Patsaouras Bus Plaza - Los Angeles, California

JayR T.

UNION STATION/ PATSAURAS BUS PLAZA :
This is an efficient way to get to LAX in less than 45 min. usually is 30 min. Easy to pay there or online. The buses run on time and are clean and with AC, drivers are excellent even though sometimes they have to struggle with dummies on the road they always put passengers safety first. So, if you are ever press of time don’t take it on them, always try to start your trip early so you can relax on the comfortable ride without driving yourself. I usually take an Uber to the station and an Uber to home. The pick up/drop off is downstairs on the right of tunel and the entrance to the parking lot 🅿️ is on E Cesar Chavez. You won’t have to pay for parking to pick up or drop off a passenger. The only issue I have had is being drop off too far from the airline’s door… so if this happens don’t get off, they’ll make a stop closer anyways, so I don’t see the point of dropping off people farther from your airline, specially difficult for the elderly and disabled carrying luggage, for them even a backpack it’s heavy, and they would have to walk to front desk to get a wheelchair service in many occasions, get to the elevator first it’s exhausting for them, if they travel alone it gets painful and unnecessary isn’t.
Flyaway people should take care of issues to make the service convenient for every passenger.

Esther S.

Horrible dirty bus station, lots of bird poop on escalator - dirty walk ways! Heavy pee smell in elevator going up to catch the foothill silver streak going Eastbound. I used to work downtown over 10 years ago, and the bus station was beautiful!!! What happened to it!! Mayor needs to use $$ to clean it up!!! Never going there again again to use public transportation. Please someone do something about it!!!!

Joel O.

LAX FLYAWAY is a fast shuttle to airport and in Union Station have Many connections possibilities, to many places

Chris M.

No WiFi no outlets no help anywhere. Just crazy homeless people! My bus was late and I couldn't charge phone enough to change bus schedules. Customer service counter couldn't change anything and said I had to call customer service...gladly just give me an outlet! One of the largest cities in US and no basic travelers assistance. Ridiculous.

Darin W.

There is conflicting signage directing to buses. Arriving by LAX Flyaway, a sign pointed to connection buses down the ramp from the plaza. This led into an underground terminal area where the main corridor had a huge sign saying "to trains and buses" but there was still another saying buses were down a side passage. Would it be too much to ask if the signage were a bit more specific by saying "metro buses" vs Greyhound or FlixBus for example? At Greyhound/FlixBus window, there was no obvious generic directional sign nor was there any obvious digital departure board with a "platform" or port those scheduled departures or arrivals. I was eventually directed BACK to where I started... up to the outdoor plaza at the same position or next to the FlyAway bus.

Ali M.

We were travelling from San Jose to LA with two little kids. Purchased 4 tickets and carried 2 suitcases which were around 48-50 lb each. The driver was very rude and did not allowed us to board the bus saying my luggage was heavy. I lost all my money and the customer care does not care to respond the mails.

I completely agree with their luggage policy which says it should not exceed 50 lb, but the driver did not allowed us even with out weighing, she was rude..

Jenelle B.

I think I prefer MegaBus over Bolt...Still not certain though. Took Megabus to the bay and it was a cheap ride but very long ride. Took about 7.5 hours give or take. We left at 7pm and got to SF at like 2am. I got my tickets a week in advance and had to pay more about $47 one way.

The Pros-

CHEAP! If you get it months before your depature date you can get fares as low as $23 one way. They always have promotions and deals so you can even get tickets for $1.

Boarding is based on when you get to the train station not by when you purchased your tickets. There was a little check-in desk where you showed your reservation number and the attendant handed you a card with a number for loading. Pretty simple.

I liked that it was double decker. Allowed for seemingly more space. The bottom had 4 chair seating facing each other for parties wishing to converse with each other perhaps play some hand games with each other.

The bathroom was downstairs. So if you wanted to escape the putrid smell of fecal matter than you have a place to go.

We had a very informative driver. He let us know stop break times and locations and what time we were leaving. Everything was clear and concise so I knew how much water to sip in between stops.

We arrived and left on scheduled time.

Cons-
Wifi is spotty - Don't expect to stream your Netflix but Instagram and Facebook worked just fine.

Power outlets on each seat but I had the unfortunate luck to pick the only seat on the bus without a working power outlet. Look for a lit-up orange light that indicated power.

Driving was fast and aggressive, certainly felt like I was going to die multiple times.

EXTREMLEY car sick. Sitting up top you will feel a lot more of the shakes and bumps so beware if you have a fragile tummy.

Overall inexpensive compared to flying just takes forever

Jeannette G.

I first found out about Megabus through a Twitter feed announcing that they had promotional fares from LA to SF or LV for $1/trip (plus 50¢ transaction fee). To my astonishment Megabus had previously operated out of LA but stopped service because of revenue.

I'm not one to pass up a good deal when I see one - especially with gas prices as they are (as of this review $3.69/gal). So, I booked two roundtrips to Las Vegas for a total of $4.50! In my haste of booking a trip, my outbound departure turned out to be 12:15 a.m. and not p.m. as I had originally wanted (this turned out to be OK).

Tips for day of trip and Megabus etiquette:

1. Arrive about 30-45 minutes before your departure (bus departs from the Busway at Union Station on Ramirez and Vignes)

2. Representatives from Megabus do not arrive until 15 minutes before departure so there is no line - however, proper etiquette is that the order you arrive should be the order in which you check-in and consequently board the bus!

3. Go paperless (use your smart phone to show your confirmation number to the person checking you in)

4. Allow ANY person with a physical disability to board the bus first regardless of order of arrival. I witnessed the most disgusting thing where a family of 14! pushed through to board first before a visually disabled couple - despite this family having arrived late. Yuck!

Seating is not assigned. The most leg room on top deck is in the front. All seats are equipped with power outlets. Megabus touts free Wi-fi, however, on my trip it was not working properly outbound; it was here and there on my return trip.

Both of my trips were on schedule; while some of us can get to LV in 3.5 hours this trip will take approximately 5.5 hours which includes a pick up stop in Riverside and a 30 minute break in Barstow. This was OK with me and my traveling partner as we both concluded that taking the Megabus not only saved us gas $$ but also spared us the anxiety of driving in traffic. Our 12:15 a.m. departure turned out to be the best because we got some sleep on the outbound trip.

On arriving at the South Strip Transit Terminal you have a couple options to get to the strip:
1. Arrange for your own pick-up
2. Take the local bus ($6/2 hour pass or $8/24 hour pass)
3. Take a taxi - If you take a taxi it will be about $8 to Mandalay Bay or $17 to Harrah's. If you are traveling with more than one person take the taxi and split the cost. The information booth will give you numbers of taxi co. you can call.

So, would I use Megabus again at their regular fares. Yes.