Tech Makes Travel Cheaper With CheckMyBus

Booking Bus Tickets Online Made Easy

How online bus ticket booking company CheckMyBus established themselves and how their business has grown internationally as bus travel increases. 

It’s perhaps logical to think that bus travel has suffered in the light of cheaper air fares, high speed trains and more modern cars able to partly drive themselves, making for more relaxed longer trips.

The reality is somewhat different; in Germany for example, the number of passengers travelling from city to city by bus has exploded from 3 to 20 million passengers in just a few years.

As a result, a German company formed in 2013 to provide online bus ticket booking is experiencing huge worldwide growth. CheckMyBus calls itself “the world’s largest virtual bus market” and from its Nuremberg base now covers some 50 countries and 20,000 cities including the recent addition of Brazil; in time for the forthcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The Bus Revolution

Far from declining in the face of other travel options, in general terms bus travel has improved in terms of quality of service. This is complemented by more competitive pricing, online ticketing and - significantly - the deregulations of the bus industry in many countries stimulating competition and, as a result, service improvements.

Bus travel can be very comfortable what with on board WiFi, extra legroom, air conditioning – all of which makes for a very comfortable way to travel. The image of a rickety and noisy vehicle bumping its way mile after mile is a far cry from the modern reality.

Governments are trying to encourage people to reduce car use to ease congestion and improve the environment, and bus travel is seen as one way of achieving this.

Ticketing on the Move

Along with access via a PC, CheckMyBus is available in different guises and apps on the usual popular platforms such as Apple iOS, Android and Windows, so people have access to the best bus ticket deals at all times on their tablet, smartphone or smartwatch.

The key appeal for many is being able to swiftly plan trips, itineraries and compare the best prices. For example, a big bus tour of the USA could be planned very swiftly using a combination of the country’s regional and national companies, such as the famous Greyhound bus line.

In the UK, CheckMyBus enable trips to be put together using famous carriers such as National Express and regional companies, including those running specialist services such as airport shuttles. You can check point of departure and arrival and what on board features are offered such as WiFi.

It could be easy to put together a tour of a country, or maybe an entire continent, such as a road trip of Europe, by being able to book all the buses required with the ‘local knowledge’ a facility like CheckMyBus offers.

Booking some accommodation and suitable travel insurance online would see a major trip all done by bus taken care of in no time. The appeal is clear to see; no tiring driving or queuing at airports or railway stations - just hop on the bus and relax.

Local Knowledge and Partnerships

CheckMyBus have specific websites for the countries they operate in, and in certain cases can link in to a country or region’s existing ticketing platforms where applicable. For example, in Brazil they’ve partnered with ClickBus - the country’s leading ticketing resource.

This tie-in also helps ClickBus as they can offer their Brazilian bus travel options to the countries CheckMyBus serves through their websites. It’s the archetypal ‘win-win’ business relationship.

A Growth Market

CheckMyBus isn’t the only business of this type; BusBud and Wanderu operate in Canada and the USA respectively and there are others offering multi option travel deals by plane and train along with bus.

Online bus ticketing is undoubtedly booming, but the future would appear to be even brighter. In certain larger countries such as Brazil, Mexico and China, the majority of bus tickets are still bought offline. In fact, CheckMyBus say that globally only about 10% of bus tickets are bought online, so the potential would appear to be huge.

Laura Reeve is the Marketing Executive at Avanti Travel Insurance, who specialise in travel insurance for those with pre-existing medical conditions, and are one of very few that have no upper age limit on their policies.