What bus do you usually take to travel to Baguio? Almost 20 years ago, I was able to reach Baguio for the first time with my boyfriend then, now my husband, via Dagupan Transit. Then when we got married and had kids, we had traveled to Baguio via Victory Liner. The last Baguio trip we had was seven years ago and this year, we decided to try another transit which will take us to Baguio without stop-overs. We found Joy Bus Executive Coach online and we’ve read how techie their buses are, with stewardess and comfort room inside the bus. Premier coach costs P740 per trip while Executive coach costs P720 and this rate is almost twice the ticket price in a regular aircon bus. Did our experience meet our expectations?
Where to find JoyBus in Cubao?
The station is located along EDSA on the right side coming from Alabang going to Monumento
From Google : Joy Bus, EDSA Cubao, Corner New York ST., Quezon City, 1109 Metro Manila Phone No. 709-0545
I’d rate the bus and bus service 90%. A high mark actually and here are the reasons why:
- No hassle booking in advance.
Photo from flickr
We got advanced booking using iWantSeats and paid thru Bank. Actually, since it was our first time, we made sure that the bus service and the ticketing service was true and working. We went to JoyBus in Cubao and confirmed that iWantSeats is legit. Take note that when you already booked in iWantSeats, you can’t book in JoyBus directly because their online systems are connected. Mobile version of iWantSeats is not functioning well that time so I had to check and book using my desktop computer. But in fairness, their website is fast and they accept different modes of payment (Paypal, credit card or you can pay via bank). We paid in the bank and after a couple of hours, your status in iWantSeats will change and you can download and print a temporary ticket that you need to show to the stewardess before boarding the bus. Note: Students have 20% discount so bring your child’s student ID so you can refund their discount if ever you got your tickets online.
E-ticket you need to print when you book your ticket online in iWantSeats, and the actual ticket that will be given to you before boarding.
- More available trips
Bus trips to Baguio are available every 2 hours throughout the day. You can choose the time that will perfectly fit for your itinerary. We chose the 4:30AM trip and we were in Baguio by 9:30 am.
At JoyBus terminal in Cubao, QC
- Non-stop trip
The trip has no stop-over. Though previously, we looked forward to these stop-overs, this time, we thought it will save us time and money since the kids won’t be seeing unnecessary snacks during stop overs. And also, it will be more safe if there will be less exposure to big crowds.
- Limited number of passengers.
The bus has very limited number of seats and thus more peaceful and less cluttered. The trip we got was also too early so the passengers were mostly asleep.
- Tablet and wi-fi
Premier coach costs P740 per trip while Executive coach costs P720. The difference daw is because of the tablet installed on each of the seats. The tablet has games, movies and music. In fairness, the wifi-speed was good and I was able to listen to music and watch movie. But the glare of sunshine from my window made it difficult to watch. The bus though has a big LCD tv inside so you can also watch. When we went to Baguio, there was no movie played in the big TV maybe because most passengers want to sleep that time.
You can play music, movies and games using the tablet. You can also charge your phone in the USB port.
A table for your laptop is available if you need to work.
- Toilet
The toilet looks a lot like the one in the airplane when you’ve tried traveling via plane. The toilet bowl is a bit elevated and higher for my height and it was a bit difficult to pee (for female).
- Free snacks, water and blanket
The stewardess gave us free bottled water, a Rebisco biscuit and earlier, a fleece blanket for each passenger.
Cons
Compared to traveling by car, JoyBus travel seemed to be more bumpy. However, I consider the fact that I haven’t traveled via bus for years already and I am not sure if I have just over-expected. However, compared to P2P buses where I ride when going to events in Makati, it’s more comfortable in P2P. I’ve tried working on my laptop with the mini-table available on each seat of JoyBus but I wasn’t able to work at all because of the bumpy ride.
This is the Executive Coach, ticket price rate is P20 lower than the Premier Executive Coach (main difference is that this bus doesn’t have tablets)
Executive coach in Baguio traveling to Cubao.
Another thing that I didn’t like about Joy Bus is that they don’t have their own terminal in Baguio (by terminal I mean an establishment or a roofed building for the passengers). I remember we got down from the bus along the street and on the day we went home (we took the Executive Coach this time), their ticketing office was too small and located within a busy market. Unlike their terminal in Cubao which is big, comfortable and has many seats for waiting passengers, their terminal in Baguio was the opposite. Coming from Baguio to Cubao, since their nice terminal is on the opposite side, JoyBus will disembark you on Dagupan bus terminal which you should also consider.
The cons I mentioned though are easy to ignore as we’ve arrived in Cubao safe and earlier than scheduled. The bumpy ride thing and the small ticketing office may not that be as important as being able to arrive on time or earlier, arriving safe and having wifi while you travel. The advantages outweigh the cons if I’ll be asked.
