Megabus is coming to OKC!!!

[adaniel]

Awesome!!

http://us.megabus.com/Megabus%20expa...%20cities.aspx

(May 31, 2012) – Megabus.com, the first city-to-city, express bus company with fares from $1, announced today its expansion to Texas and the southern United States. Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; and San Antonio, TX residents can now travel to five cities: Austin, TX; Norman, Okla.; Memphis, Tenn.; Little Rock, Ark.; and New Orleans, La., for as low as $1.

Service will begin June 19, and customers can begin booking travel today at www.megabus.com.

Fares always start as low as $1 and get higher as the traveling date gets closer. Customers are encouraged to book early to secure $1 fares.

"Megabus.com has rapidly become the travel option of choice for millions of people and today we’re excited to bring our unique travel option to Texas and the southern United States,” said Dale Moser, president and COO of megabus.com. “As Americans continue to look for ways to stretch their income, we look forward to providing safe, convenient and affordable travel to the millions of residents in the South.”

During the first week of sales all tickets will be no more than $1 - including 10,000 free seats. Megabus.com will also provide additional $1 fares during the following weeks. The free and $1 seats will be available on megabus.com for departures to and from Dallas and the expansion cities (subject to availability on select dates, routes).

For now, it looks like service to Dallas only, but its a perfect option for day-trippers.

I got to ride Megabus last fall between Philly and NYC. $25 roundtrip, can't beat that. The tolls between Philly and Manhattan are $30 alone. Very comfortable ride, nothing like Greyhound. The pickup will be at Lloyd Noble and drops off at Elm and Olive in Downtown Dallas, which is 3 blocks from the Pearl Street DART station. I think this will be very successful!

[betts]

Awesome!!

http://us.megabus.com/Megabus%20expa...%20cities.aspx



For now, it looks like service to Dallas only, but its a perfect option for day-trippers.

I got to ride Megabus last fall between Philly and NYC. $25 roundtrip, can't beat that. The tolls between Philly and Manhattan are $30 alone. Very comfortable ride, nothing like Greyhound. The pickup will be at Lloyd Noble and drops off at Elm and Olive in Downtown Dallas, which is 3 blocks from the Pearl Street DART station. I think this will be very successful!

That sounds like a great deal. I hate driving to/in Dallas, so this might be a great option.

[Pete]

Perhaps they'll add OKC when the new bus station is sorted out.

[ou48A]

This will be great if it’s anywhere near a dart train station?

In a few years you could take the bus to Dallas and catch a ride on the train to the DFW Airport and save a bundle on air fare and not need to worry about car parking fees.

I like this concept a lot…..

[Pete]

It drops you off in downtown Dallas, so DART would be close by.

[ou48A]

I just looked and it’s about 3 to 4 blocks away from the DART Pearl Station
There are 3 Norman arrival and departure times. That helps a bunch!
This will go over better than Amtrak and it should be a hit with many OU students.

[BadBear]

I am really excited about this. I have been wanting to visit some friends in Austin sometime this summer, and after browsing the website, I think I will pull the trigger. With their introductory fares, it will cost around 5 bucks round trip, and does not increase travel time by a significant margin. I have been hearing about Megabus from family on the East Coast for years, can't wait to try it for myself.

[venture]

Haven't used it personally but have family that has back north. They really like it especially for quick trips over to Chicago. Should be a big hit for the Norman crowd.

[soonergirl]

Nice option. So where all can you go from the DART station if you did a Dallas day trip? This would be great for a San Antonio trip as well... what could you do about ground transportation once you got there? Wonder if it's near a rental car location or anything?

[Jersey Boss]

Nice option. So where all can you go from the DART station if you did a Dallas day trip? This would be great for a San Antonio trip as well... what could you do about ground transportation once you got there? Wonder if it's near a rental car location or anything?

I imagine taxi service is available in all locations that are served.

[adaniel]

Nice option. So where all can you go from the DART station if you did a Dallas day trip? This would be great for a San Antonio trip as well... what could you do about ground transportation once you got there? Wonder if it's near a rental car location or anything?

Since its near the Pear Street DART Station (which is served by the Orange, Green and Red Lines), you can go to Fair Park, obviously anywhere in downtown, up to Richardson and Plano, and Love Field. No Galleria though, but Northpark can be accessed off the Red Line. When the Orange Line is tied to DFW in a few years, you can go to that as well. Don't think there are any rental car places in downtown but Love Field has several lots.

[Spartan]

I think it would be better to have megabus go into the multimodal transit hub at the Santa Fe Depot rather than the new Greyhound station out at MLK and I-40.

[kevinpate]

hmmm, could slip down to D, red line to Northpark, surprise my son for dinner and come back. Sort of sounds like the beginnings of a plan.

[ou48A]

Once the dart rail line is fully constructed to the DFW airport I would just as soon the Bus go directly to DFW.

Also there is or soon will be a new commuter rail line that will take you with several stops along the way to down town Fort Worth and beyond.

[ljbab728]

This will be great if it’s anywhere near a dart train station?

In a few years you could take the bus to Dallas and catch a ride on the train to the DFW Airport and save a bundle on air fare and not need to worry about car parking fees.

I like this concept a lot…..

Nothing against the concept at all except you normally don't save a bundle by flying from DFW. As I've mentioned in other threads I have been dealing with airfare prices every day for well over 20 years and I'm very familiar with the costs. Sometimes you can save a little on some routes from DFW but it's normally not worth the effort to get there.

[ou48A]

Nothing against the concept at all except you normally don't save a bundle by flying from DFW. As I've mentioned in other threads I have been dealing with airfare prices every day for well over 20 years and I'm very familiar with the costs. Sometimes you can save a little on some routes from DFW but it's normally not worth the effort to get there.

I was looking at a trip to Chicago.

On the dates I wanted a round trip from DFW to ORD using expedia was $432. There were several flights.
On the same dates from OKC to ORD the best price for 2 was $791 and that was on multiple airlines and nearly a 5 hour flight time.
That’s a difference of $359. That’s a significant savings.

If I’m not in a huge hurry I’m going to fly out of DFW. I have seen similar savings on several other destinations out of DFW.

[venture]

I was looking at a trip to Chicago.

On the dates I wanted a round trip from DFW to ORD using expedia was $432. There were several flights.
On the same dates from OKC to ORD the best price for 2 was $791 and that was on multiple airlines and nearly a 5 hour flight time.
That’s a difference of $359. That’s a significant savings.

If I’m not in a huge hurry I’m going to fly out of DFW. I have seen similar savings on several other destinations out of DFW.

Using Expedia is probably the biggest problem there. Since a lot of airlines will retain the lowest fares through their own websites. That OKC fare sounds like something with less than 7 days notice. Lowest advance purchase fare on someone like Southwest is $320 round trip. Yeah that would be higher than what you are mentioning, but OKC is also a very high yielding business market. However I think the main driver for that big a difference out of DFW would be Spirit. It sounds like pricing they would be able to handle while other airlines would only offer it if they were forced to match (and lose money).

Anyway, this isn't about air fares and such. It is about Megabus so moving back on topic...

[ljbab728]

I was looking at a trip to Chicago.

On the dates I wanted a round trip from DFW to ORD using expedia was $432. There were several flights.
On the same dates from OKC to ORD the best price for 2 was $791 and that was on multiple airlines and nearly a 5 hour flight time.
That’s a difference of $359. That’s a significant savings.

If I’m not in a huge hurry I’m going to fly out of DFW. I have seen similar savings on several other destinations out of DFW.

You can always find examples to support either view but, as I said, I deal with this every day and know what I'm talking about. Most of the time it's just not worth it to leave from DFW. I've even seen examples where it's less expensive for some to fly from DFW to OKC first and then back to DFW to save money.

[ou48A]

Using Expedia is probably the biggest problem there. Since a lot of airlines will retain the lowest fares through their own websites. That OKC fare sounds like something with less than 7 days notice. Lowest advance purchase fare on someone like Southwest is $320 round trip. Yeah that would be higher than what you are mentioning, but OKC is also a very high yielding business market. However I think the main driver for that big a difference out of DFW would be Spirit. It sounds like pricing they would be able to handle while other airlines would only offer it if they were forced to match (and lose money).

Anyway, this isn't about air fares and such. It is about Megabus so moving back on topic...

The departure date for both OKC & DFW was in September.
The DFW airline wasn’t sprint. If I remember correctly it was American.
When I do fly I always check out several on line sites including the airline sites.

[ou48A]

You can always find examples to support either view but, as I said, I deal with this every day and know what I'm talking about. Most of the time it's just not worth it to leave from DFW. I've even seen examples where it's less expensive for some to fly from DFW to OKC first and then back to DFW to save money.

I don’t fly very much at all but as I said when I do I always check out several on line sites including the airline site.
You would know better than me about these things but I know it never hurts to take advantage of significant savings when and where you can find them.

[ou48A]

Going to the DFW airport would be a better destination for Megabus because not only could you have the potential of a cheaper flight, DFW has far many more destinations to pick from. You will also have easy access to car rentals, commuter rail and to the Dart light rail and city bus system.

But even so, I am happy to have this new service in Norman.

[catch22]

Going to the DFW airport would be a better destination for Megabus because not only could you have the potential of a cheaper flight, DFW has far many more destinations to pick from. You will also have easy access to car rentals, commuter rail and to the Dart light rail and city bus system.

But even so, I am happy to have this new service in Norman.

Part of the reason for the below average air service in OKC is because of the people who do drive to DFW to fly. We'd have much better air service if the people who drove to DFW would fly out of OKC. Consider it like buying local.

[dcsooner]

meh! another way to get to Dallas. Need optionss to other cities, KC, Denver, Memphis

[venture]

Part of the reason for the below average air service in OKC is because of the people who do drive to DFW to fly. We'd have much better air service if the people who drove to DFW would fly out of OKC. Consider it like buying local.

I wonder what the actual leakage is, but it is probably a factor. The biggest issue with the OKC market is lack of low fare stimulation. The market is mature and Southwest has a good firm grasp on the market. This has allowed them to keep fares pretty moderate and not extremely low.

I wonder if there would be a market for a regional airline operating 50-70 passenger props to cities like Colorado Springs, Memphis, Branson, Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, etc. RJs would be too expensive to get low fares back...say in the $49-79 one way range.

[Just the facts]

I think it would be better to have megabus go into the multimodal transit hub at the Santa Fe Depot rather than the new Greyhound station out at MLK and I-40.

This ^ Why stop at a another interstate bus station? Just look at the posts related to Dallas. Everyone wants a stop near a DART station so they can get around Dallas without a car after they get their without driving. This is how it supposed to work.