Memorial Day marks the unofficial kick-off to summer, and news reports predict record traveler numbers to take to roads (or skies) in search of holiday getaways this May 25.
Wanderu recently conducted an analysis to pinpoint budget-friendly destinations offering eco-friendly bus or train journeys over this holiday period.
Wanderu’s platform for comparing bus and train ticket costs provides unique access to pricing trends across ground travel industry. After poring over vast amounts of data, this year bus travel is more economically advantageous.
“Traveling this Memorial Day? Good news: bus fares have, on average, decreased this year — with Orlando and Atlanta remaining exceptions according to this report. Although inflation may have had an effect, more destinations can now be reached via bus than they could previously.”
This year’s report highlights three cities as being more affordable this year compared to last: Philadelphia, Baltimore and Seattle – each experiencing bus fare reductions exceeding 30 percent when compared with 2017.
Washington D.C. to Philadelphia bus fares typically cost just over $21, while travel from New York City costs only $16 one way during Memorial Day Weekend. Residents in Boston who want to explore Philadelphia over Memorial Day will face the highest one-way ticket fees at about $52 one way ticket costs.
Baltimore bus fares are also extremely wallet friendly; for example, traveling between Philadelphia and Baltimore costs just $10 while New Yorkers traveling there will pay only $33. Bostonians looking to visit Baltimore can expect bus tickets between them will set back roughly $65. Finally, Seattle ranks third for affordable bus fare; Portland-Spokane routes cost just $25 each way while Spokane-Portland tickets go for $30 total.
Each city provides free activities that will stretch your travel budget even further.
Train Fares Are More Expensive than Bus Fares Meanwhile, train fares offer mixed results; although certain destinations might have slightly increased fares since 2022, taking trains into major cities like New York City or Chicago is actually less costly now – meaning taking the bus may still offer you better savings overall.
Wanderu provides insight on which days are ideal to travel over Memorial Day weekend (though with just three-day holiday weekend options).
This platform conducted a detailed investigation to find the least costly itinerary during Memorial Day weekend, such as bus or train ticket costs per day for each.
“Bus ticket prices tend to remain consistent throughout a holiday weekend, typically only fluctuating by several dollars on average,” according to the report. To save some cash and take full advantage of your getaway without being unduly worried about costs related to travel arrangements such as bus tickets, consider traveling on Sunday or Tuesday instead of Friday; prices tend not to differ by more than 10% between these dates so go ahead with planning without worry over cost–don’t fret too much over costs!
Train tickets offer greater variation. According to Wander data, traveling on Saturday instead of Friday before Memorial Day could save up to 10 percent, and returning Tuesday instead of Monday could save an additional 7 percent.
“Though these savings may not seem groundbreaking, they do add up when booking more expensive flights.” according to the report.
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