Megabus to offer assigned seating on West Coast trips -- at a price

Southern Californians who travel on Megabus can now reserve a seat -- for a fee.

Taking a page from the airline playbook, Megabus will charge travelers who want premium seats, such as those with a table or in the upper deck, on its double-decker buses.

The 10 most popular bus seats, as Megabus calls them, will be available for reservations for trips starting Sept. 10 in 30 cities, including Los Angeles, Riverside, Burbank, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The company rolled out the service on the East Coast and Canada earlier this summer.

How much you pay for a seat depends on the route you travel and the date.

Here’s an example: I checked the Megabus website and found availability for a round-trip journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco leaving Oct. 2 and returning Oct. 6. Tickets cost $1 each way (plus $1.50 reservation fee).

To book a reserved seat on the buses I would take, I had the option of paying an additional $3 for a table seat, $5 for a balcony seat upstairs, and $7 for an upper deck front window seat. (Just like airline seat bookings, a little window pops up to show location of the available seats available.)

Tickets include free Wi-Fi, power outlets in each seat and three-point seat belts.

As always, the super-cheap tickets go fast; you may check the same dates and find tickets for $36 each way.

Competitor Greyhound Express, which also boasts fares starting at $1 in the California corridor, offers free Wi-Fi and power outlets too but no seat assignments, a spokeswoman said.

Info: Megabus