actually this leaves me wondering: is there really no market for tickets with overnight stops? Airlines often offer overnight connections; why don't bus companies?)

Improve this question
3
  • 3
    No you didn't miss anything, No there is no other way, people typically book separate segments, no apparently there is no big enough market for such stopovers, finally bus companies are not Airlines and even most airlines who do allow one stopover and for a fee. Sorry.
    – Augustine of Hippo
    Feb 9, 2017 at 16:34
  • 3
    I think the reason this is so uncommon is that the cost of bus tickets plus overnight accommodation could easily approach if not exceed the cost of flying (or rail service, where available), especially if airline tickets are purchased in advance and not during peak travel periods. It's certainly possible to couchsurf your way across the country for less, but I just don't think there's a ton of demand for the kind of tickets you're looking for.
    – Zach Lipton
    Feb 9, 2017 at 20:08
  • Consider point-to-point services like Megabus, where available.
    – Michael Hampton
    Feb 18, 2017 at 0:51

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

I don't think you will find what you are looking for; usually people take a transport and expect to get to destination as quickly as possible.

Can't you just book multiple bus tickets traveling by day and sleep in each destination stop ?

For example (for a trip from NY to Chicago)

1 day ticket from NY to Pittsburgh, Sleep there; take next bus in the morning. 1 day ticket from Pittsburgh to Chicago; Sleep there, take next bus in the morning ...

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    I definitely can, and this is probably what I will end up doing. However it would be really nice if I was able to automate the search. I'm going from Texas to the East Coast, and there are lots of possibilities for the intermediate stop; searching by hand, I can hardly find the cheapest and most convenient option.
    – Ilia Smilga
    Feb 9, 2017 at 16:33

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .