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.
What is Megabus?
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!
(See this guy relaxing with his styling sunglasses? This could be you!)
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.
Why is Megabus important to me?
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.
(Accurate amount of money spent by the average smasher per tourney.)
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.
How can I find out more about Megabus?
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