Horrible Bus Ride Las Vegas-Reno

[Swadian Hardcore]

That's what Greyhound always does, they always need ID and credit card to pick up tickets. It's supposed to prevent people from buying tickets for others. If you don't like it, so be it.

You can still buy tickets for others, but you'll need to pay an extra $18 fee. Again, trying to prevent people from buying tickets for others.

I guess that's why the signature needs to be legible: trying to prevent people from buying tickets for others.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

That's what Greyhound always does, they always need ID and credit card to pick up tickets. It's supposed to prevent people from buying tickets for others. If you don't like it, so be it.

You can still buy tickets for others, but you'll need to pay an extra $18 fee. Again, trying to prevent people from buying tickets for others.

I guess that's why the signature needs to be legible: trying to prevent people from buying tickets for others.

Everyone does not have legible signatures, but they are their signatures. Have you ever seen a doctor's signature?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Why on earth does Greyhound care who you buy tickets for long as the credit card is good or the cash isn't counterfit?

They're in the business of selling tickets to passengers, are they afraid undesirables will ride or someone unknown will hijack a coach to Omaha?

Crazy business practice IMHO!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Yeah, I know, the signature part is dumb. The not buying tickets for other people part is that they don't want a person buying tickets for family and/or friends. Logic is apparently based on people not paying for their own tickets having a higher chance of causing a disruption on the motorcoach.

Like, if you have a mentally-challenged husband, then you buy tickets for him, but you're not going with him and he gets on the bus by himself, he could cause a disruption and he didn't pay for the ticket. So they charge the $18 fee to discourage people that didn't buy their own tickets from getting on the bus by themselves. Whoever paid for the ticket will have to go with him to avoid paying that $18, hence the credit card. The person who paid for the ticket would keep an eye on him and would stop any disruption, because a disruption gets you kicked off the bus, voiding the ticket and wasting all the money. Failure to show the credit card or ID would result in being forced to pay $18 extra or being forced to buy another ticket.

You can switch out that husband for anybody else.

 

[jebr]

That's really dumb logic, honestly. And is all the more reason I'm glad Spirit Airlines is as cheap as Greyhound...less dumb rules like that (though Spirit has plenty of their own crazy rules.)

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Well, didn't Nevada dump a bunch of insane people into California on unaccompanied Greyhound rides?

Edit: http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigations/nevada-patient-busing/article2577189.html.

 

[jebr]

I don't think $18 is going to stop Nevada from sending mentally ill people on the bus to get out of their state. Meanwhile, it hurts those who actually want to buy tickets for other people.

Heck, even the interline carriers can figure out how to make it work (for example, I was able to buy my girlfriend a ticket back up here to visit me via Jefferson Lines and paid no additional fee for it.) Megabus allows it as well. It's an asinine policy of Greyhound's, and it should be eliminated.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

But it might stop mommy from sending her unruly teen on a bus to grandma's.

I'm wondering why your GF could not buy a ticket for herself?

 

[Bob Dylan]

But it might stop mommy from sending her unruly teen on a bus to grandma's.

I'm wondering why your GF could not buy a ticket for herself?

Social norms aren't the same in different parts of the country! Paying for a girl or boyfriend' s visit when you invite them is considered SOP most places!
Other reasons included one party having the means to do so and just plain goodness of heart!

 

[jebr]

But it might stop mommy from sending her unruly teen on a bus to grandma's.

I'm wondering why your GF could not buy a ticket for herself?

It might also stop mommy from sending her well-behaved teen on a bus to grandma's.

And she's perfectly capable of doing so, but for numerous reasons it was easier for me to buy the ticket. I'm glad JL, Amtrak, Megabus, and, frankly, any other transportation company I'm aware of doesn't see it necessary to charge me $18 for doing so.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

How would Greyhound know that mommy's teen is a well-behaved teen? And if the teen is too well-behaved, he might get into a scuffle on the bus. That's because of the other, not-so-well-behaved passengers on the bus.

What numerous reasons?

 

[jebr]

How does Greyhound know that mommy's teen is unruly?

And there's jimhudson's reason, and other reasons that frankly I'm not wanting to share publicly or privately, because it doesn't matter.

 

[tp49]

Why on earth does Greyhound care who you buy tickets for long as the credit card is good or the cash isn't counterfit?

They're in the business of selling tickets to passengers, are they afraid undesirables will ride or someone unknown will hijack a coach to Omaha?

Crazy business practice IMHO!

I thought Greyhound's issue was that undesirables do ride them (at least by reputation.) *ducks* :giggle:

Not allowing someone to buy a ticket for someone else save for an $18 fee is a crap business practice. I might even go further and say that practice is discriminatory in nature. Greyhound already doesn't have a good reputation and this doesn't really help. Additionally, the defenses offered for said business practices defy any rational logic or common sense. Even the most draconian of *gasp* airlines don't do this.

Not that I would ever subject my mother to a cross-country bus ride but knowing that if I wanted to buy a bus ticket for her to come visit me I would incur such a fee guarantees that my business will go to an airline company, Amtrak or a common carrier that understands at least this basic customer service practice.

 

[caravanman]

Is it in print that the $18 fee for buying another persons ticket is to stop unruly passengers boarding, or is this Swadian's opinion ?

Certainly, a lot of I.D. nonsense seems to go on in the US, for whatever reason... The idea that you have to have a readable signature is just so funny.

We British just buy a ticket and get on our trains, we don't have to have any I.D. to travel about in our own country!

Ed.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Excellent point About the ID mania in the US Eddie! "Papers please!" brings to mind a East German Border Guard in the Cold War Days! ( as does the Homeland Security name which brings to mind the Brown shirts and Monsters that took over Germany in the 30s)

All of the Lunatics that were involved in the 911 Tragedy had valid Passports, Visas etc. and boarded the Planes through Airport Security which admittedly was somewhat lax then but what difference would a picture ID have made?

 

[jis]

God am I glad I have not had to deal with Greyhound in over two decades!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

That's just my opinion. Greyhound says it's for fraud prevention. The ID is apparently for safety or for fraud prevention. The alcohol ban is federal regulation as is the smoking ban. Anything could be for reduction of Greyhound's prior customer base, as in, their reputation for suspicious passengers.

Right now I'm pissed off at Greyhound and their inconsistent MCI D4505s with terribly uncomfortable American Seating. In the future, my Greyhound rides will drop considerably as I take active evasion of D4505s and American Seating. I was going to rant on Greyhound's Facebook page (I got a FB account) but decided against it because the D4505s and American Seating are here to stay anyway, though Greyhound is already shopping around for other seating to buy in the future and doesn't have a big chance of buying more D4505s.

Pissed, pissed, pissed!

NO MORE F---KING D4505s MIT F---KING AMERICAN SEATING, GREYHOUND!

 

[user 6862]

Swadian, is there any way I can look up which bus(es) is on the route we are taking in March?

Thanks