Horrible Smells - one of the worst I've experienced and I have a bad sense of smell. I would never take the risk at 4.5 hours of this. Toilet Roulette If you arrive no less than 30 minutes prior to departure you'll be catching the next bus even if you reserve online. Go Boltbus or Megabus - far worth the money. read more

Pros: really cheap, took an hour less to get from Boston to NYC than the Mega Bus, stops at Arby's, driver is equipped with bottles of water to put out fires caused by crazy women (more on that later). Cons: crazy woman smoked a cigarette in the bathroom and lit the trash on fire, then denied smoking the cigarette, then screamed over and over that the bus was going to explode once the bus really started smelling like smoke (causing the driver to pull over), then yelled at angry passengers calling them "satan" and "the devil", then yelled at the driver for intentionally getting lost when we were stuck in traffic. On the other hand, she said she would never take Lucky Star again, so maybe now is the time to take it. read more

On Sunday I watched as one of their drivers pulled out of South Station with his drivers side window open as he smoked a cigarette. If you think the bus smells bad that's one of the big reasons why! read more

I have been on this bus a few times and this serves as one of my secondary choices for me to go to New York City by bus. One advantage is that the most I would have to pay for a round trip is $31. If you arrive more than an hour early and paid full fare for one trip ($15 a ride), and if there is space in the bus, you can have the convenient option of taking the bus earlier than your scheduled time on the ticket. Not sure if the other bus companies at Boston's South Station does this, but I know for sure that Lucky Star can do this. Another great convenience that Lucky Star has compared to the other Chinatown buses is that they can offer free wi-fi, which is great if you need internet. This shows that they are making some effort to be competitive with Bolt Bus and the other buses that offer free wi-fi. However, despite these conveniences, Lucky Star still has disadvantages. In order to access the wi-fi, you actually have to enter in a password. You have to enter it not once but twice. First is when you actually connect your device to the wi-fi, the second time is when you open up your internet browser. They did not post the password on the interior of the bus and the bus driver usually does not know. I had to rely on a frequent traveler on the bus, and it is "LUCKY" plus the number that is on the front or on the doorway of the bus. For example, the bus number was 858, so I had to put in "LUCKY858" to connect to the wi-fi, then "lucky858" when I got into the internet browser. This is actually irritating compared to accessing wi-fi on Bolt Bus. Also, not all of the buses have it yet as of now. The buses also do not have any electrical outlets as well, so that's one attribute Lucky Star needs to work on if they really want to compete with Bolt Bus. Seats were comfortable, and I found the ride to be somewhat smooth 70% of the trips. On the return trip to Boston, the driver sometimes made hard taps on the brake pedal after driving at a fast speed, while tailgating other vehicles, which may cause slight anxiety to passengers who do not like experiencing sudden brake taps by a driver. The bus always makes a stop at a Burger King in Vernon, Connecticut on the way to New York City for about 10-20 minutes. On the way back to Boston, it actually made a stop at an Arby's also somewhere in Connecticut, showing that they are open to other fast food places other than Burger King for pit stops. While this is not one of my top choices to go to New York City by bus, it's still not a bad choice if you are not willing to spend more than $16 for a ride, need wi-fi during your ride, and be willing to add possibly another 30+ minutes to your ride because of the pit stop it has to make, and the possibility of traffic when the bus goes through Queens and Brooklyn, and over the bridge towards Chinatown. read more

Loved riding on the lucky star bus!!!!! The bus was so clean and had bags on the side for trash (great idea) such a great ride we arrived in New York in in 4 hours with a 15 minute stop!!!!!! read more

Took it from NYC to boston. Dirty. Old. Squishy. No leg room. Seats were making me itch. Bumpy-ass ride. There was AC, but not that cold. Gets you to your location, that's about it. You get what you paid for -- convenience. I should have paid extra and taken Bolt home to boston. read more

You get what you pay for. It gets you to NYC and back for $30 and you can't beat that. No its not the greatest experience but it gets you there. I have used it several times and I can't complain too much. read more

Couldnt decide between 3 or 4 stars but overall it wasn't bad. Drivers are really friendly and have chats with passengers, A lot of $1 fares on their website, a place to wait in both destinations for the bus instead of standing outside and their small perks (points and raffle) are sort of a bonus. Pros Inexpensive way to get to/from Boston/ New York City Place to wait (With A/C , bathroom, TVs) Friendly Drivers Cons (Not many) Some coaches a bit older read more

This is a bus company that has inconsistent ticket policies, is not transparent and has absolutely appalling customer service. I had an e-ticket from Boston to New York, that was supposed to be non-refundable and not changeable for 7pm. When I arrived at 6.30 to check in, they said the ticket had been used by someone else at noon that day. Their security is pretty lax, you could pretty much change a couple of numbers on the e-ticket confirmation number and board the bus because they don't check IDs. They refused to let us board the bus even though it was their mistake, and even though the bus wasn't full. I had to buy two more full priced tickets, on top of the ones I had already paid for their mistake. Extremely unpleasant. When I called the head office the next day to resolve the situation, she made me wait for 5 minutes on the phone each time, so I had to hang up and call again. It was extremely difficult to communicate with them - not because of language barriers but because they were extremely defensive and unprofessional. Claiming that this could not have happened, and denying responsibility or security lapses on their part. Overall, it was bad on all counts, customer service at the head office was the worst of the lot. I would highly discourage others from taking this bus service - the other ones like Fung Wah are just as cheap and anything would be an improvement from this. They were unreasonable, customer service was unpleasant and inflexible. Simply awful! read more

If there is 0, I will put it zero for rating. Compared to greyhound, its price is no cheap anymore, round trip usually cost $55 for Lucky Star Bus now, not $30 for a round trip. Besides, I waited more than 20 minutes for the bus to arrive and it reached boston 1hour and 20 minutes late without huge traffic on the road. It stopped at a Chinese restaurant for 25 minutes, wasting the clients' time!! The environment of the bus is terrible, its very shaky and I don't even want to compare it with Concordcoach line or Greyhound. It really really sucks. The driver does not act professionally and before you get off the bus, the boston police department will check the luggage and make sure there is no drugs. read more

I could write a book about all of my horrible trips on lucky star busses over the years, like the herion bust right before xmas when police stormed our bus as it arrived into south station 2yrs ago, or the time the driver wouldnt get off his phone as he sped down the highway in the snow storm, ill stop there for now... I only ever took this bus because I could buy a ticket in cash right before ot left and my schedule was always to tough to predict. I was even almost sad when it was shut down for a few months do to busses not being safe( they found a 4 by 6 ft hole on one of the busses covered up witj ply wood). Yet some how they still reopened..with high fares and the same crap busses. Im not sure if they know this but mega bus is now cheaper then them! However today is officially my last ride I could get over the fact that the bus arrived late to pick us up but theres NO excuse for not have A.C. On a bus when its 86 degrees outside! Thats just pure disrespect to customers! Thanks for the sweaty ride lucky star. read more

This is a bus company that gets you from Boston to Chinatown in New York City. It parallels Fung Wah Bus in terms of service, price and frequency of travel, and cleanliness. It won't be first class travel, but the bus will get you to NYC in good time, and for a really good price ($15/ one way). read more

This is just like the Fung Wah Chinatown bus. So cheap and so worth it. Plane or train tickets cost $70-100 roundtrip and take about the same amount of time as the bus. When I took it, it was only $10. I believe they raised the prices and are now required to operate out of South Station. Go to http://www.luckystarbus.com/ for a 10% discount (=$13.50). read more

Budget bus for the budget minded! The place is appropriately clean, with garbage bags available between every row. For the price you pay, you are getting exactly what you paid for, a no frills ride from Boston to New York (Or wherever else you may be going). It is owned by Chinese people, and you get dropped off in Chinatown in NY, but that shouldn't be a problem - they speak English and you end up close enough to the B-D train station at Grand Street. There isn't much room between seats, but you aren't going to get much more room on other buses with similar pricing. During rush hour they come every half hour, which is great when you just want to show up and climb on. If you get on the bus and it is super full, tell the sales lady on board that you must take the next bus, it is much too crowded, they will give you your ticket stub back and let you on the next bus. I never bothered to use the bus bathroom - it's only 4-5 hrs, and often stop at a rest stop in Connecticut. Try not to sit near the bathroom, I never have, but I have often heard it smells bad there. To keep competitive with other bus companies, they also provide wifi, but it is very slow. However, I've heard that it is similarly slow on other buses too. Also, would someone please tell me why there is a $1 deal sticker when I've never seen this $1 deal?! Finally - people need to stop blaming these Chinatown buses for these news-worthy crashes. If you notice, Chinatown buses only have Chinese drivers, and the drivers of those infamous crashes were NOT Chinese... it just so happens that Chinese people like to gamble, so their clientele had a lot of Chinese. O_O read more

Lucky Star has the cleanest windows of any bus. You get a perfect view of both Boston and New York! The bus is always clean, the service is usually friendly. Can't beat the prices for such a long journey. I personally like supporting a local business to, rather than corporate. Plus the drops you off in the Chinatowns of both cities... Perfect for foodies! read more

Only 1 star because I can't give them 0 stars please don't make the mistakewasting your time and money trying to travel with this company. I purchased my tickets online from new york to boston and when i wanted to change the date/ time i couldn't do it. When it came down to going online and changing the date i was within the 6 hour policy window prior the traveling time they're policy requires. The online site kept on kicking me out leaving me no option, so i called hoping someone will help, and of course when i called my 6 hour time limit was already up. She told me that my only option was to go to Manhattan station in person and change the time for a later deperature that same day. No options for the next day. It was 1 hour driving distance from Manhattan. Today I called again and spoke with the same person that i spoke with on sunday and now she said that she remembered our conversation on sunday and told me the i never tried to change the time myself. Overall i lost my money. P.s Please consider traveling by train its more expensive but its worth it. read more

For an extra 20 or 30 bucks It's worth not taking Lucky Star. My jacket still smells like bus one day later. Stay clean, stay healthy, stay safe, spend the extra cash to travel to/forth Boston/NYC. read more

Avoid this company!! They have terrible customer service!!! I've taken this bus quite a few times and the customer service is always terrible and I've experienced rude drivers, buses leaving before scheduled departure times as well as buses canceling with no warning. I usually take this bus because it's closer to my house but never again. read more

scariest bathroom in the US hint: a citrine waterfall connects it to the luggage compartment read more

It's better if the driver stop texting while driving. It's just too dangerous if the driver is not focused on the highway.

Well what else can I tell you, but about the smell? there is a small funky smell. But listen the ride is really not that bad for what you are paying for, I had to check it out for my self and is not a bad deal just make sure you get there 1/2 an hour before your departure or you be stuck with someone unpleasant, one of the feature that I did like was that I was late for my departure from New York I just took the next one with no hesitations and no questions ask, the only reason why I didn't gave it a five star was because the smell. read more

I took Lucky Star for the first time yesterday, a one-day Boston-NYC-Boston trip. The price is right and I actually got a $12.50 fare for a 7:00 a.m. departure from South Station. The normal $15.00 was the return fare. Plus a $.50 fee for each boarding pass. So for far less than a tank of gas, it was down and back. I've read some of the other reviews, so I'll keep those in mind. Trip down was great and, yes, Burger King between Hartford and Sturbridge is the rest break. There's a McDonald's across the street if you want breakfast food. Trip was unevenful, usual NYC traffic. Arrived 11:15, not bad time. Need to get uptown as I did? Exit the bus, turn left, walk one block, cross the street, and head down into the subway station for the B and D lines. That's the Grand Station. About a 10-minute ride to 42nd St. The return was less normal. First, no one told me that you have to check in across Chrystie St. to have your boarding pass checked. Easy enough to do, but that should be on the website. We left at 5:00 and broke down somewhere in Queens about a half-hour later. 15 minutes of tinkering and the driver announced that another bus would be coming. The other bus came in about 30 minutes, but it was half-full, so we lost our less-than-crowded original bus. And we lost a/c and just got weakly blowing air through the vents. We took the long way back: up 684 and across northern CT instead of 95 along the coast to New Haven. Feels longer than it is, but if you haven't driven that route, you wonder where you are. Worst of all: no reading lights worked, so we got to ride in darkness illumined only by weak green phosphorescent lights, making everyone look a bit jaundiced. When I asked the driver at our BK break about it, he said we had a "day bus" because they had to get us a bus to replace our broken down bus. Hmm, then who were those people on our "day bus" when it picked us up? Do the reading lights ever work? All in all a cheap ride, but not a thrill, to NYC and back. The cheap bus trips always seem to have a certain "Russian roulette" quality about them, and this one lost on the return trip. We arrived at South Station about 10:25, so, considering we left the city at rush hour, our breakdown cost us about 45 minutes and we lost another 15 minutes on a different route. I wonder if Lucky Star, translated into Chinese, comes out Fung Wah? read more

Good seats, not smelly, free wifi, and almost a good service every time. And the prices aren't too bad but they are getting higher :/

Three trips on Lucky Star. The first one was fine. The A/C broke on the 2nd one and the third one was delayed 2 hours due to traffic (can't blame them for that though). They are not as classy as Peter Pan, but always cheaper. The NYC end is very hectic and often involves standing out in the hot sun or freezing cold in the middle of China town. But I'll probably use this bus again because it's a good balance of cheap and reliable. read more

Poor service, and no refund for blowing car tire twice which made our 4.5 hr trip a 7 hr trip. Pay the extra and get better service, power outlets and staff who speak english. read more

I'm giving it a four star because of the price. It's only 15 dollars and you don't have to buy it days in advance. I live in Boston but goes to school in NYC so i have taken all the possible bus. Lucky star is a Chinese bus so don't expect great customer service. The bus is a regular coach bus and the seat are pretty small. Most of the time the bus is full with weird people who's always on the phone and is annoying. The good thing about Lucky Star now is that they offer Wi-Fi on their bus, which is good since i always bring my laptop home. The route that this bus is indeed slower than all the other buses. I like this bus because it offer me quick service, I dont have to book it in advance. read more

Not bad at all considering it gets you from NYC to Boston and vice versa. I did not try the Wifi but I would not expect it to be ultra fast. There are indeed no power outlets but the chairs were relatively comfortable and the reading lights worked. If you pay $15 for a one way ticket, you will get that kind o service. If you want fancier buses with outlets and wifi, take Bolt Bus and be dropped by MSG. In the end, you get what you pay for. read more

Purchased ticket day before without extra fee, bus left on time, not too expensive (although I think prices have recently gone up), and got us there in normal time. Wifi worked surprisingly well. Took a 15 minute break at a Chinese buffet when we were only an hour and a half away from Boston, which I thought was a bit unnecessary but others may have appreciated. Toilet on bus, but I don't recommend it read more

My dilemma: Wanted to get from Boston to NY for a night of drinking in the city. Cant afford airfare or train-fare(need my money for alcohol!) I had heard about these low cost bus lines and researched the fung-wah and lucky star. Lucky Star seemed less accident/crazy people prone. Booked my ticket online and set out on my adventure. Everything went great, no complaints on the trip. While i was boarding a half full bus I did look across and see people jostling for position to get onto the fung-wah... Had two seats to my self, half full both ways and took right about 4 hours each way. Be prepared to navigate chinatown in NYC, no i still don't want to buy a 'handbahhg'. Also the crappy chinese buffet they stop at charges by the pound... Just hoof it over to the grocery store. Overall it was cheap, clean and very efficient. They stop half way through. No internet or movies, but I'm not lugging my labtop to NY for one night so i can have some drunken story about how I used to have a labtop... read more

I had an awful experience, and I didn't even get on the bus. I was dropping a friend off and I waited for him to get on the bus to leave. They overbooked the bus by eight people! I can understand this need to overbook, and by this many people, for a plane, but for a bus this is just poor planning. He was delayed for an hour. No one apologized. The next bus arrived 20 minutes late. I stood in an empty area that wasn't roped off to talk to my friend while he waited, and one of the staff came up beside me and PUSHED me to speak with my friend about which kind of ticket he had. It was completely unnecessary, there was open space on either side of me and behind me, and lots of room to talk to him, but she physically pushed me aside. The staff of Lucky Star are rude and aggressive. Don't get me wrong, you may use their buses without any problem, no interaction with staff, etc. But frankly I don't think you should give your money to a company with no value for their customers. Your experience could be fine, or it could be awful. Why bother? Use Bolt, book in advance, and the tickets will be cheaper and the service (I hear) better. read more

I'll take lucky anytime!! They dont scam me like Fung wah! they sold me a 4pm ticket but they have no bus!! waited for almost two hours so I went to lucky and got on their 6pm bus. read more

This is my favorite bus to take to new york and Boston. unlike Fung-wah, lucky star is actually clean and SAFE. the last time i took fung-wah the bus broke down and it took me 6 1/2 hours to get to Boston. ever since then, I've always took lucky-star. plus they're always on time. read more

I'd avoid Lucky Star at all costs. They gave my seats away even though I showed up 45 minutes before departure. As compensation, they offered to put me on a bus that left 6 hours later and arrived in NYC at 4am. Gee, thanks... In the end, I had to cancel my hotel reservation (costing $200) and take Bolt Bus the next day (costing $20). Rather than spending the entire weekend in NYC, I spent most of it on a bus. Keep in mind that if you take Bolt Bus or Mega Bus, this will *never* happen because they don't give your seats away. I tried getting a refund from Lucky Star, but yeah... good luck with that. Overall, it's just a poorly managed company with terrible customer service and no seat guarantee. read more

Leave at 9am and you'll get to your location anywhere from 3-5pm. We stopped for a 5 minute break, the 15 minute food break, then another 10 min break so they could get oil??? read more

First come, first served. Though we had made an internet reservation, when we arrived at the random corner in NYC to meet our bus we were greeted with a line of about 200 people and rude attendants telling us that our reservation "didn't matter". Checking the fine print on our confirmation, no where was it written that the bus was on a first come basis. After standing outside in the blazing July sun for 2 hours waiting in a "line" which was more like a herd of angry, very hot people, we finally boarded the bus and arrived back in Boston much later than we had planned. It's also worth mentioning that this bus boasts about 3 inches of leg room, so if you're over 5'5", you better hope the person in front of you is nice and doesn't put their seat back! If you're looking for a ride to NYC (for the same price point!) to save on some gas money, go with the BoltBus!!!! Free wireless, power outlets, tons of leg room AND your reservation will be held! I know Lucky Star is cheap, but come ON! read more

Somewhat basic and a little crowded but cheap and on-time. Would be nice to have some power outlets and wifi. If it had power outlets I'd have given it 4 stars. If it had wifi as well I'd have given it 5 stars. In all, nothing to really complain about but nothing rave about either. read more

I would just like to say I paid like 50 dollars for Greyhound tickets once to New York and they sucked. The bus drivers were jerks and one of them even crashed into a fence backing up into a parking lot. For 50 dollars it was a ripoff. And they didn't take any breaks. It took me 10 hours to get there. I knew it would be longer with the extra stops but not THAT long. I took the Lucky Star bus for 15 dollars to NYC and got the best service ever. I left my ukulele in the NY bus terminal and they were so nice to send it back on a bus and let me pick it up at South Station. If their employers read this, REI THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP SWEETIE. Overall, you get what you pay for most of the time but I plan on sticking with these guys anytime I take New York escapades. read more

Traveling with Lucky Star is a gamble. Went to NYC on a new bus with WiFi, electrical outlets, and an awesome driver made that trip top notch, thus the 2 stars. Going to Boston,on the other hand, was scary with an older bus, the drivers speeding along the highway, and stopping at a buffet place for overpriced food and awful service which also extended our travel to 6 hours made me regret choosing this bus company again. read more

Ever since fung wah got shut down, lucky star has been getting an overload of customers. Currently I feel that lucky star are a bunch of cattle herders. Customer service has dramatically lowered and prices are being inflated. What use to be 15 dollars is now 20 and on the weekends its 25 !! read more

I rolled my bike up to the counter, purchased a non refundable ticket and was instructed to go to the gate. The man at the gate tells me I have to pay 15 dollars to put my bike on the bus, then he runs ahead of me to tell the guy at the counter to charge me 15 dollars... (these guys didn't realize I speak Mandarin). I explain to the man that he saw me roll up with my bike, if In fact this was a policy, that he should of informed me of this before the purchase of the ticket. The "gentleman" at the counter calls the New York location, calling me a crazy white person in Mandarin, and tells him that I'm causing trouble and he just called so it looks like he's checking the "bike price". Then, the "gentleman" hands me the phone and the person speaking tells me it's always been $15. I attempt to explain the situation in Boston but the person continuously interrupts me say "$15" over and over again. At this point I'm furious, I yell at the man on the phone, the entire bus terminal goes quiet, I slam the phone on the counter, demand my money back (which they don't hesitate) and the lovely folks at Greyhound get me on a bus 30 minutes early and for a cheaper price than this poor excuse for a transportation service. Lucky Star buses flip all the time anyways, not that I wish that on anyone... just saying. Steer clear from these racist thieves and stick with Mega Bus, Peter Pan, or the always pleasant Greyhound. read more