We are not rich but sometimes its not bad to indulge yourself in a luxurious lifestyle. It’s for the sake of new experience and excitement. That’s what we did when we traveled from Manila to Baguio in our last family outing. We booked a “Joy bus Executive” coach so somehow we could feel that VIP style kind of treatment on a long travel hours.
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First of all, this bus coach P750.00 each person (P720.00 + P30.00 booking fee). Ordinary Air-con bus like in Victory liner costs P455.00. Math says that by just adding P295.00, you can now experience this luxury bus. Is it worth it? A big resounding yes!
1. How to Book
a. Sign-up to https://iwantseats.com/. It is kind of straightforward so I would skip this one.
b. Once you already have an account, you can now book for the bus type you want. Log-in to https://iwantseats.com/ again. You will be welcomed with the following page.
Fill-up the details then click “Show Trips” button. This will load the schedules in the right pane.
Now choose the schedule base on your liking. As you can see there are different kinds of bus types and prices. At that time, we chose EXECUTIVE2_2x1. We want it to be “PREMIER” but the available schedule for it are not convenient for that time. As you can see, PREMIER is the most expensive one. To what extent it is better from executive, we still don’t know.
Another thing, there is a type Executive(2X1 with CR) which is actually confusing since Executive2_2X1 also have CR. Regarding their difference, I haven’t explored that on the time I booked this.
c. This is where you will enter the name of the other passengers with you. Note that you will also be needing the right AGE of each passengers.
In my sample, I only booked for one so I’ll just press next.
Now you can now choose where you will seat inside the bus. First click your name then choose your desired position.
Your name will appear in the desired seat box. I chose the seat beside the CR so that it would be easy for me to walk to it when I needed to. If you worry about the smell, worry not. There’s no hint of smell at all. Anyway we’ll deal more with that later.
Click “Next” and you will be reviewing your itinerary. If everything is looking correct, just press NEXT.
Terms And Condition. We aint got time for that. Just lie that you have read the terms and condition then proceed with the payment.
Now it’s time to Pay. As you can see there are five mode of payments. We chose BDO.
After payment, email the deposit slip to payments@iwantseats.com.ph. Actually the instruction is already in the payment instruction of the website. But just for the format of the email, you can use this as reference. Anyway its important you mention the Reservation No in the subject.
Sample reply from Joy bus. At last, the booking is successful! The vouchers should be attached with this email.
As you can see in their email and website, contact numbers are the ff.
T: 09951967436 / 09988686131
(during office Hours 9:30 am -7:00 pm)
THE DAY OF THE TRIP.
- Arrive 30 minutes earlier than your booked time. If not, they will mark you as late and will sell your slot to chance passengers. You’ll never like the hassle.
- All passengers MUST have valid id’s. EACH ONE of THEM!
- PRINT FORM of the vouchers.
- We actually booked from the PASAY branch that time. Location was through the alley beside MCDONALD and MRT Edsa TAFT station. Search for the JOY Bus office. It’s easy to spot with their signage. Now you can submit the ID’s and vouchers for inspection. Then they will let you know once you can finally go inside the bus.
AND HERE IT IS!
- Comfort Room: I think the distinctive feature of this bus is the CR. Since there’s already CR, expect that this bus will not have any stopover thus faster arrival time. However, you must ensure you have all the food and drinks you need along the way.
I have to commend the CR. It might look small in the outside, but inside it has a sink, mirror, tissue and soap. It also works like an airport CR. When you flush the toilet, it will open a black hole and all your waste will fall into oblivion. You won’t have to worry about faulty flush mechanism.
And like I said earlier, there’s no need to worry about smell. It’s convenient to sit beside the CR because it difficult to walk when the bus is moving. Also, there would be lights-out when you travel so it would be harder when your seat is far away.
2. SEAT: Yes it’s comfy. Guaranteed. Plus, each seats has big spaces from the front and behind seats. So you can stretch and adjust the angle of your seat to your liking. If you’re lucky and no one was behind you, you can make it almost like a bed.
3. Aside from that they provide blankets, Hansel cookies and mineral water.
Just random pictures while the light is still on. We took-off around 1:30 am. The bus is not jampacked at that time.
This is the semi–darkness. Most of the trip, it will be all darkness so there’s no time for more pictures. And anyway, what you wanted to do is sleep anyway.
I believe I took the photo of the bus but I couldn’t find it. So I just searched from Google. Here is what it looks like. (Photo from flickr)
All in all, it was a pretty cool experience. Comfort is worth the price. I totally recommend it. Now I wonder what Premier bus looks like. I think the only complain I have is it took a long time before our valid ID’s were returned by the stewardess. They must have validated our identities a lot. But this one is tolerable and quite subjective.
To this time I heard there’s a new bus to Bicol with bed racks. And the most intriguing is the bus with karaoke, kitchen and bedrooms. I have more things to looks forward to and try next time.
How about you? When was the last time you indulge yourself in a luxurious lifestyle?
GUREZU 