Megabus.com

RICHMOND, Va. (May 6, 2011) – Most individuals take several things into consideration when traveling.  They look into prices, hotels, things to do, location and other amenities.  For years airplanes, trains and cars have dominated most travel, but travel by Megabus.com is becoming more popular.  But most people don’t consider travel by bus or at least not until 2006 when Megabus.com was established.

            Through Megabus.com, passengers are offered low-cost, speedy bus service from city to city for as low as $1.  However, this is where most individuals get confused.  There are only a select few $1 seats and they are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.  The only exception is days when seating is not in high demand like weekdays or winter months. 
            Mike Alvich, vice president of marketing for Coach USA and Megabus.com, says prices escalate as the trip date gets closer but their prices are still more reasonable than other competitors.

            “The earlier you book and depending when you want to travel, the better chance you have for the $1 fare,” says Alvich.  “So if you wait until the last day you might pay the highest fare and still the cheapest fare in the marketplace.”

            Like other travel agencies, Megabus.com provides amenities to make the passenger’s ride easy and enjoyable. Things like free Wi-Fi, safety first seatbelts and power outlets are among the many features megabus.com offers.  According to Alvich, when you put all these and other elements together like brand new environmentally friendly buses, low fares, lots of good service, various departure stations and cities that are popular among people, then you go and promote to your consumer.

            So with these seemingly expensive services yet low prices, how exactly does Megabus.com make money?  Alvich says one way to do this is to not use unnecessary “brick and motor” offices like Greyhound and other bus companies that have ticket offices.  All Megabus.com reservations are made online which eliminates having to pay rent, insurance, salaries, etc.

“[in other words] you keep your operating costs as low as you can and you keep your quality of services as high as you can,” says Alvich.

            And consumers not only appreciate what Megabus.com offers, but they also find it very dependable.  Amaris Lemus, a student at VCU and a Megabus.com consumer, says that she enjoys the  website which is easy to use, and the buses always arrive and depart on time, too.

            “There also aren’t too many ‘sketchy’ people on it,” says Lemus.  “Everyone takes it…college students, parents and their kids, older people, etc.”

            But with any company, there are always advantages and disadvantages.  Megabus.com provides several cities in the U.S. with reliable service, but Richmond, for example, only travels to six other cities.  Hampton, Charlotte and Washington D.C. are among the few places Richmond's Megabus.com would travel.  Lemus says sometimes trying to travel from Richmond to other places can be difficult because there aren’t any buses that travel directly from Richmond to a place like New York.

            “If you’re trying to go to New York City, you have to buy one ticket from Richmond to D.C., then another from D.C. to Baltimore and then Baltimore to New York City,” says Lemus.

             This is where competitors try to gain the upper hand.  Travel agencies like the Chinatown bus and the Number 1 Bus Tour are similar to Megabus.com in that they have very low prices.  However, one difference is the available travel straight from Richmond to New York. 
            But are they profitable?

            When asked about how each company profits off of such low prices, the Chinatown bus company failed to respond.  However, a Number 1 Bus Tour representative said that it’s not uncommon to struggle in an industry where there are many traveling outlets.

“We don’t [make money]…we just try to keep up with every other company and stay alive,” said a Number 1 Bus Tour representative.

            It's not possible to determine how many passengers travel with Megabus.com daily or monthly.  However, after celebrating its nine millionth customer, Megabus.com does not look like its stopping anytime soon.  It plans to continue to offer great service, great prices and great travel.

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