Friday, I make my way to New York City and decided to take the Vamoose bus down. They pick you up in Bethesda, MD or Arlington, VA both right outside DC. There is a reservation system online but you have to pay on the bus. You don’t need a reservation but it does hold spots for you. They charge $25 one way and they give you ticket stubs, four stubs gets you one free, one way ride. I so happened to have four stubs which I collected almost a year ago and they still honored the discount. The Vamoose was fast; we left at 5:20PM and arrived at Penn Station at 9:10PM. This was on a Friday night at the beginning of Easter weekend. I was impressed, although I do have to admit that we did not visit a rest stop this time around (they usually do). Credit given where it is due - it was the driver’s foresight that got us to NYC in no time. (www.vamoosebus.com)

On the way back we decided to take another company, the DC2NY bus. I paid for this service online in advance. They offer a $25 one way ticket at the bus, $22 one way ticket with online reservation and $40 roundtrip ticket with online reservation. Pretty damn cheap, although you do not get a free ride after 4 one way rides. The bus leaves from Penn Station in NY and arrives in either Dupont Circle or 14^t St. in DC. Their perks: free bottled water and WiFi internet access in most of their busses. I was impressed. The ride down was not as fast as the vamoose bus due to traffic and stopping at a rest stop, but the other amenities made up for that. (dc2ny.com)

Both services are great, here is my comparison breakdown:

Price: Vamoose is (very slightly) the better option for continuous DC-NY travelers. Five rides with vamoose is $100 and five rides with DC2NY (assuming you buy online and 2 RT tix) is $102.

Access: DC2NY allows for payment online which makes things a lot easier. In terms of locations DC2NY is in downtown DC so it is better for the DC resident as the pick up and drop off points are Metro accessible.

Amenities: DC2NY is the clear winner here with the free water and WiFi.

Customer Service: Both had very nice drivers.

For me, the DC2NY is the winner given the fact that the drop off points are in DC and the WiFi access is just too cool.