Everything You Need To Know About Travelling By Greyhound Bus
With the help of the RatPack crew you’ve planned to travel Australia, AMAZING! But now you’re thinking, wow Australia is actually bloody massive, how am I going to get around without spending a fortune… so you have a few options to travel around Australia, cheap domestic flights, buy a car/camper, rent a car/camper, rideshare or to really see aussie, by bus!
I chose the most popular and social option which was to do it by bus, Greyhound to be precise.. What Greyhound offer is these awesome hop on hop off passes where you can travel in one direction and hop off at any point along the way as much as you like.
These buses go a few times a day and are SO convenient for getting you from A to B, not only do they get you where you need to go, but you’ll also get there comfortably. Yep, we’re talking reclining leather seats, usb ports, wifi, aircon, toilet on board and regular stops at servos where you can get food – yay! I travelled all the way from Cairns – Sydney (3,300km) using the Greyhound hop on hop off pass and had an awesome time.
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How does it work?
So when you buy your pass on the RatPack site you will instantly given a booking number and a pin that is your unique log in for the greyhound website.
You’ll have your own log in area which will take you to the ‘manage my booking’ page. On this section you’ll be able to pop in your dates of travel and where you want to travel too and simply add the buses to your itinerary, it’s super easy! It’s in this section that you can also delete buses too if plans change, because we all know that very often that does happen!
How to choose a pass?
There are lots of combinations of passes to choose from based on your route and what you want to see. Note: any of the passes below you can start in either location.
- Cairns <> Sydney – the most popular choice, choose this if you want to get the full east coast experience and have 3 weeks+
- Cairns <> Brisbane – best if you have less time but want to see all the hotspots aka Fraser Island, the Whitsundays & the Great Barrier Reef (note- this has an extra add on that allows you to go to Byron Bay too!)
- Cairns <> Melbourne – The ultimate! If you have maximum time and want to cruise the whole east coast all the way round to Melbourne this is your best option, value wise it works out all in all as cost effective as flying!
There are also hop on hop off passes which offer travel in any direction on any route with a larger max of travel days.
with RatPack Travel?
Getting the bus
Your itinerary will tell you what time and where your bus will pick you up from, I recommend getting there at least 15 mins early, it’s always better to have extra time right? Also allow yourself plenty of time to get to the Greyhound stop.
Once at the stop, when the greyhound arrives wait for everyone to get off and collect their luggage and then you can put your luggage on the bus where the driver tells you (this is important that you put it in the right spot). Then you’ll be checked in by the driver, have your ticket, plus a form of ID (driving license is good) once you are checked in and ticked off, you can board the bus yay!
The extra deets
Your pass is valid for 1 year after the date of purchase and then you have 3 months to use it after your first date of travel, you can take up to 20kg on the bus but if you need any extra items aka a surf board you’ll have to let them know before and you’ll have to pay an additional fee. We recommend arriving 20 mins at least before the departure time. There’s aircon & toilets on the bus so that’s got you covered for those long old journeys.
So all in all, its an easy, cheap and convenient way to travel and I couldn’t recommend it more! It’s my go to way for travelling Australia.
From our RatPackers
Ratpack is the best. I made super late travel plans for driving from Sydney to Brisbane and they were able to to find me a van and under my budget! Request to have Greg as your agent, guys is a legend!
Amazing, fast, stress free service 😊
With thanks to Jenna from RatPack Travel, I have booked our self-drive NZ road trip. Jenna was very helpful and friendly. Just one more thing....GO PIES!
I never had so much fun booking an adventure. Jenna was an absolute treat to talk with and she found with some effort, exactly what we were looking for. We were half way around the world from you but it never felt that way Cheers!!
Reuben was a huge help in getting a campervan booked for both NZ and Aus. Process was incredibly easy for us, he did all the work. Would highly recommend
Ben was super friendly and helpful securing/ booking a campervan for my friends and I!! Made the process very easy and quick. Definitely recommend this company!
Just booked a 6 berth camper through RatPack Travel. Ben was great to deal with, answered all my queries and got me sorted for my upcoming trip with no hassle. 100% would recommend using RatPack Travel!
Jenna is class!
Jenna helped me sort a camper van for a great price for my trip to New Zealand stress free. She also give me plenty of information to help plan my trip. Couldn’t recommend Ratpack enough. Thanks again.
Mikey was so knowledgeable, helpful and friendly and helped me find the perfect camper for a trip to WA with my partner over Christmas! Literally within minutes after sending a message to these guys via Whatsapp Mikey rang me and was so friendly and instantly knew that I could trust him to find what we were looking for!! So brill how he constantly kept me informed of what was happening with research on his hand- sooo great to not have to be on the phone to different companies myself. I couldn't recommend Mikey and his team more highly. They know what people want and need they get it done!! Absolute legend Mikey!😀
RatPack were amazing and helped us find the perfect van for our very last minute roadtrip. Even after a first unexpected hiccup with a van company, Mikey went above and beyond to find us something in our budget and for our timeframe. Would recommend 100%!
Friendly staff who also works efficiently by taking me through all the options I have according to my preferences! Will definitely book with them in the future!
Jenna has been so helpful getting our tassie trip organized with unreal discounts!!
Ben! What can we say, we gave you the run around with dates and requirements and you pulled through for us on a last minute booking in NZ. Couldn’t have asked for better service! Quick, efficient, friendly. You’re a legend. Thanks Ben and thanks RatPack - NZ here we come! Alex, Andrew, Max, Henry and Will Carter :)
I got helped by Reuben. The first contact was late in the evening and the next morning Reuben got us a great camper. I got quick reaction and proper answers to my question.
