Best-Kept Secret Every New Yorker Knows About: Fung Wah Bus To Boston
10 Comments Published by Alex February 21st, 2007 in Deals, Travel. Share This
I’ve been to Boston twice: Once recently for work where I spent nearly the whole time at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and once years ago for a long and silly St. Pat’s weekend where I got lost on the subway and wound up being adopted by a gang of co-eds at BU for three hazy days filled with pot smoking and beer in their apartment. As a result, I can’t really praise or trash the city, because I just don’t know it or its people at all.
However, should I ever feel the desire to familiarize myself with the city and her folk, I know how to get there on the very cheap: the Fung Wah bus lines.
Fung Wah (Canton for “”Magnificent Wind”), has been serving the Boston-NYC commuter for eight years strong. It’s shockingly cheap – fifteen dollars each way, and bookable up to a month in advance. While with every passing year its popularity has grown, its market has not; they still only have one route. Soon, however, they will be expanding their service to include a NYC-Providence route. When they do, the cost will doubtlessly be as good a deal.
Whatever you do, however, try to sit as far away from the bathrooms as possible; the GoNomad.com article linked below will explain why.
Fung Wah Buses: The Lines are Long, but the Price is Right [gonomad.com]
I must concur on that sitting-far-away-from-the-lavatory. I’ve been on a Chinatown bus trip that was saturated with the stench of human waste. The passengers actually started laughing because it was so unbelievably strong — every time we thought it had done its worst, it reached a new plateau.
Also: One mustn’t forget Chinatown Bus: The Song
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/002731.html
They are a great deal and a staple for any weekend trip between the two cities. However it should be noted that the drivers have taken a liking to crashing their busses. If memory serves there has been 2 or 3 crashes within the last 6 months. Granted one was in that ice/snow storm a week or two ago, the other involved the bus flipping over on a nice dry sunny day. Just something to think about while contemplating your delightfully low cost journey.
Cheapskates should also check out some of the other Chinatown bus lines, like Lucky Star… same exact service, same exact price, but usually a little less crowded and likely to play Chinese opera music the whole time than Fung Wah.
Chinese opera! I’m THERE!
(Actually no. Chinese opera is insufferable to western ears.)
the idea of paying $15 for a chance to be in a bus when it flips over on the Mass Pike at about 70 mph, really just doesn’t entice me. I think I would rather spend the extra couple of bucks and not have to worry about the smell of human waste and cut my travel time down by flying on Jetblue.
1) They do blow up occasionally
2) There is similar service to several cities up and down the eastern seaboard, including Philly ($10 each way) and DC ($20 each way). Most of those buses leave from a corner on East Broadway, under the Manhattan Bridge. It’s possible to buy advance tickets on the Internet; you can also just go down there. In general, be alert when getting on the bus–the ladies who wrangle passengers will not hesitate to put you on a bus that’s not going to your destination, so you have to confirm repeatedly, from multiple sources, that the bus you’re on is going where you want to go.
Yeah, as someone who relies on the Fung Wah the other way (Boston to NY) I can attest that it is a great deal. I would say I use it on average 4 times per year.
It has crashed 3 times in the last 6 months. But hey, I like those odds. If there was any way to post pictures in the comments, I would post one of the costume my roommate made for Halloween last year. It is a flaming Fung Wah bus. He won every costume party we went to. Actually, I will just e-mail them in and maybe they can get posted.
Despite the pictures, the fung wah is a great deal and I have never had a problem using it.
Dude – you MUST send in those pictures! We’ll host them for sure.
Yeah I will, I just have to wait for him to get home so I can snag them from him. I will just e-mail them to editor@dethroner.com
WARNING:
Don’t risk your life with these guys. Check out Greyhound/Trailways which usually discounts this trip to $15 if you book online. There’s a button on the reservations page “Can I get a lower fare?” which gives you the eSaver coupon code.