The bus stations were smaller and VERY dirty, most bathrooms didn't have toilet paper. The bus did have plugs (no usb) for phone charging. Bus could use a cleaning too However our bus driver Dan was fantastic, funny and timely. Dan told us exactly how long breaks were and kept us on time during our travels. Dan was a shining light for the company! read more

Terrible, mean drivers. Three of us were waiting for the bathroom and driver Brian left us in Champagne, Illinois, on our way to Indianapolis in the cold. Our luggage was on the bus. Nightmare, and main office very unhelpful. read more

The bus in my opinion was a lot cleaner than Greyhound I liked the bus driver LeAnne she made the trip worth it she told us if we need anything just go up to the front of the bus and ask her she made sure everyone was there by doing a head count all in all she was fantastic read more

i made a yelp account specifically to give this a bad review. Worst experience I have ever had. Two people were in a verbal altercation very loudly for much of the ride, and got into a physical altercation two seperate times, and the bus driver just told them to knock it off. Also, someone was blasting music and smoking a cigarette!! inside the bus with the windows closed, which was also brought to the drivers attention, and also subsequently shrugged off. i have never experienced a worse time with any service, public transport or not. do not give your money to this horrible company. Not to mention - I had to buy a second ticket at the station during departure. I brought the online receipt of my ticket, but they told me they weren't accepting that anymore and I would need to buy another ticket and call corporate asking for a refund on the first one. absolutely unbelievably terrible service from start to finish. read more

I tried this service for the first time and I will not be using it anymore. I booked a trip from Omaha, NE to Chicago last week. I had to transfer in Des Moines, IA to the bus going to Chicago. Upon arrival in Chicago my luggage was not on the bus. The driver checked and was told my luggage was at the Des Moines, IA station. I called the station to confirm and they said they will call me and let me know when, what time, and bus number they will be sending my luggage on. I waited a day and no response so I called the next day and was told the same thing again. It was getting late in the evening and still no response so I called again and they informed me my luggage left the station and will arrive at the Chicago Depot at 8:30 p.m. I asked why did I not get a call as promised and the lady said she did not know. It was 7:00 p.m., and I had to hustle to get down to the Chicago Depot before 8:30 because I don't live close. Upon arrival, the bus was there and I asked the driver did he have my luggage and he said he placed two pieces of luggage on the inside on a counter. I checked and found my luggage sitting on a counter. He did not leave with an employee or at front desk it was just sitting there and anyone could have picked it up. My family members asked how was the ride on Trailways and would I recommend them and told them hell no and I will not be using this service again. read more

I travel a lot for work trains,planes,bus and after having a six hour layover in Chicago to get to Lincoln Nebraska I had to bored one of your busses and right from the start the ride from Chicago to Nebraska Was very professional and courteous The driver had very funny sense of humor something I needed after being laid over six hours,the bus was very clean and the driver had A plus communication skills about what our ride agenda was and the when Blind man who could barley walk need extra attention and patient with his process on a full bus of people he shined like pro plus his driving skills were excellent the tradition continues with the next younger driver in Demoing he even patiently got the cripple blind man to the restroom with no problem when he had to to go right before we were gonna pull off Without making him feel awkward at all but at ease and comfortable a real pro And also a excellent driver you should be proud of your people on the road and the ease of excellence that they perfom I was a driver in Vegas many years and appreciate the good experience Thanks read more

Bus arrived early, allowing a calm boarding. Got to Chicago 30 mins early, which was nice!

Im riding through Iowa on one of your routes. The driver of bus 1401 has been a great tour guide. He's provided information on the history of the people and land of Iowa. Not a easy thing to make interesting. He's been the best driver ever! read more

The bus was two hours late and when it finally arrived the driver would not let me on the bus because my ticket was in pdf and not printed on physical paper. The driver was a royal douche bag about not letting me on too. If you purchase a ticket directly from Burlington Trailways and not through Amtrak they will email you a ticket, but they will not let you on the bus if you have not printed their ticket. If you have an e-ticket from Amtrak you will be fine. read more

Crappy refund policy. Be sure to read carefully before purchasing. The planned trip was three days out and I decided to switch and travel via Amtrak. Huge headache trying to get my money back. I've never had this problem with Greyhound. read more

Appalling customer service. After countless emails and phone calls to numbers that went nowhere, they finally agreed to give expiring credits for rides that could not be completed due to COVID. No refunds. Meanwhile, their competitors offered full refunds. Bus drivers are almost universally rude and, yes, on occasion have been visibly drunk. I've ridden several different bus systems in my day. This is by far the worst. read more

I am a traveler and was on Trailways Bus Line after bad experience with Greyhound. This is the best bus i've ever been on. The bus driver named Floyd Tilmon (route Des Moise Iowa - Chicago date 08/07/2018, boarding time 3.05 pm) is a very nice guy. He did not only help me but also many other passengers a lot when I was almost late for the next bus trip at Chicago greyhound destination. I want to say thank you for your help Floyd. I hope all the bus driver could be as nice as him. read more

I've ridden with Burlington a few times pre-pandemic, and wow, things have really gone downhill. For context, I took the midday bus from Iowa City to Naperville, a round trip, over a two-day span. One day to get out there, the next day coming back. To start, on day one I didn't even make it to my destination! About 50 minutes after starting, we pulled to a Flying J gas station, with the driver saying something about mechanical issues that needed to get fixed. First off, WHY WERE WE RIDING ON A BUS THAT HAS MECHANICAL ISSUES THAT NEEDED TO GET FIXED MIDWAY THROUGH THE TRIP???? I had a connecting bus I was supposed to meet in Davenport, so I asked the driver about that, and he called ahead. When he found out that the bus I had to get on was running late, he assured me that we would be on the road and at the station before that bus arrived. He also told me he asked the dispatched to hold the bus, just in case we were a few minutes late. Cool, right? Wrong. The repairs or whatever took about half an hour, so I tried calling the station myself. Turns out, he never actually asked them to hold the bus, and it left at its original time. The bus driver seemed apologetic, but apologies only go so far when you have a hard deadline and need to be somewhere at a specific time. I called the corporate number while at the Davenport station and spoke to a woman named Tracy. She told me that there was no way I could get a refund, I would have to take the next bus, and that the only thing they could give me was a free voucher for another trip on that route. She didn't give me any sort of confirmation or way to actually prove that she said what she said, it was all just "call this number back when you want to schedule a trip and ask for Tracy or Christine". Now, no offense, but given just how the past several hours had gone, I have little confidence that this promise will actually be met. My father ended up having to drive over two hours to come to pick me up. No physical form of reimbursement, no apologies, and just an empty of free trip with a company that I cannot trust. My return trip started off fine. We made good time leaving Chicago, we were on the road and things were looking up. I was confident that hey, maybe Burlington wouldn't fuck it up again. Unfortunately, that confidence was misplaced. Again, after leaving the Davenport station, the same driver and same bus (I would know, I sat in the same spot and stared at the same stain as the day before!) stopped again at the Double J gas station and the driver had everyone exit the bus. This time, he said it was to refuel, which is something I'm fine with because that's just what you gotta do. He told us it would about a 15-minute wait to get it fueled. Most passengers, myself included, were ready to go when it was time. After fueling up the bus, however, the driver did not pull up to the loading area and instead left, with everyone's suitcase, backpacks, purses, and belongings and headed in the opposite direction. He never said anything to us. Everyone on the bus waited for a solid 45 minutes for this man to come back. There were elderly people, young babies, and people with places to be waiting to see what the fuck was happening. I, again, had a deadline as to where I needed to be at a specific time, and again, I was forced to make other arrangements and call in. When the driver finally arrived, he waited until we were well on the road to apologize for basically leaving the 90 or so people on the bus stranded, and essentially said that we should have understood that the fuel pump and card he was using wasn't working, so he had to go elsewhere. Cool, great. HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THIS IF HE DID NOT STOP TO TELL US WHERE HE WAS GOING, WHAT WAS HAPPENING, AND HOW LATE WE WOULD BE DELAYED??????? We ended up in Iowa City an hour later than we were supposed to be, and when my mother called to see about a refund, the same woman I talked to yesterday told her that she would issue me a refund in the form of a check. No idea when it'll arrive, no idea if the woman even knows where to send the check, no idea about anything at all. At this point, I know full well that I will never use this service again. I have already told multiple I know irl (many of whom are students from the University of Iowa) to not utilize this service, and I fully plan on cross-posting this review on as many places as I can. I am out $80 on a company that lied to me multiple times, that left me stranded multiple times, and that I have absolutely no faith in. I can say with certainty that I will never recommend this service to anyone, and I plan on making sure that other travelers are aware of their piss poor service, crappy customer service, and terrible experiences. read more

OK - This is a bus line that is based out of Burlington, IA but travels to and from tons of towns through the midwest. The parent company is Trailways Transportation System (http://www.trailways.com/) and then there are separate companies for different areas of the country. Burlington Trailways is the system I use to get to and from the Quad Cities and Chicago. I've also taken it from Ottawa, IL to Chicago. So, the buses are all new and clean. My last driver was this older, grey-haired southern gentleman who was super nice but also booked it on the highway. The tickets are like $20-$30 one way and you can book online or by phone. So back to the bus, last time I took it to Chicago on a Sunday night, it was not crowded at all, there was a movie playing on the 5 or so movie screens, and the temperature was great in the bus. I want to spread the word on this bus system b/c it is such a nice option to have. Cheaper and more reliable than Amtrak and Greyhound, and from what I've heard, a more relaxing experience than Mega Bus. I was pleasantly surprised. read more

BEWARE! Worst customer service I have ever encountered! This is the letter I wrote to one of the Burlington Trailways managers regarding an incident we had today. In order to receive a refund for a ticket, you must write a letter (Below) explaining yourself and mail it to them. Hopefully they will refund you, although the customer service rep I spoke with said nothing is guaranteed. Sounds pretty illegitimate to me. Needless to say, we will not be using this line ever again. Read about my experience here: _____________________________________ Hi Josh, Just wanted to clarify what happened. We were running behind and luckily the bus was too. We arrived 2 minutes before the bus did at 7:05 or so. My boyfriend didnt have the ticket in hand but began looking for it in his bag. The driver said "I'm running behind and now you're making me late." It is definitely not OUR fault that the bus wasn't on time.He didnt give my boyfriend 1 minute to find his ticket or show him his email confirmation on his phone. He got on the bus and drove away! A couple of bystanders even offered money to pay for a new ticket, but he had already driven off. A few months ago, he had lost his ticket and the driver was nice enough to look him up him in the system. I find it unacceptable that he was treated this way. He missed his school day. I had to buy 2 more bus tickets and had to connect through Madison to get him back to Dubuque same day. We use Burlington Trailways on a regular basis and unfortunately we probably won't do so in the future. Because we were unable to use the ticket and I had to purchase 2 new ones, I would like a refund. I will send a copy of this to address below. Since you are the training manager, I hope you use future opportunities to train your employees on proper customer service practices. Amanda read more

Bus had wi-fi, but only one or two outlets on the entire bus (I stumbled across one by accident.) The seats are about as spacious as an average coach bus (so felt smaller to me than on a Megabus, and were a bit tight.) You'll also stop about every hour for a stop where a few people get on, and some get off. Davenport's probably the busiest. I think we were ultimately 45 minutes to an hour late getting into Chicago (from Omaha). However, I rank it so low because of the bus driver's treatment of other people. A person accidentally boarded the bus, thinking it was the Greyhound (they were foreign exchange students boarding in Iowa City, and the Greyhound runs about a half-hour behind the Trailways bus.) They had a valid ticket for the Greyhound, but not the Trailways bus. I think there was a bit of a language barrier, but ultimately the bus driver swore to them, saying "Get off my f****** bus." There was some slamming of luggage doors by him, and just gave me the wrong vibe. I don't care if they're your customers or not. Realize they have a language barrier, and try to explain it as best as you can. I know it may be frustrating, but they're more than likely not trying to defraud you; they just need a bit of direction. I'm sticking to the Megabus (or Greyhound Express, if they ever launch it out of Omaha.) read more

Last evening I attempted to get tickets for a bus ride from Cedar Rapids to Chicago via Greyhound.com on the first leg of my trip to Washington, D.C. because Amtrak does not have a ticket office here. After initiating the purchase online @GREYHOUND.COM that clearly has a link for purchase (WEB ONLY FARE), and coming to near completion, the site says that the ticket cannot be purchased and provided an 800 number to call. Upon calling (800-231-2222), I was finally instructed (language / accent barrier) by the representative that the purchase indeed was not available online and that I needed to call a different 800# to complete my transaction. After attempting to get an explanation as to why the online purchase - as shown on their site was unavailable - the representative just kept explaining that I needed to call another number, book my trip with a representative and pay an additional (nominal) fee. The number (319-753-2864) turned out to be Trailways - not Greyhound - and after listening to the prompts (press 1 for ?, 2 for ?), making my selection, I was left to be believe that their offices were closed; as the prompts led nowhere. So I visited their website and attempted to purchase the ticket (after agreeing to the convenience fee for online purchases) and was again told that I'd have to purchase the ticket with a representative. So today I call Trailways and speak with a representative who: * tells me that the purchase cannot be made via the WWW and must be done at the terminal counter; * could not explain (1) why they have it available as an online purchase, when it is not (GREYHOUND: UNDERSTANDABLY, as he does not work for them); (2) why I'm being charged a processing fee when I initially chose to buy online (asked this ?? JUST out of curiosity). I decided to rent a car and make the drive to Chicago and offered three people to join me as they were in line at the ticket booth. Not only did we enjoy the road trip, but we stopped for a meal and arrived in Chicago faster, cheaper and far more content. Question(s): * Why did it take over 3 hours total to try and book a bus ride? * Websites + company representatives are supposed to be customer friendly and knowledgeable of their company's wares; did I miss something here? * Are CS representatives really this stupid - across the board? * Anyone out there wondering why PLANES, TRAINS + AUTOMOBILES have long since taken away the bus riding experience? Hope the rest of my trip via AMTRAK is uneventful!!! read more

Burlington Trailways offers really good deals between Chicago, the Quad Cities, and Iowa City. Versus Megabus or Greyhound, the experience is about the same, though sometimes the busses will be older than Megabus's and the wifi doesn't always work. There is always grease on the windows and the seats sometimes have the smell of the last person to sit there. The bathroom is usually clean though -at least when the bus departs. Sometimes the bus driver puts in a movie, which is really annoying. I've been on busses that played music too. For this reason, bring good earphones. Watch out of creepy bus drivers. I've seen them make some unsettling comments to pretty girls. Once a bus driver got on the loud speaker so everybody could hear him flirting and I guess laugh at his wit and admire his game. Weirdo. So yeah, expect an adventure. read more

They left my daughter at a bus stop because they only want cash. No help with her ticket, no concern, and not able to adapt to situations. I would not trust this company with any one I cared about. read more

I had the extreme pleasure, of riding with Robert( driver) who's route is Omaha Neb- to Burlington Iowa. he played music thru the bus that was comforting, pointed out points of interest, it was a pleasure to ride with this driver. In eight days i put 4190 miles on a bus, he was the best driver of all. I would ride with him driving anywhere, Robert keep up the good work u are the best trust me. And thank you for making that part of my journey so much nicer. you da man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

It's a bus. They got me from point A (Des Moines, IA) to point B (Denver, CO) on time. Maybe an hour longer than if I had driven non-stop. The seats were a little cramped but I had no trouble sleeping overnight. I took away a star because the transfers were confusing. It's not clear when you leave your bag on the bus and when you have to take it out. The communication should be a lot clearer. read more

This bus company in no way tries to enforce social distancing or even customers who refuse to where mask. The first 3 rows in the front are blocked off, but the rest of the bus is jam packed full of people sitting side by side. So we will all get sick, but the driver is a safe distance away from us. So they care about the drivers health, but not the customers who pay. This is horrible, and if you need any more information, I will be happy to provide after my trip. Assuming I dont get sick and die read more

If anything goes wrong (like bad weather), they will not have an adequate response to it. They will simply cancel the trip. Passengers will not be informed. Even those who do find out before traveling to the bus station will not be able to re-book their tickets online or by phone. The only solution they offer forces the passenger to travel to the bus station and physically trade the unused ticket for the next available bus IF there is room. If there isn't room, the passenger will be forced to wait for the next bus. That may work fine for Chicago, with buses leaving many times during the day, but for other, smaller stops on the route, it could mean waiting in the bus terminal for hours if not days. read more

I've had minor trouble with Burlington Trailways before but not enough to deter me from using them until today. Not only were they rude and condescending, but first they gave me incorrect information about the bus station and then they told me if I wanted to buy a new ticket there was an $18 fee above the ticket price to buy the ticket with a credit card over the phone. They also told me that the only way to buy a ticket at the station was in cash... After paying a $5 fee at the ATM I found out I could have used a credit card to buy the ticket (with no fee.) And when I called to politely submit a complaint I got an equally rude customer service agent (who also gave me incorrect information) who told me that receiving accurate information was "an unrealistic expectation." They might have the most convenient schedule but they have permanently lost my business. read more

The ticket change fee is the same price as a new ticket, even though it's weeks out. So I went with another carrier. Don't support anti-consumer practices. read more

Versus Greyhound, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other. The prices are more or less the same. Sometimes Burlington buses have Wi-Fi, but on average they're dirtier than Greyhound buses. Burlington drivers seem less bitter than Greyhound drivers, but Burlington doesn't have a frequent hobo reward program. Make your decision based on when the buses run. There really isn't any other difference, as far as I can tell. read more

So my family and I booked a bus trip but our connecting flight was changed so I contacted BT to see if they could work with us since I had already paid for our tickets. I received an email stating they had plenty of room for the date our flight was changed to, but they wouldn't change the date on our bus tickets unless we paid more. "Plenty of room" but they aren't willing just to change a date?? I will not forget the "customer service". Thanks BT read more

Horrible service. I am never riding this bus again. My luggage was lost during the trip due to the company's mistake. I talked to 4 different people and it has been 3 days since the trip. No one has told me about how this matter is going to be taken care of, nor did any of the service representatives took responsibility for it or even apologized. Their system is very disorganized and service is below professional. I got my tickets through Greyhound. Both Burlington Trailway & Greyhound are unsafe and unprofessional. This was my first time trying out this bus company. I always used to take Megabus. I am very very very disappointed and regret wasting my time/energy/money. I suggest taking Megabus if you need alternative transportation. read more

This entire experience has been entirely frustrating. When we got to the bus depot there were people in the depot not wearing masks. As we were waiting to board, another bus drove up and passengers departed it. HALF of them were not wearing masks. I felt very uncomfortable considering Burlington Trailways' policy states that ALL passengers, including the driver, MUST be masked. This rule is decreed as MANDATORY and punishable by law if not practiced. It is even stated on their website as well as in the video they make you watch before you leave the station. The policy was crystal clear about this. Before anyone boarded, I asked our bus driver if he would be enforcing their covid-19 safety policy by requiring all passengers to wear their masks for the duration of their time on the bus. The driver said he would. There are currently 6 people without masks on this bus. People are coughing, wiping their noses, and then touching their surroundings. I'm pretty sure we've switched drivers asking the way, but this current bus driver is not wearing a mask. There is no way to socially distance in this vehicle. It was not my first choice ride a bus, but due to circumstance, I had to. I'm just praying that the two masks I'm wearing, and the one covid vaccine I've gotten keeps me safe. If your company has policies that are put in place to keep your patrons safe on a public vehicle of transportation (IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC), wouldn't it be good to enforce them? I'm shocked that I even have to write this review. I feel like I'm literally in a clown car. read more

I called ahead to make sure the address on their web site was correct because I had been told they had moved. I called, my husband called and we were told it was 470 East court street, The address was really 170 East Court Street. Glad we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there. read more

If I could I would leave no stars. I was on my return trip from Galena IL and even though I called the same day to verify my bus was on the road, I went to my stop and waited. The schedule time came and went no bus. So I called the dispatch and was then told the bus was cancelled. I got not email/or phone called, the original dispatch lied that the bus was on the road to my stop. Late at night at a open air stop, in winter was left untill the next day to freeze on the side of a Highway and was told to bad. Hows that for the Holidays. Don't take unless you don't mind them doping schedule times, having no care for welfare of passengers and can sleep in the winter cold on a Highway. read more

Our bus has been waiting an hour in a random parking lot halfway between cities apparently waiting for someone who missed the bus at their stop. No explanations from driver or company. Horrendous. read more

I purchased round trip tickets to Columbia, Mo from Rockford, IL in Dec. The following day, due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to use the tickets. I have tried to contact Burlington Trailways several times to only be told no refunds or they just don't return my phone call. The tickets I got did say no refunds but I only saw that after the purchase. I do not remember anyone telling me that. I am a senior citizen living on only SS. Now I am out $213. I would not give Burlington any stars for their customer service. (had to give them one just in order to post this) I did not use the bus but since have heard many bad stories regarding others experience. I can not recommend Burlington Trailways nor would I ever consider using them. read more

Let me start by saying I am no stranger to traveling by bus. Black Mold and dried urine everywhere. Had a 8 hour layover while both my driver and my bus sat outside, within sight, running the entire time. The station has uncomfortable metal benches that do not allow you to lie down during these horrendous lay overs. Signs all over broadcasting that they have WiFi available at station, when I asked about it was told very curtly and rudely that there was none. Bathroom had poo stains smeared on all the walls, AFTER I watched the janitor go in and "clean" for an hour. No public phones, no pay phones that work, no water fountains, one working vending machine. Is this Hell? read more

this is BY FAR the worst bus I have ever been on. i was told i had to put my suitcase under the bus when i got there, so i placed it under my bus. when my bus got transferred, we were told that the bus driver would handle out bags and we were not allowed to access them. when i arrived at my final destination, my bag was not under the bus. I told the driver and he was very rude and said that I needed to call the customer service. I called them over the course of 5 weeks but in a lost bag notice and nothing. the people i spoke to were very rude and not helpful at all. I asked if I could get a reimbursement for the items that had been lost/stolen that were in the bag and the woman hung up on me. It is the most unprofessional bus experience I have ever had. I do NOT recommend this bus to anyone. (my bag is still lost) read more

I took the Burlington Trailways Bus Line this weekend and arrived 7 hours late to my destination. The bus driver arrived late to the boarding center in Des Moines and we were given no updates about the issues that were happening. There were no apologies throughout the entire trip as well as updates on our whereabouts. There were two transfers that we had to make because of mistakes that happened earlier and we were not given updates about these transfers until they were moving us off of the buses. We were moved to an older bus which was not up to date and did not offer the amenities that this company advertises. After speaking with a customer service representative to receive some sort of compensation I was met with a woman, Jennifer (their customer service representative), she failed to apologize, did not treat me as a valued customer and represented Burlington very poorly. I will never be riding this Bus Line again and I would advise anyone who is looking for a reliable system with trained employees in how to deal with errors in a company (which happens often especially in transportation) to find another option. read more