Bus from Philly to D.C. (plus Phillies baseball etiquette)
March 25, 2019 10:59 AM Subscribe
3 Europeans traveling from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. at the end of March. We want to use a bus service - cost is the most important factor, but we also want it to be safe and clean-ish. We want to leave not too late in the morning, but it's OK if we don't get to D.C. exactly on time. Which service would you recommend?
Bonus questions for the Philly part of the trip: We want to go see the Phillies play a game. They are at home versus the Marlins when we are staying there - what are the odds of being able to get decent gameday tickets? Or should we book in advance instead?
I am a Cubs fan, and would love to wear my Arrieta Cubs jersey for the game (he went from the Cubs to the Phillies last year), but is that just going to get me grief?
Bonus questions for the Philly part of the trip: We want to go see the Phillies play a game. They are at home versus the Marlins when we are staying there - what are the odds of being able to get decent gameday tickets? Or should we book in advance instead?
I am a Cubs fan, and would love to wear my Arrieta Cubs jersey for the game (he went from the Cubs to the Phillies last year), but is that just going to get me grief?
nthing boltbus and megabus as being totally fine and cheap
posted by wowenthusiast at 11:42 AM on March 25, 2019
posted by wowenthusiast at 11:42 AM on March 25, 2019
Are you going to be there the end of March (as your question says) or the end of April (when the Marlins are in town)?
If you are actually going to be in Philly later this week, when the Phillies are playing the Braves, that is opening day/opening series so tickets might be more expensive or harder to get, so you might want to start looking now. (Also, depending on weather, it can be cold to watch a baseball game in March - wear layers!)
If you'll be there in April, I would probably wait a bit on getting tickets to the game, but I'd keep an eye on Stub Hub or a similar site to see how the ticket prices are trending.
posted by Caz721 at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2019
If you are actually going to be in Philly later this week, when the Phillies are playing the Braves, that is opening day/opening series so tickets might be more expensive or harder to get, so you might want to start looking now. (Also, depending on weather, it can be cold to watch a baseball game in March - wear layers!)
If you'll be there in April, I would probably wait a bit on getting tickets to the game, but I'd keep an eye on Stub Hub or a similar site to see how the ticket prices are trending.
posted by Caz721 at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2019
wearing your Arrieta/Cubs jersey is really only acceptable if hes pitching that day, in my totally random and not terribly qualified opinion.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2019
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:05 PM on March 25, 2019
Yep Boltbus and Megabus are great. The stop is just outside 30th street station, so you can take the subway or bus to/from the pickup. Do NOT take Grayhound, Peter Pan, or the Chinatown bus.
As a lifetime Phillies fan - you have my permission to wear the Cubs jersey if, and only if, they are playing the Cubs. You'll actually get more grief if they're playing some other team. But you'll get grief regardless.
posted by DoubleLune at 12:32 PM on March 25, 2019
As a lifetime Phillies fan - you have my permission to wear the Cubs jersey if, and only if, they are playing the Cubs. You'll actually get more grief if they're playing some other team. But you'll get grief regardless.
posted by DoubleLune at 12:32 PM on March 25, 2019
I have to put in a plug for Boltbus over Megabus; I have used the former many times without incident but some people close to me have had truly terrible Megabus experiences.
posted by ferret branca at 12:52 PM on March 25, 2019
posted by ferret branca at 12:52 PM on March 25, 2019
You may wish to also check the price of train (Amtrack?) compared to the bus. When I last looked at prices for bus or train on that corridor (Washington to Boston), the train was competitively priced with the bus.
This was, however, several years ago, and I didn't know about Megabus (it may not have existed in the US at the time).
posted by jb at 12:53 PM on March 25, 2019
This was, however, several years ago, and I didn't know about Megabus (it may not have existed in the US at the time).
posted by jb at 12:53 PM on March 25, 2019
Bolt and Megabus are fine. Amtrak is going to be several times more expensive, in that if you book several weeks in advance, it'll be a $50-80 one-way ticket and a very pleasant ride.
You could not pay me enough to ride on the Chinatown bus. They have a long history of being run by shady-ass companies and driven by very tired drivers who may or may not have the correct licensure, resulting in several notable crashes and other incidents. They are also significantly dirtier than Bolt and Megabus.
The $3-ish you will save is not worth it.
posted by joyceanmachine at 1:30 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
You could not pay me enough to ride on the Chinatown bus. They have a long history of being run by shady-ass companies and driven by very tired drivers who may or may not have the correct licensure, resulting in several notable crashes and other incidents. They are also significantly dirtier than Bolt and Megabus.
The $3-ish you will save is not worth it.
posted by joyceanmachine at 1:30 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am a Cubs fan, and would love to wear my Arrieta Cubs jersey for the game (he went from the Cubs to the Phillies last year), but is that just going to get me grief?
It's not like the old days at the Vet, you shouldn't get your teeth knocked in or anything. But you will get grief, absolutely.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:59 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's not like the old days at the Vet, you shouldn't get your teeth knocked in or anything. But you will get grief, absolutely.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:59 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Nthing the statement that Bolt and Mega Bus are fine, but Bolt > Mega Bus.
posted by oceano at 2:15 PM on March 25, 2019
posted by oceano at 2:15 PM on March 25, 2019
+1 on "avoid Chinatown buses." I used them a lot but I also have some sort of wtf stories including 1) we got to the standing traffic jam that is always there for no apparent reason between New Haven and Stamford and the guy got off the highway, wound around for half an hour, and got us back on the highway one exit further along. 2) we got back to NYC from DC and the driver made it known that he did not know how to get to where we were going beyond exiting the tunnel. (I mean that one was fine. No one likes to give directions like a bus full of New Yorkers.) Anyway it's super cheap but this seems to be because it's more or less improvised.
posted by Smearcase at 2:54 PM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Smearcase at 2:54 PM on March 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
Wear the Arietta Cubs jersey. DC fans have lots of split loyalties (aka a "home team" from where they grew up and the Nationals) so it won't be a problem.
I highly recommend getting tix on StubHub in advance vs trying to get game day tickets. The Marlins aren't a big draw so you should be able to get good seats, but the lines can be long and picking seating can be confusing at the ticket windows.
posted by nkknkk at 6:16 PM on March 25, 2019
I highly recommend getting tix on StubHub in advance vs trying to get game day tickets. The Marlins aren't a big draw so you should be able to get good seats, but the lines can be long and picking seating can be confusing at the ticket windows.
posted by nkknkk at 6:16 PM on March 25, 2019
Actually CANCEL my answer above. Just realized you want to see the Phillies in Philly, not in DC.
posted by nkknkk at 6:17 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by nkknkk at 6:17 PM on March 25, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: They are at home versus the Marlins when we are staying there - what are the odds of being able to get decent gameday tickets? Or should we book in advance instead?
You'll have no problem getting tickets for that series no matter when you decide to buy. You should be able to hop on StubHub or SeatGeek day of and get tickets for below face value. Be aware that Citizens Bank Park is moving away from printed tickets so someone in your group may need to download the MLB Ballpark app and set up an account. You can still get printed tickets at the box office.
Wear the Arrietta Cubs jersey. Cubs aren't a rival and they aren't the opposing team so I doubt you'll get any grief.
posted by Diskeater at 11:27 AM on March 26, 2019
You'll have no problem getting tickets for that series no matter when you decide to buy. You should be able to hop on StubHub or SeatGeek day of and get tickets for below face value. Be aware that Citizens Bank Park is moving away from printed tickets so someone in your group may need to download the MLB Ballpark app and set up an account. You can still get printed tickets at the box office.
Wear the Arrietta Cubs jersey. Cubs aren't a rival and they aren't the opposing team so I doubt you'll get any grief.
posted by Diskeater at 11:27 AM on March 26, 2019
Response by poster: Thanks for the answers everyone! I'll do some thinking on the jersey thing - might also just buy a Phillies T-shirt as a memento.
Looks like we'll go with Megabus, since Bolt Bus doesn't have anything available on the relevant day.
posted by Bukvoed at 3:43 AM on March 29, 2019
Looks like we'll go with Megabus, since Bolt Bus doesn't have anything available on the relevant day.
posted by Bukvoed at 3:43 AM on March 29, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nosila at 11:27 AM on March 25, 2019