Airline fares Vs Greyhound

[PA31Driver]

So, I was sitting reserve yesterday and was curious to see how round trip air fares compare with Greyhound. So, here they are.....

Departure City: Los Angeles, CA
Departure Date: July 11th, 2008

Arrival City: New York, NY
Return Date: July 18th, 2008

Greyhound fare: $339

SWA: $285 (To Islip)
NWA: $581
CAL: $678
DAL: $468
US: $724
AA: $974
JB: $234 (From BUR)
AirTran: $274
Spirit: $389

Wow, you can travel coast to coast roundtrip on SWA, AirTran and JetBlue for less money than you can on Greyhound! No wonder nobody is making any money.

Here's how they compare with driving....

LA to NY roundtrip is approximately 5700 miles. Assuming you get 30 MPG, that is 190 gallons of gas. At $4.00/gallon, that is $760 not including food and lodging, vehicle wear and tear, etc. There is only one fare that is higher than that.

Okay, I guess I have too much time on my hands.

 

[Flyby1206]

The success of de-regulation! Airlines now compete against buses and trains. Amtrak LAX-NYC for that date was $290, return trip on the 18th was an additional $361. Total $651

 

[CA1900]

Wow, you can travel coast to coast roundtrip on SWA, AirTran and JetBlue for less money than you can on Greyhound! No wonder nobody is making any money.

I think SWA, AirTran, and JetBlue are, ironically.

Here's how they compare with driving....

Not really a valid comparison, since both airliners and buses don't carry just one person.

LA to NY roundtrip is approximately 5700 miles. Assuming you get 30 MPG, that is 190 gallons of gas.

Since we're talking about Greyhound, assume it gets 10mpg, but carries 50 people. At $4.50 a gallon for Diesel, that's $2565 for the whole bus, or $51.30 per passenger in fuel. (Compared to [wild-ass guess] 30 gallons of jet fuel per-person on that transcon flight, or $165 per person at $5/gal.)

Sounds like Greyhound is making a lot more money than the airlines!

 

[USCtrojan]

So, I was sitting reserve yesterday and was curious to see how round trip air fares compare with Greyhound. So, here they are.....

Departure City: Los Angeles, CA
Departure Date: July 11th, 2008

Arrival City: New York, NY
Return Date: July 18th, 2008

Greyhound fare: $339

SWA: $285 (To Islip)
NWA: $581
CAL: $678
DAL: $468
US: $724
AA: $974
JB: $234 (From BUR)
AirTran: $274
Spirit: $389

Wow, you can travel coast to coast roundtrip on SWA, AirTran and JetBlue for less money than you can on Greyhound! No wonder nobody is making any money.

Here's how they compare with driving....

LA to NY roundtrip is approximately 5700 miles. Assuming you get 30 MPG, that is 190 gallons of gas. At $4.00/gallon, that is $760 not including food and lodging, vehicle wear and tear, etc. There is only one fare that is higher than that.

Okay, I guess I have too much time on my hands.

Great analysis! But the nice part about driving is you can bring 3 other people with you (assuming 2.2 children and a battle axe). Or 4 if you include your mistress. So take those figures and multiply by 4 or 5 (assuming familial units).

Of course you'd have to add in Lodging and food for that long of a trip too!

Trojan

 

[USCtrojan]

Re work it for Miami to Anchorage ;-).

Trojan

 

[wmuflyguy]

I think SWA, AirTran, and JetBlue are, ironically.

Not really a valid comparison, since both airliners and buses don't carry just one person.



Since we're talking about Greyhound, assume it gets 10mpg, but carries 50 people. At $4.50 a gallon for Diesel, that's $2565 for the whole bus, or $51.30 per passenger in fuel. (Compared to [wild-ass guess] 30 gallons of jet fuel per-person on that transcon flight, or $165 per person at $5/gal.)

Sounds like Greyhound is making a lot more money than the airlines!

I would guess that a greyhound bus gets considerably less than 10 mpg.

 

[ReverseSensing]

From the Greyhound site:

The Greyhound fleet consists of about 1,250 buses, with an average age of 7.2 years. One Greyhound bus takes an average of 34 cars off the road, and achieves 184 passenger miles per gallon of fuel.

The buses average 50 pax, so that would be about 3.5 mpg, if I'm doing the math right (always dangerous in public).

http://www.greyhound.com/home/en/About/FactsAndFigures.aspx

This was sort of interesting, too:

Customers

• One-third of Greyhound passengers make more than $35,000 per year.
• More than half of Greyhound riders have received higher education beyond high school.
• Forty-two percent of Greyhound passengers are between the ages of 18 and 34.
• Nearly 60 percent of Greyhound passengers travel less than 450 miles.
• In many cases, Greyhound passengers report they own automobiles considered sufficiently reliable for a trip of a similar distance, but travel by bus because it is safe and more economical.
• The majority of Greyhound passengers travel to visit family and friends, but more than 21 percent travel for business reasons.
• The average ticket price is $45.

 

[relief tube]

I've ridden on greyhound....it sucks and takes 2x the time to drive- so coast to coast would take over 5 days I bet.

JB, airtran and SW's fuel hedges are as much the bane of this industry as $130 oil. The first 2 I wish'd just go away and SW will have to come more in line when their hedges catch up with reality.

 

[ALIMBO]

Nobody wants to sit in a bus for hours when a trip can be made much shorter on an airplane. Same applies for trains every time I take the Amtrak home from school I know I would rather take the hour or so flight and land right next to my home then take a 5.5 hour train ride and still get picked up from the station.

 

[JumpersAway]

I know the CRJ-200 burns less fuel than 50 driving cars for a journey of more than 200 miles. Flying is by far the most efficient mode of transportation. Even though it produces less carbon, the environmentalists still have a $hi+ hemorage when it comes to airplanes. Not only are they losing money now, but several governments are wanting to tax for carbon and get involved in "carbon trading". Give me a break- just another way for the government to make a buck.