Ground Transport in the Pacific Northwest

[Willbridge]

More problems on the DEN <> SLC <> BOI <> PDX bus route. When the Pioneer was discontinued in 1997 there were three through Greyhound Lines trips on this route. By the time that FlixBus took over, it was down to one trip. Various combinations were tried. Recently, as I reported here, it was split into three runs, with Flix taking PDX <>BOI and BOI <> SLC. GL kept S:C <> DEN.

Now, Flix has dropped the BOI <> SLC run. Salt Lake Express is running in that time slot, but not using the same "stations" and so the Greyhound/Flix reservation system is routing DEN <> PDX passengers via Los Angeles. And charging a fare for the extra mileage.

DEN > PDX departing Sunday, October 27th:

GL/Flix = $240 = 46 hours via Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Amtrak = $233 = 56 hours via Sacramento.

 

[Willbridge]

Here's the PDX to SEA line-up for Sunday, December 1st as of Wednesday night, November 6th. Usually I have avoided holiday travel, but it might be interesting to look at it. Most Amtrak fares were set at the top bucket, $66 for Coach and $90 for Business Class.

0645 AT $66/$90
0715 FB $53
0830 AT $66/SO
0830 FB $45
1040 AT SO/SO
1040 FB $53
1410 AT SO/SO
1500 FB $54
1556 AT SO/--/$249
1755 AT $66/SO
1910 FB $51
1925 AT $53/$90

And here's PDX to SPK:

0645 AT SO/SO/$1298 chng at Seattle
0715 FB SO via Seattle
0950 FB $138 chng at Pasco
1040 AT SO chng at Seattle
1645 AT $147/--/$406
1755 AT+NW $117/SO chng at Seattle (not a Thruway service)

AT = Amtrak Coach/Business/Sleeper,
FB = Flixbus includes $3.99 service charge rounded,
NW = Northwestern Stages,
SO = Sold Out!

 

[Willbridge]

Here's the PDX to SEA line-up for Sunday, December 1st as of Wednesday night, November 13th. Compare these fares with the prices on November 6th. Most Amtrak fares were set at the top bucket, $66 for Coach and $90 for Business Class and there has been almost no change. In contrast, Flixbus has added a trip PDX > SEA > SPK and it appears that there is no ceiling on prices.

0645 AT $66/$90
0715 FB $54
0730 FB $51
0830 AT $66/SO
0830 FB $60
1040 AT SO/SO
1040 FB $60
1410 AT SO/SO
1500 FB $90
1556 AT SO/--/$249
1755 AT $66/SO
1910 FB $51
1925 AT $66/$90

And here's PDX to SPK:

0645 AT SO/SO/$1298 chng at Seattle
0715 FB SO via Seattle
0950 FB $137 chng at Pasco
1040 AT SO chng at Seattle
1645 AT $147/--/$350
1755 AT+NW $121/SO chng at Seattle (not a Thruway service)

AT = Amtrak Coach/Business/Sleeper,
FB = Flixbus includes $3.99 service charge rounded,
NW = Northwestern Stages,
SO = Sold Out!

 

[Willbridge]

Here's the PDX to SEA line-up for Sunday, December 1st as of Thursday night, November 21st. Compare these fares with the prices on November 6th. Most Amtrak fares were set at the top bucket, $66 for Coach and $90 for Business Class and there has been almost no change. In contrast, Flixbus has added a trip PDX > SEA > SPK and it now appears that there is a ceiling on their prices -- higher than Amtrak's coach fares.

Note that sleeping car fares for these short segments have been reduced since last week.

0645 AT $66/$90
0715 FB $53
0730 FB $60
0830 AT SO/SO
0830 FB $109
1040 AT SO/SO
1040 FB $109
1410 AT SO/SO
1500 FB $109
1556 AT SO/--/$211
1755 AT SO/SO
1910 FB $103
1925 AT $66/$90

And here's PDX to SPK:

0645 AT SO/SO/$314 chng at Seattle
0715 FB SO via Seattle
0730 FB SO via Seattle
0950 FB $174 chng at Pasco
1040 AT SO chng at Seattle
1645 AT $147/--/$238
1755 AT+NW SO/SO chng at Seattle (not a Thruway service)

AT = Amtrak Coach/Business/Sleeper,
FB = Flixbus includes $3.99 service charge rounded,
NW = Northwestern Stages,
SO = Sold Out!

 

[Willbridge]

As of Sunday night, November 24th, the PDX > EUG flow from Portland back to the university cities on December 1st has every train and Thruway bus sold out except for the 7:00 a.m. bus trip and sleeper rooms on Train 11 (at $4 a mile).

Flix only has two trips on the PDX > EUG run via Corvallis, and they are sold out. A third trip running PDX > SAC via SLM still has room.