Megabus Is Giving Away 200,000 Free Tickets

Who says there’s no such thing as a free trip? Megabus is giving away 200,000 free tickets for bus rides between January 8 and February 29. If you’ve been thinking about a winter getaway or a quick visit to see family and friends, now is the time to do it!

What is Megabus?

Megabus is an intercity bus service that operates in the United States and Canada. Their business model is similar to the airlines industry; the lowest fares are offered to customers who book the earliest.

The buses typically have stops at railroad stations, on public streets, bus stations, shopping centers, college campuses, and transportation centers in major cities.

Where does Megabus travel to?

Megabus serves a lot of cities – offering service in the eastern, southern, midwestern, and western United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

(Image from Megabus)

Here are the four major areas that Megabus travels to:

Northeast

  • Albany, New York
  • Annapolis, Maryland
  • Atlantic City, New Jersey
  • Baltimore
  • Boston
  • Buffalo, New York
  • Burlington, Vermont
  • Cheektowaga (town), New York
  • Christiansburg, Virginia
  • Erie, Pennsylvania
  • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Hartford, Connecticut
  • New York City
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Providence, Rhode Island
  • Portland, Maine
  • Rensselaer, New York
  • Ridgewood, New Jersey
  • Rochester, New York
  • State College, Pennsylvania
  • Syracuse, New York
  • Washington, D.C.

Western

  • Anaheim, California
  • Burbank, California
  • Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Riverside, California
  • Sacramento, California
  • San Francisco, California
  • San Jose, California
  • Oakland, California

Midwest

  • Champaign, Illinois
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Cleveland
  • Columbia, Missouri
  • Detroit
  • East Lansing, Michigan
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • Indianapolis
  • Iowa City, Iowa
  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • Madison, Wisconsin
  • Memphis, Tennessee
  • Milwaukee
  • Minneapolis
  • Normal, Illinois
  • Omaha, Nebraska
  • St. Louis, Missouri
  • St. Paul, Minnesota
  • Toledo, Ohio

Canada

  • Toronto
  • Whitby, Ontario
  • Kingston, Ontario
  • Brockville, Ontario
  • Cornwall, Ontario
  • Kirkland, Quebec
  • Montreal

What is the offer?

Direct Link

Megabus added 200,000 free seats across many routes. You can find it by searching for tickets between January 8 and February 29.

Megabus 200,000 free seats  promotion header

From my searches, it seems pretty easy to find a free ticket on any day of the offer. Here’s an example of two I found between Boston and New York City:

Search results that show free Megabus tickets from Boston to New York
(Image from Megabus)

What are the details?

  • Free seats are limited to a maximum of two per reservation and are available on a first come first served basis.
  • Free seats are offered on select routes for travel between January 8-February 29, 2020.
  • Free seats must be found by the customer and obtained through the US and Canadian megabus.com websites only.
  • Free seats are not available via customer service representatives.
  • Resale of free seats is not permitted.
  • Megabus.com reserves the right to cancel reservations that were obtained in a fraudulent nature.

The Bottom Line

A lot of people I know prefer bus travel for the scenery and adventure. Personally, I think it makes sense on shorter routes like the Boston to New York I mentioned. The bus ride takes about 4 1/2 hours and drops me off at a convenient city location.

That’s almost the same as flying. While the actual flight is only 45 minutes, you have to account for a bunch of other things you have to do that adds a lot of time to your trip:

  • getting to the airport
  • going through check-in and security
  • boarding time
  • leaving the airplane
  • baggage claim
  • taking a taxi/Uber/Lyft to your hotel

Besides all that, what’s the most important thing here? It’s free!

I’ve never used Megabus before so I can comment on the service. Let me know if you have any experience with them!

About John Pham

John Pham is a personal finance expert, serial entrepreneur, and founder of The Money Ninja. He has also been fortunate enough to have appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and U.S. News & World Report. John has a B.S. in Entrepreneurship and a Masters in Business Administration, both from the University of New Hampshire.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dan
Dan
3 years ago

have no idea what year this was posted