I love to travel. But I also love to do it by spending as little money as possible. Megabus is one of my absolute favorite ways to get out of town for super cheap. I’ve used the discount bus service a few times and it has been a really great experience, although their “free wifi” doesn’t always work.
Reader Anna Ruth dropped me a line with a question about how the Megabus $1 tickets work.
Here’s my response…
There Are 3 Keys to Scoring One Dollar Megabus Seats
Book in Advance (Way in Advance)
There are only a few $1 seats on each Megabus route. Therefore, you’ll want to book your seat months in advance in order to score the lowest fare. Prices go up and up as you get closer to the departure date. Also, while $1 seats are awesome, the seats go up in price as more are sold. Scoring a $5 or $9 seat is pretty amazing too. If you see a low fare, jump on it. The average fare on Megabus is around $20 but I hope you avoid paying even that much with these tips. By the way, a 50 cent reservation fee applies to all bookings.
Be Flexible With Your Dates
Have a travel window and look for seats within that window. The ticket prices can vary greatly from one day to the next depending on what’s been sold so far. You won’t score the best deal if you already have specific travel dates picked out. The more flexibility you have on date and time of departure, the more likely you are to ride for cheap! Also, travelling mid-week will often save you more money on Megabus trips.
Go Ahead and Book!
If you stumble upon a $1 or $3 fare — buy it! Even if you are unsure if you are actually going to travel on those dates, what’s the worst that can happen? It is far wiser to book the ticket and not use it than to wait and have to pay ten times that as the date approaches.
Don’t forget to check the Megabus website for deals. They have lots of specials — especially for people willing to travel on weekdays! Good luck on scoring one dollar seats on Megabus!
Anyone else out there had a Megabus experience yet? What do you think of the low-cost bus service?
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