So, hoping to get to Long Island in time for Passover, I was shopping for tix that would put me somewhere near Penn Station, so the Chinatown buses were out. Amtrak’s still too expensive, so the old gray mare, Greyhound, was my next option. Turns out the standard price for Boston-New York is $32… but if you click on the “Can I get a cheaper ticket?” button, the answer is “Yes” — a $20 ticket. Nice, right? Well, after going through that whole process, I find that Greyhound’s picked up some tricks from its airline cousins:
Yup, a $3 “convenience fee” — for ME printing out THEIR ticket and avoiding THEIR line and horrible service. Nice bait-and-switch. Let’s see you do that trick again NEXT TIME I DON’T TAKE GREYHOUND.
Maybe you’ll make an exception for Greyhound’s new Boltbus? Starting next Thursday you’ll be able to travel between Boston and NYC for as little as $1 each way, and there is no convenience fee for printing a ticket, because there is no ticket — you just give the driver your confirmation number. Boltbus’ fares supposedly cap out at $25 each way but the most expensive ticket I’ve seen on the site is $15, and I didn’t see many of those — most trips are either $1, $7, $10 or sold out. They also have free wifi on the busses, and power at every seat. (no I don’t work for them, I’m just very excited about going to NYC for $2 round trip 😉
It must be a new trend. Last week I went to a performance at a local coffee house/music hall. I elected to purchase my $20.00 ticket at the door. Them: “Actually, it’s $22.50”
Me: Ummmm…why?
Them: Surcharge
Me: Ummmm…for what?
Them: The cost of printing the tickets
For the record? I was not given a printed ticket. One of my friends who got there before me did receive a ticket. No, it wasn’t the standard ticketmaster ticket, it was a basically a ticket sized piece of paper printed out on regular paper. Perhaps they should see if they can get a better deal at WB Mason?
I hear you. I mean, fine, charge us the three bucks, but just add it into the cost of the ticket. It’s going to need to be printed regardless. I’m sure there’s an extra cost in any format we get our tickets. It’s the same thing with your phone bill. These extra weird charges just offend me. Add it into the overall cost… we’d never know!
Oh well, I still need to take Greyhound until the other bus companies are up and running. Amtrak is still just too expensive!
@ Trudy: Boltbus is partially a “loss leader” marketing scheme; given the high price of gas, there’s no way that’s a sustainable venture. I’ve learned that there’s no free ride: one way that the Lucky Star bus line charges only $15 is by partnering with other small businesses where it regularly makes its obligatory but unnecessary rest stops. It’s also a clever way to segment the market where those who are willing to pay more do so and those who aren’t jump through hoops (a lot like the extra clicks I had to go through to get to my $20, I mean $23, ticket). Still, I’d be interested with your experience with the process.
@ Melissa, I suspect there are laws that regulate this kind of bait-and-switch pricing. Perhaps a call to the Attorney General’s office will give some guidance? Hmmm….