I Rode Wanda Coach From NYC to Albany. Here’s What You Should Know.
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The night before I rode Wanda Coach, I left myself a note in my prep doc. I wrote that this was quite possibly the most scammy-looking bus service out there.
The desktop website looks hilariously sketchy. The fares are lower than what Greyhound, FlixBus and Trailways charge for the same trip (and they’re not exactly luxury services). And a few online reviews say the bus never showed up at all.
So on a rainy Saturday morning, I stood on Madison Avenue with a $20 bill in my pocket and waited to find out. (I had a backup plan to slouch over to Penn Station and grab the next FlixBus.)
The bus came, and it got me to Albany. It also had some of the worst legroom I’ve had on any bus, a bathroom with no toilet seat and a handwritten warning taped to the wall, and it pulled in over 40 minutes late.
Wanda Coach is not a scam. It’s a very cheap bus, and you get what you pay for.
I’ve ridden and written about well over a dozen US bus companies at this point, from FlixBus to Trailways to BB Bus, another Chinatown bus. Below is how Wanda stacks up, plus everything I wish I’d known before I got on.
Is Wanda Coach a scam? No, but I get the worry
I don’t want to dismiss anyone’s bad experience. It’s possible their bus got canceled, or it never came. Buses break down and schedules fall apart.
What I can tell you is that mine showed up at the address on the website, four minutes after the scheduled time. If I were a betting man, I’d bet yours will too.
I think a lot of the scam feeling comes from how different Wanda is from the big brands. There’s no station. There’s no Wanda sign at the stop. The bus doesn’t even say Wanda on it (more on that in a minute). If you’re used to Greyhound or Amtrak, all of that can feel sketchy. That’s how a lot of the cheaper curbside buses work, and it’s a big part of why they’re cheap.
For whatever it’s worth, my bus even had a Better Business Bureau accredited sticker next to the door.
The website looks like a scam. And yet, it works.
Let’s talk about the website, because it deserves its own section. Wanda’s desktop site opens with a giant orange banner yelling BIG SAVINGS in all caps, next to a QR code and a promise of free trip protection. It looks like the kind of link your older relative forwards you with the subject line “is this real??”
And yet, it works. It works better than I expected, too.
When you search a route, Wanda shows you every pickup and drop-off option in that city, each with a map pin. So you can see exactly where the bus stops before you pay.
For my Saturday, there were only two departures to Albany, one at 9:00 AM and one at 4:30 PM. The site listed both as “by Wonder Bus.”
Where the Wanda bus picks up in Manhattan
My bus started its run at 9:00 AM at 120 E Broadway in Chinatown, then came up to Midtown for the 9:30 pickup at 171 Madison Ave. That address is the bus shelter at Madison Avenue and East 33rd Street, on the east side of Madison. That’s the side the bus pulls up to.
The shelter isn’t Wanda’s. It belongs to the MTA, and some MTA express buses stop on the same block. On a Saturday morning I didn’t see any other intercity buses loading, but I’d expect the curb to be busier on weekdays, so make sure you’re getting on the right bus.
If you need somewhere to wait for more than 10 minutes, there’s a local bagel spot and two coffee shops on 33rd Street between Madison and Park. If you have less time than that, the 7-Eleven is right in front of the bus stop.
Wanda picks up on the east side. Almost every other bus to Albany leaves from Port Authority or the curbs around Penn Station on the west side. If you live on the east side like I do, it’s nice not having to transfer to get across town. The 6 train stops at 33rd Street, one block away.
Don’t look for a bus that says Wanda
When the bus pulled up, I almost didn’t realize it was mine. There was no Wanda Coach logo anywhere. It was a plain dark green Van Hool coach, number 333, and it didn’t look new. The only company name I could find was on the luggage bay door, and it said Durham Charters.
So by my count, three company names were involved in getting me to Albany. I booked through Wanda, the website said Wonder Bus, and the bus said Durham Charters. My guess is that Wanda charters buses from other companies, at least on some routes.
So don’t look for a Wanda bus. Look for a bus, and ask the driver where it’s going. Mine asked me before I could ask him.
It also means anything I say about the bus itself is a snapshot. You might get a nicer bus than mine. You might get a worse one (though I hope not).
I paid $20 cash, and nobody asked for ID
I didn’t decide to take Wanda until the last minute. There was a storm advisory that day, and I was worried the later Amtrak train would get stuck in it. So I checked Wanda’s website that morning, saw there were still seats, and decided to show up with cash.
Wanda has three prices, which is a little confusing. The app price was $15. The web price was $19. But the $15 app fare isn’t really $15. By the time the app added a $2.99 booking fee, a $3 fuel surcharge and a $3 facility fee, it came to $23.99.
Cash at the door was $20, so that’s what I did. You also can’t book online within an hour of departure, so if seats are still open an hour out, you’re probably fine to bring cash and get on.
Paying cash was about as simple as it gets. The driver looked at me and said, “Albany?” I said yes, handed him the money and got on. He didn’t give me a ticket or a receipt, and nobody checked my ID.
One warning, though. The bus was nearly full. Nobody had to double up, but there were only two empty seats on the whole bus. On a busy travel day (think Thanksgiving weekend or the end of a college semester), I’d book ahead. And if you’re booking ahead, use the app, since it has the lowest fare and Wanda advertises early-bird discounts there too.
Is it cheaper than the competition? Yes. For my morning, Greyhound, Flix and Trailways were all at least $30, and with dynamic pricing they can climb closer to $50. Amtrak usually costs even more.
Wanda also sells tickets on Busbud, which is how I found it in the first place. I use Busbud to compare bus companies side by side, and I wrote a full Busbud review if you want to know how I use it.
The bus left on time and got to Albany 40 minutes late
My pickup was scheduled for 9:30 AM. The bus showed up at 9:34, and we pulled away at 9:37. That’s about as on time as a bus gets in Midtown.
We went through the Lincoln Tunnel, north through New Jersey and eventually onto the Thruway. Right after the tunnel, you get a view back at the Manhattan skyline. Mine was mostly rain.
I stepped off the bus in Albany at 12:42. I know that because I was one of the first people off, in a hurry.
The schedule gave the trip two and a half hours from Madison Avenue, which would have put us in Albany at noon. We were over 40 minutes late. There was a storm advisory, so I don’t fault the driver. But there wasn’t much traffic either. To me it looked like a schedule with no buffer built in.
(Also, for anyone who read my BB Bus review, this driver didn’t go nearly as fast as the BB Bus driver did. For once, I almost wished he had.)
If you have a connection after the Wanda bus, give yourself more than an hour. An hour wasn’t enough for me.
What the bus is like
The legroom is the worst part
I’ll start with the bad, because it’s what I’d most want to know. The legroom was awful. I could barely fit, and being scrunched on a bus for three hours isn’t a good feeling. There was nothing on the seat back in front of me. The seats had no tray table, no seat pocket and no cup holder.
I’ve been scrunched like this on older Flix and Greyhound buses before, so Wanda isn’t unique here. But I’ve also ridden newer Flix and Greyhound buses that were much, much better. Price aside, this bus was a step below what I’d expect from either of them.
The seats are made for sleeping
The seats are where Wanda surprised me. They were cushy, and the recline was great.
This is the kind of bus you’d rather sleep through. Lean back, put on an eye mask, stick in some earplugs, grab your travel pillow and try to nap. I keep all three in my bag for exactly this kind of ride, and they’re all on my bus packing list.
Outlets, wifi and screens
The Wanda app shows little icons for wifi, outlets and video on my trip.
There were no outlets at the seat. The only way to charge was a USB port above your head, next to the reading light. I carry USB-C chargers now (I guess I’m living in the future), so I was out of luck. If you want to charge on Wanda, bring an old-school USB cable.
The overhead reading lights looked old and worn. I didn’t test them.
As for wifi, there was a wifi sticker on the outside of the bus, but there was no network to connect to, and nobody on board ever mentioned it. Since Wanda uses different buses, I’d treat wifi as a wild card and download whatever you need before you board. There were drop-down TV screens over the aisle too, though they stayed dark in all my photos.
Nobody will tell you to be quiet
This is not a quiet bus, and nobody is going to enforce quiet. For the first 30 minutes, the man behind me was on the phone preaching about the goodness of God. I’m happy for him, and I’ve overheard much worse bus conversations. Just don’t be surprised if somebody spends a good part of the ride on a call. Earplugs help here too.
The bathroom
The bathroom was disgusting. It had no toilet seat. A tub of cleaning fluid was sitting on the floor. There was no toilet paper and no hand sanitizer. And taped to the wall was a handwritten sign.
Notice
#1 only. No #2. Can’t dump.
Please don’t stink up the bus.
Not a flushing toilet. It [is] a holding tank for liquids only.
Thank you
Luckily, I always carry my own hand sanitizer and keep a few extra napkins in my backpack for exactly this. I’d do the same, and I’d use a real bathroom before you board if you can. See my bus packing guide for more on what to bring.
Where it drops you in Albany
Wanda lists several Albany stops, most of them along Central Avenue. Mine was 259 Central Ave, across the street from Taiwan Noodle.
Like Madison Avenue, this is a curb on a regular street. It has no station and no shelter. It seemed like the type of area that probably isn’t the nicest part of town, but where the food probably is. You know the vibe.
The bigger issue is connections. 259 Central Ave is not walking distance from the Albany Bus Terminal or the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. Central Ave is a main street with regular local CDTA bus service. There’s a crosswalk and an unsheltered local bus stop about half a block down on the other side. On a normal day, that’s how I’d get to the bus terminal.
I was connecting to a VT Translines bus back to Vermont (my review of that route is here). It was leaving the Albany Bus Terminal at 12:50, and I got off the Wanda bus at 12:42. I wasn’t going to make it, and I didn’t have time to wait for a local bus. So I called a Lyft and sent it straight across the river to the Amtrak station, where the same VT Translines bus stopped next at 1:00.
I made it. But that Lyft cost $17. I only paid $12 of it, thanks to $5 in Lyft credit I’d earned from Citi Bike’s Bike Angels program (yes, I’m that guy, and here are all my Citi Bike tips). Even so, that $12 wiped out pretty much everything I’d saved by choosing Wanda over Greyhound, Flix or Trailways.
That’s the trade-off with bus companies that don’t pay for space at real stations. It keeps the fares low, and I’m all for that. It also means you’re on your own for the last mile, and when the bus runs late, that last mile can get expensive.
Wanda Coach vs Greyhound, Flix, Trailways and Amtrak
| Wanda Coach | Greyhound, Flix, Trailways | Amtrak | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What I’d expect to pay | $20 cash, $23.99 in the app with fees | At least $30, sometimes closer to $50 | More than the buses |
| NYC pickup | Madison Ave and E 33rd St (east side), or Chinatown | Port Authority or the curbs near Penn Station (west side) | Penn Station |
| Albany arrival | A curb on Central Ave | Albany Bus Terminal (some Flix buses also continue on to SUNY Albany) | Albany-Rensselaer, across the river |
| Scheduled time | 2h 30m from Madison (mine took about 3h 05m) | About 3 to 3.5 hours | About 2h 20m to 2h 45m |
| Easy onward connections | No | Yes | Yes |
| Bus or train quality | A roll of the dice | Also a roll of the dice, but newer buses are common | The most comfortable by far |
If you want another Chinatown bus option, BB Bus also runs NYC to Albany, out of 152 E Broadway. I haven’t taken BB Bus on this route, but you can read my BB Bus review to see how it compares. I expect it to be similar to Wanda. And if you’re trying to decide between the two big brands, I also wrote about whether Greyhound and FlixBus are the same company.
Why I’ll keep choosing the bus (even this one)
I want to zoom out for a second, because this is the part I care about most.
A nearly full coach like mine carries about as many people as a few dozen cars. Every one of us on that bus was someone who didn’t drive 150 miles up the Thruway alone, in the rain, paying for gas, tolls and parking at the other end. We did it for $20. That’s one of the cheapest, lowest-carbon ways to cover that distance, and it’s run by a company whose website looks like a phishing email. (I say that with love.)
What bugs me is how we treat these buses. The cheapest intercity transit in the Northeast gets the worst curbs. In Manhattan, Wanda borrows an MTA shelter. In Albany, it drops you on Central Ave with no shelter and no easy way to reach the train station or the bus terminal. Part of that is Wanda keeping its costs low. Part of it is a choice cities and states make about who gets curb space and stations. If this were Tokyo, the bus would be near a station.
So yes, the legroom was awful and the bathroom was worse. I’d still rather be on that bus than in a car. If you’re curious why I feel so strongly about it, I wrote about how I live without a car and the hidden costs of cars that most people never add up.
Would I ride Wanda Coach again?
Yes, if the route made sense.
NYC to Albany has plenty of competition. For this trip, if another bus had the same route and timing, I’d pay more for a better bus. But a lot of Wanda’s routes, like the ones down to Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, don’t have many other options. On those, I’d take it again without thinking twice.
Wanda is a good fit if you
- Want the cheapest ride and don’t mind a basic bus
- Live on the east side of Manhattan
- Can sleep on a bus
- Don’t have a tight connection on the other end
I’d skip it if you
- Are tall, or need room to work on a laptop
- Need to charge a USB-C device and didn’t bring a USB-A cable
- Have to make a train or bus within an hour or two of arrival
Wanda Coach FAQ
Is Wanda Coach legit?
Yes. My bus showed up at the address on the website four minutes after the scheduled time and got me to Albany. It was late on arrival and the bus was basic, but it’s a real bus service.
Where does Wanda Coach pick up in Manhattan?
My Albany bus picked up at the bus shelter on the east side of Madison Avenue at East 33rd Street, listed as 171 Madison Ave. The same bus started at 120 E Broadway in Chinatown half an hour earlier. The app and website show every pickup on a map before you book.
Can you pay cash on Wanda Coach?
Yes. I paid $20 cash to the driver, which was cheaper than the $23.99 I’d have paid in the app after fees. It only works if the bus isn’t sold out, so book ahead on busy travel days.
Does Wanda Coach check ID?
Nobody checked mine. The driver just confirmed I was going to Albany.
Does Wanda Coach have a bathroom?
Mine did, but it had no seat, no toilet paper and no hand sanitizer, and a sign said it was for liquids only. Bring your own supplies.
Does Wanda Coach have outlets and wifi?
The app says yes. My bus had no seat outlets, only a USB-A port overhead, and no wifi network at all. Since Wanda uses different buses, your amenities may be different.
Where does Wanda Coach drop off in Albany?
My bus dropped off at 259 Central Ave, across from Taiwan Noodle. It isn’t walking distance from the Albany Bus Terminal or the Amtrak station.
How long does Wanda Coach take from NYC to Albany?
The schedule said three hours from Chinatown and two and a half from Madison Avenue. Mine took a little over three from Madison, on a day with a storm advisory.
Can you get a refund on Wanda Coach?
When I went through checkout in the app, it included free trip protection that covers rescheduling and cancellation. I didn’t book, so I can’t tell you how well it works. If you’re worried and it isn’t a busy travel day, I’d do what I did and bring cash instead of booking.
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