Hello everyone. Zano here, looking to inform everyone of an insanely cost-effective method of traveling known as Megabus. I've had a lot of people ask me questions about it, so I figured the best way to get the info out and available to everyone would be to make an article explaining what Megabus is and if it's available to you.



Megabus is an express, state-to-state bus service. Unlike others, their tickets can cost AS LOW AS $1! Think it's too good to be true? It's actually a lot better. You see, Megabus not only has insanely low prices, but also provides at-seat plug-ins, panoramic windows, and FREE WIFI!


You can't even get most of this on a standard bus service, but Megabus will provide it all for only a fraction of the competition's price. Now you may be asking, if Megabus is really that amazing, why would anyone use any other company? Megabus has been around since 2006, but compared to other companies, it's much more limited with respect to destinations. At the moment, it only runs in the Midwest, Northeast, and Canada, but they've been expanding like crazy lately, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it on the west coast in the near future.



One of the biggest (if not the biggest) deciding factors for a tourney goer is obviously going to be how much they have to spend to make it to a tournament.  


Normally, you'd be spending around $100 (maybe more?) for a bus or hundreds on a plane to arrive at your destination.  With Megabus, you can take a series of buses and make a trip across the US for less than $50! Just look at Seibrik, who is currently organizing a trip from Florida to Texas for WHOBO 4. (For anyone interested, go here for details.) Since Megabus recently announced that Texas is an available stop, attendance for WHOBO 4 has skyrocketed! I quickly realized how important Megabus is to our community, and how it will possibly be our saving grace. I mean, who wouldn't want to travel around the country with a group of friends on an amazing bus with all these luxuries at almost no cost? The trip itself will be an adventure, and then you still have the tournament experience to come. It all pays for itself so many times over.



On their website of course! (Here's the link, since I know most of you are lazy.) There is a catch to Megabus: you MUST get your tickets online, but really, that's no issue in this day and age for anyone.  If you do want your tickets at the lowest prices, you will need to plan sometime in advance. For example, let's say you want to get from Houston to San Antonio. Seats like this fill up fairly fast, so there most likely won't be any available for a while (the 19th is the soonest you could get one now.) As another example, let's say you want to get from Chicago, IL to Toledo, OH.  This isn't as in-demand of a trip, so tickets are available usually as soon as the following day, but if you were to get them this early, the price of the trip would increase exponentially, usually around $25+. (Still better than a standard bus service price anyways!) If you wait a while, to get your ticket, the price tends to drop a lot, but for trips like this, it most likely will not get as low as $1, probably around $9 or so on average. Back on topic, the message is to make sure you keep an eye on whatever tourney you wish to attend and come up with a plan early. This shouldn't be a problem, though, because with advertising of tournaments months before their dates, you have ample time to get in on those deliciously low prices. 


So there you have it! You all had a look at Megabus and how it can help you get where you need to go, tournaments or otherwise. There are a lot of amazing tournaments going on this year that need our attention and attendance, and what better way to get to them than in the lap of luxury, riding in the comfort of a Megabus to your destination safely and enjoyably? I plan to make very good use of this in the future, and I hope many of you do the same. The smash community is so great, and I know money is always tight for some of the younger players who don't have jobs, or the older players who have bills to pay, so give this a try and know you won't regret the decision!
  
-Zano