experiences with FlixBus USA?

Posted by l0af0fbr3ad@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 25 comments

Hi all! Im from the US but have been traveling out of country for a few months now. I'm returning to the states in a week or so and plan to visit a few friends along the east coast before returning home. I've used flixbus in Europe and had fine experiences, but I'm wondering if anyone has used them in the states and if theyve had different experiences? I know that either way it's a budget way of traveling and that can entail delays, unexpected malfunctions, etc, but i just want to make sure the quality isn't significantly worse in the USA before taking a long ride. Thanks in advance!

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No_Bison_2139@reddit

How likely is Flixbus to be late from San Diego to the Central Valley?

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Independent_Bit_4591@reddit

My other question is how does flex expect to continue as a going concern if it's going to piss off its ridership? As a very good chance I'm not going to ever book through this organization or if I do it's very limited and not as many opportunities as I originally thought I would do. Flix Bus WTF?

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Independent_Bit_4591@reddit

I was wanting to go to New York City from Rochester New York when Suddenly at the last minute flixbus changed my schedule we routed me to Buffalo New York on a different bus a Trailways bus that was from the '80s I swear to God it's just very old and to craft it. 4 hours later I find myself back in Rochester and I have not gotten anywhere near New York City. Had I been on the original booked travel I would be halfway there. Not only was this a complete waste of time but since I'm on a very tight schedule I cannot afford to lose time.

This company is Provident South to be very unreliable I will consider other options rather than to take a return bus back to Rochester because s*** this happen again I risk losing my job.

If you have time to waste and don't mind literally driving around in circles then be my guest go for it.

If time is not on your side consider more efficient options that might be a little more pricey but reliable.

Again, this madness with the bus only proves that the US needs to get more serious about public transportation instead of relying on bad roads toll roads at that or cars car transportation which is literally burning up the planet.

I am so pissed off right now I don't know what more to say.

But, this bullshit has got to stop. And a Trump World organizations like flicks can get away with this stupid b* but under Biden with Buddha judge and charge of the NTSB he made sure that people got quality and didn't get screwed over by these jurors who have buses that may or may not be safe to traveling at least based on superficial appearances.

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jozitopia@reddit

I'm planning to use the flix bus in Sept for a day round trip from burley Idaho to Boise Idaho and then in March from burley Idaho to SLC transmodel station to catch the train east. Are these safe routes ? They are both about 5 hr trips. And I'll be fine reading my book or sewing so an outlet isn't a big deal. I'm going to have a 60 l back pack ( to hopefully carry on ) and a big hard sided suitcase for under. I'm honestly more afraid my stuff will get stolen but idk.

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Gloomy_Emu_6346@reddit

I've been using Flixbus for 5 years on the West Coast. The price has gone up and the quality of drivers and condition of the busses are horrible. The seats are broken and the wife and electrical sockets never work. On 4 hour bus rides. So you show up at your destination with a phone with low battery. The Wi-Fi never works. This last trip a woman went nuts on our bus at our 15 minutes stop at 2am and was harassing everyone and triggered a dude to go off. She spit on him and he almost threw hands. He wanted to call the cops but the driver said No and put us all in danger and continued on. She started harassing a mother with kids. And the mother went off too. I have complained online and they tell you safety is important and they don't even do anything. They never get back to you and never give refunds. They just brush you off like oh well. I recently had to cancel my trip and I cancelled 4 days before and the cancellation fee was half the price of the ticket. Even flights allow a 14 hour cancellation policy. This bus line is corrupt and just interested in the money. I know they bought Greyhound so if I do book with them, I will pick a Greyhound bus because they are old school and have professional bus drivers and their electric sockets work. Look for the Greyhound busses on Flixbus website.

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VastExamination5047@reddit

Had good experiences in the past but they have become terrible. I was ten minutes early to my bus and the there were 2 green flix busses and one white one that said four seasons. The one that said four seasons was the flix bus but I didn’t hear him say he was going to phoenix nor did I hear him mention that it was a flix bus. Then I was gaslighted by the security who claimed he yelled it out. Went to the office to try to get a refund and they told me that the next bus was at 5. And that it was $100 🙂 I could book a cheap flight at that price. Would never book with them ever again

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pancakecel@reddit

so i just had an experience where flixbus used a regional travel company (gold line in wa state) as a subcontractor and I didnt get on my bus because the driver did not understand that flix bus purchases tickets from their company on behalf of flixbus customers. In retrospect, I should have insisted with the driver that yes, this IS my bus and I DO have a ticket. So I ended up having to pay for a second ticket to take a later bus. When I call the gold line, they say to call flixbus for a refund because that's who I paid to. When I call flixbus, they say to call the gold line for a refund because that is the operator. I'm only out 30 bucks, but still, bleh.

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Accomplished_Dot8476@reddit

Awful, they take ur money and if a bus breaks down or there are other issues with the bus driver then you never get your money back. All of the communication with customer service is AI generated emails.

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SnooTangerines7320@reddit

i take the sf to san diego one all the time, it’s great

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u______0@reddit

would you say that it's still decent?

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SnooTangerines7320@reddit

it actually definitely got worse over the course of time that i took it. 😭. by the end the bathroom would be consistently broken, the bus broke down and got us stranded for a few hours one time. Luckily I don’t have to take it anymore. I’d say its a coin flip but if you can take the amtrak. Amtrak has buses too.

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generalwheatley@reddit

They're definitely hit or miss!!

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DHPDeed@reddit

Flixbus bought Greyhoud. It's very poorly run, old buses, poor conditions, Wifi is broken. Outlets don't work. The drivers have no control of the behavior of the passengers. It's horrible. And they wont refund you for anything because it's a German company and doesn't have American customer service ethics. AVOID IT!

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str8upbrah@reddit

Sometimes it's fine, but if there's an issue then it's bad news.

Fraud and inpatient drivers sometimes.

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umbra_penumbra@reddit

Tried to take it two times from NC to Charlotte and New York, the bus didn’t show up both times, and they didn’t give me a refund. I don’t know how it’s legal, and I highly advise anyone who is reading this to pay a bit more for a plane or a train to not be like me and stand for hours, waiting for the bus, only to have to pay a lot more for a last minute train ticket anyway. This might be a problem specific to US, because I’ve never had any problems with flixbus in Europe.

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tjemartin1@reddit

I noticed from my Flixbus (US) experiences that it's totally a waste of money to buy seat assignments. It took me a couple of different times to figure that one out. Especially if certain buses/routes get cancelled or delayed and Flixbus books you on an alternate route/bus, they don't let you pick your seat on that bus and definitely don't refund you for the price you paid.

I know it's only $5 to $10 to pick your own seat, but it can and does add up. Like you, I can't understand how they get away with this robbery

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joycechalamet@reddit

are the seats comfortable? i’m contemplating buying a ticket for a 7/8 hour ride but the concept of sitting up in a bus for that long has me on the fence

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Far-Temperature2308@reddit

They deserve Negative stars,they charged me for a trip from New Orleans to Baton Rouge found out they no longer pickup at this location on my ticket anymore after waiting 45 minutes. I called Customer service and I'm told the bus showed up 15 minutes late according to the gps and I missed it and can't get a refund or replacement ride.I will be calling bank to reverse the charge,I refuse to pay for a ride that NEVER showed up,should bull I will never ride this company again.

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Asleep-Challenge-386@reddit

Wish I would have seen these negative reviews before I booked. I booked a trip with Flakbus only to have my trip canceled at the last minute. Was told to book another bus and I would be reimbursed. I book the next cheapest bus with redcoach. Now I’m told I was supposed to book a business class so I won’t get a refund. Sorry for not knowing the cheapest option at the time wasn’t acceptable. Sorry asses!!! Buyer beware!!!

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RatteSuxx@reddit

LITERAL BROKEN TOILET

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Designer-Potato6847@reddit

The bus from Philadelphia to New York on Monday Nov. 20, 2023 at 9 am was considerably late. The updates said 10 minutes late. At 9:15 they gave us an estimate of 20-30 minutes. By 10:10 am I left and took a train to New York. Other "Flix" buses stopped by the curb. The people waiting for Phi-NYC all moved toward the bus and stood in a line. The bus driver took his time to come out of the bus. When he did, he wouldn't say where the bus was going, and he wouldn't answer questions, yelling at us to wait.
The company doesn't give refunds if the bus is less than two hours late. I don't even know how late it was because I left.
If you want to wait for a couple of hours in the cold, get yelled at by the bus driver, and lose your money when the bus doesn't show, this is definitely your company. Enjoy!

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LayerAmazing5965@reddit

Horrible experience. Everyone is so rude.

No help whatsoever. They take your money and treat you bad. The representative rebooked me and my 2 kids for the wrong date and I was forced to pay more cash on the right date of departure. With out even the lady Anna did that.

They made the mistake and dont want to give me a refund. The driver didnt want to help and stated oh well to me and my infant and child. And he was leaving us in Canada, until we had no other choice but to pay cash.

When we finally got on bus he sped off so fast without me even being seated with my infant baby, we tumbled over other passengers had to help us off the floor. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE.

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