Coming and Going

Bus Wars

RIDING THE DOG

Bus Wars!

CoGo ponied up a dollar Thursday and rode BoltBus for its inaugural drive from the District to New York City. Was the ride worth the four quarters, or was that money better spent on laundry?

As a veteran Chinatown bus rider, CoGo was happy to settle into clean and comfortable fabric seats with generous leg room and large windows untouched by greasy fingers (so far). The driver was professional, polished and polite and asked passengers to please be aware of their cellphone voices. How thoughtful.

The bus left from 11th and G streets NW, taking off promptly at 7:30 a.m. Guests boarded according to a designated letter (A, B or C); CoGo snagged a window and an aisle seat, because some passengers were no-shows.

Besides its $1 fare (available on just a few seats per bus, for early bookers), the line's second-biggest selling point is its free WiFi. Before we were even out of Northwest, CoGo was tap-tapping away online. Each row also has an outlet embedded in the headrest of the forward seat, so there's no need to worry about dead gadget batteries .

The bus reached 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue a half-hour past its scheduled arrival time, but the driver was apologetic and the restroom was still clean, so CoGo hardly cared about the delay.

It'll be interesting to ride BoltBus a few months from now to see if the seats are still free of lo mein stains, the windows clear of fingerprints and the restroom springtime fresh. But even with a little bit of wear and tear, CoGo thinks it's worth the buck to Bolt. Just make sure you reserve early.

Starting May 30, MegaBus will join the battle of the buses, offering $1 service on some seats from Union Station to New York City. That line, too, offers free WiFi and movies. In its first week of service, fares are free. BoltBus: http://www.boltbus.com. MegaBus: 877-GO-2-MEGA, http://www.megabus.com .

MILE HOUNDS

Frequent-Flier Tricks

CoGo learned an important lesson recently while searching for a frequent-flier seat to Rome. At the US Airways Web site , you plug in dates and then are given the option of searching for frequent-flier seats in coach, business or first class. Being a miles hoarder who prefers to use the fewest miles possible for a free seat, CoGo chose coach .

Up popped frequent-flier coach seats for 100 ,000 miles ; no seats were available for the coach "mileage saver" rate of 50,000. Out of sheer curiosity, CoGo redid the search for the same flight, this time asking about business-class seats. Surprise: Infinitely better business-class seats were available for 80,000 miles-- the "mileage saver" rate for that class.

CoGo understood, of course, that airlines release seats to frequent fliers when flights have seats that otherwise might go empty. New insight: That policy is not flightwide, but specific to classes within a flight.

Bottom line: When looking for options, check all classes. You might fly better for less.

ROOM KEYS

We Always Match, Sometimes

In researching lodging for an upcoming trip to Philadelphia , Laura Trivers of Bethesda came upon a great deal at the city's tourism Web site , http://www.gophila.: a night at the Renaissance Hotel, including a coupon book and a teddy bear, for $99.50 . The hotel's own site offered the same room for $129.95 .