Vonlane Luxe Bus Service

[whatitis]

This will used by my elderly family to visit us in OK. They just dont/cant fly and this offers them a safer way than driving. I am all for it.

I thought the same thing. My wife's Grandma lives not far from love field. Told my wife and she said she doesn't think her Grandma will go for it. We'll see.

[BBatesokc]

Good looking coach. But I'm obviously not their target market. I see these things and go "but I can get right into my car (no buying tickets, showing up early, worrying about kids on board or annoying passengers) and be there in 3 hours and less than a tank of gas and drive straight to where I actually want to be (which isn't Love Field).

That said, I could see the elderly or frequent business related passengers liking it. If I had to travel from OKC to Love Field and couldn't drive - I would consider this over a plane as I loath flying.

[mkjeeves]

I might consider it because I hate driving in Dallas, can’t imagine I would ever elect to drive to Love Field. That said, the pick up spot in OKC is about as inconvenient to me as it could be.

[Plutonic Panda]

It would be nice to see the bus pick riders up at Santa Fe Station. This would further the connections a single station offers and simultaneously increase the activity in and around the station which is good.

[HOT ROD]

but its only 2 blocks away, not necessarily a deal breaker. And most importantly, this provides OPTIONS for people which is the point of going to/living in a big city. I also very much love that the timing sets up nicely for Dallas into OKC for business (which usually is the case for the bigger city).OKC now has the following options to DFW: flights from WRWA-DFW, Amtrak, Volane, FlixBus, Greyhound, personal driving - that's a very nice slate of options I"d expect to see between two of the largest cities in that region (and both important business cities). I hope it's used well along with some of the other options that have some feed from Tulsa.Now what I don't understand is why the bus doesn't go to downtown Dallas .. I think the routing should be: Sheraton downtown OKC - WRWA - Love Field - Omni downtown Dallas. This provides EVEN more options and even better cators to the business audience.

[HOT ROD]

as for WN-Southwest, I suspect that they will reintroduce DAL-OKC after the 737-Max issue is settled and/or they decide on refreshing their fleet. It doesn't make sense not to have two flights per day in the city pair but I can see how they'd pull the route given the MAX issue and the fact that there are other more profitable/necessary routes that today might need the plane vs OKC. Hopefully DAL-OKC on WN is not reintroduced until the other transportation options announced mature a bit (maybe 2 years) - that's the key to me to the cities having great transportation options that last. ...

[Plutonic Panda]

Hotrod, I hear you but I still think the Santa Fe Hub should have most of the transit options directly adjacent to it.

My personal ambitions are the a new massive parking garage and bus depot built directly East of the viaduct, Santa Fe garage demolished, EK Gaylord slightly shifted to the west and narrowed to 1 lane NB and 2 lanes SB, and a skyscraper built atop of the transit HUB area with a pedestrian plaza expanded and the viaduct widened with sidewalks built on both sides of EK Gaylord.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

I'm probably not their target audience either, but I guess if you hate flying, this is reasonable option although it only shaves one hour off the train time and unless it has it's own lane, I -35 construction will affect the timetable just like any passenger car. I could see people using it maybe for OU-TX weekend.
I tend to think of these bus services more to places without cheap air service i.e. Long Island, Hamptons, Hudson from NYC, or to Napa from SFO or Oakland.

Statistically speaking, I am more likely to be killed in a bus accident than a plane. If that factors into such decisions.

[SoonersFan12]

It looks cool actually, they should do that for planes too...

[dankrutka]

Same line that ends at DFW.

Huh?

To clarify, there isn’t a DART station at Love Field. You have to take a 10 minute bus to get to the DART stop.

[PaddyShack]

They need to look at certain realignment options(if any), track straightening, double/triple tracking(2 entire length 3 in certain areas if needed), and upgraded trains with PTE. They should shave 2 hours off of the trip. I’ve grown to love the train but it is highly impractical, IMO, other than simple leisure or having basically no other option than Greyhound. I will not ever take another Greyhound again less I’m left with no other option.

What is PTE? When I Google it, I get Passenger Transport Executives

[dankrutka]

I will be using this a ton. More than likely I will no longer use Amtrak Heartland Flyer. This is a much better option.

I came to the opposite conclusion. I will use this none because the Amtrak Heartland Flyer is a much better option all things considered (e.g., $30 to $100).

[shawnw]

Plus when you get off, you can grab the TRE train at the same station and get over to Dallas or DFW. Not as posh, sure. A bit slower, sure. But if I'm in a rush then I'm flying.

[Plutonic Panda]

I came to the opposite conclusion. I will use this none because the Amtrak Heartland Flyer is a much better option all things considered (e.g., $30 to $100).

Money wise sure but amenities can’t be beat. We need the same trains the new Acela service has.

[bombermwc]

I give it maybe a year before it folds like all the other short-run bus options that have come and gone.

[CloudDeckMedia]

I give it maybe a year before it folds like all the other short-run bus options that have come and gone.

Vonlane was founded in 2014.

[Anonymous.]

I came to the opposite conclusion. I will use this none because the Amtrak Heartland Flyer is a much better option all things considered (e.g., $30 to $100).

Is the train really only $30? I went to the website and it is completely awful and doesn't even list pricing. Because 60 bucks round trip versus 200 is a major perk for the train.

[Thomas Vu]

I ran a quick search and found 1 for $40 one way. Took an hour longer and involved a transfer/layover too.

[OkiePoke]

$31 from OKC to Ft. Worth. There are limitations on refunding though.

[DBCooper]

Heartland Flyer is a fantastic deal. It stops a handful of times, and takes about 3h 45min total to downtown ft worth. its fairly consistent and you dont have to arrive super early like the airport. Around $30 one way to FTW. Make it $42 if you want to connect to Downtown Dallas on the Texas Eagle.

[Martin]

Heartland Flyer is a fantastic deal. It stops a handful of times, and takes about 3h 45min total to downtown ft worth. its fairly consistent and you dont have to arrive super early like the airport. Around $30 one way to FTW. Make it $42 if you want to connect to Downtown Dallas on the Texas Eagle.

huh... i would've guessed you were more of an airplane and parachute type of person. : )

[wunderkind]

The bus does look like a nice, comfortable, non-stressed ride. But am I missing something, it looks to me like Southwest flies a couple direct routes between Dallas Love Field and OKC daily (?)

[jonny d]

The bus does look like a nice, comfortable, non-stressed ride. But am I missing something, it looks to me like Southwest flies a couple direct routes between Dallas Love Field and OKC daily (?)

Not in 2020

[Jeepnokc]

huh... i would've guessed you were more of an airplane and parachute type of person. : )

Brilliant. I wonder how many will get it.

[dankrutka]

I ran a quick search and found 1 for $40 one way. Took an hour longer and involved a transfer/layover too.

I’ve never paid $40. It’s always a little less than that. There are no transfers or layovers. There are stops, but the longest one is like 3 minutes in Ardmore.

I’ve loved it riding it. You can arrive just a few minutes before and hop on. The snack and food options are limited, but they’re fine. I enjoyed a couple elderly women who scarfed down Coronas and hot dogs once food service opened on a Monday morning ride earlier this year. They were living their best life.