First Student Charter Bus Rental

ranch that handled our trip was very helpful and organized. Drivers were awesome and patient with our guests. Drivers were also very prompt, had a sense of humor, and arrived/departed on time.

ient, on time, and the company was easy to work with!

nowledgeable. She made sure everything was set for our perfect day. The transportation from hotel to wedding and wedding back to hotel went seamlessly. They even stayed later than expected, as the wedding ran over. Definitely recommend!

charge, i called to see what was going on. Here they never got confirmation from the closest bus station to my venue and never called and told me. it is now 4 days before my wedding and i have to scurry around and find a new transportation service. HORRIBLEEEEEEE experience.

even came back to the reception venue for an unscheduled last pickup when we called her, and then called me after searching the bus when she found something that had been left so I could come down to the lobby to pick it up from her. The price was far better than other companies we looked at and the service was great, and so nice for people not to have to worry about driving or paying for a ride!

ICKED UP MY GUESTS AT THE HOTEL!!!! Imagine minutes before your wedding you notice everyone scrambling. Finally they come to you and say that the bus never came and everyone is stuck at the hotel. It delayed my entire ceremony and took away time from my reception. Mind you, they called me Tuesday and asked if the wedding was happening and finalized the plans. THEN CHARGED ON TUESDAY BEFORE THE WEDDING!!!! The driver who showed up AFTER the ceremony claimed he was never told about the trip until it was too late. They never contacted me to explain or apologize although I called them multiple times and left multiple messages.

absolutely recommend them to anyone seeking transportation for an event.

to make adjustments in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and they got our guests to the wedding on time. Our guests had lots of fun with the school bus, even leading rounds of “the wheels on the bus” on the bus back to the hotel after the wedding!

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e my event. I have the bus scheduled to arrive at 2:30 pm to pick up my guests who were staying at the hotel and another one beginning pick ups at 3:00 pm. Very clear cut and straight forward. I paid for the service in full a week prior to my wedding. They did not call to confirm so I called about a week before and just confirmed everything and go over the itinerary, yet again. Fast forward to the day of my wedding. I'm enjoying the day and the ceremony was getting ready to start at 4:00 pm. It was 3:15 pm and I am told that the shuttle never showed to pick up anyone from the hotel or the parking lot. My brother in law called the "emergency number" listed on the contract and they give us a another number to call. No one picks up. My guests have now been waiting from somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour. Time goes by and still nothing from the bus company. My family and other wedding guests who were already at the venue, had to jump in their cars and start making rounds to pick up all my guests. People were having to uber, and carpool, and park up on the grass because there was no parking at the venue, hence the reason for reserving the charter company. Around 8:30 pm....yes EIGHT THIRTY PM, the bus arrives. No explanation as to why they were late, no apology. She then proceeds to tell my guests, "I'm not making more than 1 round so you'll have to wait til the end of the night to go back to the hotel". I had elderly guests and family members who wanted the option of going back to the hotel. I had people to had to uber back to the parking lot to get their cars. Horrible. The second bus did one round and then left again an never came back. Both bus drivers were so rude to me, and my guests. I get a call from the bus company a few days later to which they stated they still "don't know what happens but there was just a miscommunication". Still no apology. They then proceeded to tell me that they expected to be paid for the LESS than two hours of shitty service they provided. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY IF YOU WANT A STRESS FREE WEDDING DAY. They are NOT reliable, NOT professional and NOT someone I would ever recommend. There are plenty of other companies to use but this is NOT one of them.

at the end of the night with the bus drivers not being at the venue on time (even though they were supposed to WAIT at the venue!). The event ended at 10pm and the buses were nowhere to be found - they left and thought they were supposed to "come back" at 11pm which made no sense. The bus drivers kept telling us they were 20 minutes away when they were in fact almost an hour away. We were stranded in the suburbs where it's hard to get Ubers with no clear understanding of where the buses were. Unfortunately a very stressful end to a great day. The bus company did end up refunding us but it was a small amount and nowhere near worth the stress of the issue.

5) and thus even the first bus did not depart the hotel until 30 minutes past our CONTRACTED time. To make matters worse, the driver claimed that she did not depart because she had been waiting for someone to "tell them to leave", and did not try to contact anyone but me (THE BRIDE) even though I had clearly designated alternate day-of contacts (AGAIN, ON OUR CONTRACT). It got worse. They then took my poor guests to the wrong venue. By wrong venue, I mean they took them to a random private residence, at which point all guests had to get off the bus only to realize that they were in the wrong location and get right back onto it. All in all, they were over 30 minutes late to my wedding ceremony, which delayed the start of the entire event and caused me to lose that time entirely. What happened to the second bus you ask? It showed up SO late that no one could take it... and contacted, once again, no one but me over 45 minutes from the scheduled departure. The real icing on the cake was the first driver claiming that she had not been tipped at the end of the night, after she had, in fact, been tipped. For the record, every single detailed had been confirmed with First Student within 3 days of the event, and was clear and correct on our contract. This was an absolute nightmare, and the single most stressful aspect of my wedding. I will give First Student one star because they did eventually offer me a refund, once the details of this disaster were made clear. It was alleged to me that errors were made because the drivers could not "understand" the contracts. Avoid this company at all costs. They were unreliable and unprofessional, and apparently employ drivers unqualified to perform their jobs.

ay. I booked three school buses for my guests and the entire process was smooth.

fy that we would have Air conditioning. They told me that I didn't and I let them know that I wanted it and I paid for it. On wedding day the bus came on time but it was filthy and there was no air conditioning. I was horrified but I had no choice but to use them as time was of the essnece. At the end of the night a nicer bus came to pick up the guests to take them back but it was too late. My guests and wedding party were upset that they had to ride in their gowns on a hot dirty bus. I will not use them again.

om to figure out what size buses and times would work best for our event. Everything went smoothly! I would definitely recommend.

nks!!!

ccommodating with our last minute changes. They were much more reasonably priced than other shuttle bus vendors we explored (and we look at a LOT) and we thought that their use of school buses provided a charming precursor to our rustic wedding. I’d recommend First Student!

m 2 hotels to our venue on schedule, and worked well with our venue to make sure everything went smoothly! Thank you!

ty reasonable. (lot cheaper than a limo) They arrived on time, were friendly, and got us to the hotel no problem. Will use them again if i need too.

s and schedules before finalizing the reservation, and everything went smoothly without a hitch. At the end of the night, the driver came into the bar where we had our after-party to announce it was the last run and ensure that he didn't miss anyone. Clearly, above and beyond. The school bus had seat belts and was a fun, easy way to save some cash on what we think would have been an unnecessary upgrade.

edding, called them to confirm times of pick up at hotel and at end of wedding and specifically asked for an email confirmation, got nothing from them... Called 8 days before the wedding (called the local branch in Richmond) to confirm times and get an email confirmation again. At that point, I was told that they did not have any buses for my wedding 8 DAYS AWAY and my trip was canceled!! The excuse was that the buses were registered as school buses, not For Hire vehicles and could not run legally and it would be 2-3 weeks before they were up and running again. I was referred to the main office. I called them and was told a manager was working on the situation and would have an answer within the hour for me. The manager did call back within the hour to inform me no buses were available from any of their other locations (honestly I wouldn't trust them even if they did because apparently they have no clue how to run a charter bus business) and that my trip was canceled. I asked what are you going to do to make this right and the only thing I was given was a phone number to a charter bus brokerage company that was $1700 MORE than what I had booked with them. They made it EXTREMELY clear that they would in no way help cover the difference between what I needed to book and what I had previously booked with them. Absolute worst customer service I have ever dealt with with ZERO sympathy for the situation I was put in 8 days before our wedding. Luckily, I found an amazing charter bus company out of Gloucester, VA to cover our wedding that actually cared about our situation. I would never recommend this company to anyone. Their lack of empathy and caring for their customers (and future recommendations) is pathetic to say the least. Two thumbs down.

drive away from the venue, back to our hotel, as we waved and yelled for it to stop. Even guests on the bus couldn't get the driver to stop. We had to wait another 30 minutes for the bus to drop those guests at the hotel and return to pick us up. It was a really terrible way to end such a perfect night. If you can avoid it, pick another bus company or literally draw a map and lay it out minute by minute so there's no confusion and you don't get stranded like we did.

he entire reception if someone needed to get back to the hotel. The price for a 40 person bus was much more reasonable that the 20-24 person shuttle buses we looked at through limo companies. The driver was friendly and was even wiling to wait 15 minutes for the last of our guest to board at the end of the night. If you don’t mind the shuttle being a school bus this is definitely the way to go!

an extra discount, and were responsive to all questions during the process. They showed up to the hotel on time, and the driver even added another trip back for those who weren't able to stay for the end of the reception and coordinated with my bridesmaids and DJ so everyone was on the same page. I would definitely recommend First Student for anyone looking to save some money and still get great service for their wedding day, with a little fun added in!

it with the bus driver the day of our wedding on 9/14/18. The bus driver picked the bridesmaids up at the hotel and dropped them at the venue, turned right back around and picked up the groomsmen at the hotel and dropped them at the venue. The bus driver then had 1 hour and 15 minutes to get back to the hotel (which is 3.7 miles away!) and wait to pick up the guests and drive them to the venue for the ceremony. However, she was 50 minutes late and claimed it was due to traffic. I think it is clear that she went somewhere else in the meantime and didn't plan correctly to get back to the hotel. This was an extremely stressful situation on our wedding day, as numerous guests had to Uber to get to the ceremony on time. The three that remained and waited for the shuttle came to the ceremony 10 minutes late (after we postponed our start time because of this). To top that off, my husband contacted the company to get refunded the money that our guests spent on Uber. After numerous calls, we are still WAITING to hear back from them. It is now THREE WEEKS later. This is unacceptable and I truly hope no bride, groom, wedding party, or guests ever have to go through this experience. AVOID THEM!

e so great about getting back to me and getting the correct notes into my booking. The price was the best I found and the service on the day of was great - on time, went to the right places, followed parking instructions, friendly drivers, etc. Really impressed with this company and would recommend for your wedding or any other bus needs!

ith customer service to the transport on day went smoothly. Buses were there and picked guests up on time without a hitch. A much cheaper and more fun alternative to any other coach company. Highly recommend.

hotel after the wedding. From the first communication with First Student, they were extremely courteous and a pleasure to work with. They were always responsive to telephone calls with any questions that we had. Prior to our wedding, there was an issue with payment from our hotel and First Student worked tirelessly to make sure that the situation was resolved. Naturally, any snafu like this before the wedding would be a cause for stress. But with First Student, they made sure that there was nothing to worry about on our end(And to be clear, the snafu was not because of First Student, but because of the hotel). We even received a phone call after it was resolved and the customer service representative couldn’t have been nicer. She told us not to worry about anything and they wanted us to have peace of mind on our wedding day that they would handle everything flawlessly. And flawless it was. The bus driver was on time and friendly and the transportation was everything that we had hoped for. I would HIGHLY recommend First Student for your wedding needs!

eding to drive. We found their customer service to be helpful. The day of drivers had some trouble finding the pickup spot but everyone got where there needed to on time. Very professional and we highly recommend using First Student!

also easy to work with, even making sure they could fit into our tight wedding budget. Excellent customer service and great bus driver on the day of!

when we booked. it is a more cost-effective option vs. charter buses but we really didn't have a choice to use charter buses because our venue was really deep into the French Quarter in New Orleans and the charter buses can't fit so they would have had to drop the guests off far away and then the guest would have had to walk. So we took a gamble and book First Student and ,fortunately, everything worked out really great for us. The buses were at the church early (their spot time is 1 hour before the time you will need them to start) and they did a one way trip to our reception venue located really deep into the quarter. Make sure your addresses in your confirmation are correct - I noticed that they had a small error in the reception address and we corrected it but who knows if that would have caused issues. I do recommend them but again, with all the negative reviews, you are taking a risk. In addition, I'm sure each city is going to vary from one another so make sure you see which cities the good reviews and bad reviews are coming from.

hey would give us a promotional discount. The individual I spoke with was great so I figured I would move forward. My pricing completely changed once I went through the final booking process, and basically nullified the discount. Since we did not have many other options, I still moved forward. However, after completing the whole booking process with a rep I was contacted that my price had changed again because of an interstate fee they missed. I had to spend significant time on the phone just to get a reason as to why my price kept going up. Finally we agreed on a revised (2x) final quote, but cut to 2 months later and I inquired about adding an hour to our service based on the guidance of my wedding planner... and here we go again! Each time I reach out to the company I get a different rep and each gives me a different price and explanation for it. I have tried calling their customer service line only for it to not connect me to anyone and it seems to be offline. I cannot speak to day of service since we aren't there yet, but I can say that from a bride's perspective of already having so many vendors to coordinate this has been a headache. I am by no means 'cheap', but I am an accountant so by nature I like reasoning behind a price and for it to be stuck to. Nothing drives my confidence down more than never getting the same answer twice with a vendor. I sincerely hope they correct this customer service issue before our big day, otherwise I will pay more for another vendor just for the peace of mind.

very easy to schedule as well. All of our guest enjoyed the school bus.

uests from the hotel to the ceremony and reception. Overall, they were affordable, detailed oriented and fairly easy to work with. However, day of, one of the buses forgot to finish the second loop so the bridesmaids were about 10 minutes late for the ceremony. It ended up being fine but always a good idea to have someone on the bus reminding the drivers of the schedule if multiple trips are involved.

e the snowy weather in PA, the drivers did an excellent job. They were upbeat, professional and friendly individuals and we had many guests comment on how pleasant they were. Overall a very good experience!

easy to work with in scheduling the buses, coming up with an itinerary, sending over contracts, etc. On the day of the wedding, the buses arrived on time and got everyone to and from the reception safely. The only reason I rated First Student 4/5 is because some of the guests told us that their bus got lost on the way down and asked if anyone had a GPS they could use. I fully understand that mistakes/taking a wrong turn happens but I found it rather strange that the bus driver did not have GPS, as that is part of their job. Luckily, our guests made it on time for cocktail hour and everything worked out!

the Stamford, Connecticut depot. The buses arrived on time and did as instructed. What I do suggest for people who are booking is you have to make sure that you stay on top of things. The contact information you are given here when you sign up for the service is the central booking agency that then sends out the instructions to the local bus depot - and this is the handoff you have to make sure happens smoothly. Once you have booked with the central booking agency you'll want to make sure you get a confirmation from them that the local bus depot picked it up and then just a few days before the event (or even a week). You'll want to follow up with the local bus depot to find out your contact information for the bus driver(s) that day... make sure you call to get that information because I found that information changed from earlier in the week before the wedding that I only found out because I called to confirm again the day before. As long as you are ontop of things, this is a great affordable option for guest transportation.

ers were very safe and able to navigate down an unpaved road. Our guests appreciated being able to travel to and from our wedding without needing their own transportation. Last minute, the number of guests increased, and First Student was very accomodating when we needed to adjust our schedule and order another bus. Initially scheduling through the corporate part of the company was a bit cumbersome, as the representatives weren't versed in the area we were looking to order from, however, once we were able to speak directly to the regional office that would be handling our order, communication and planning improved.

also heard and read horror stories about busses not showing up, or getting lost. We chose first student based on price, as well as a general lack of other options. They were quite good at communicating and after we booked, the sent us a solid and detailed invoice. They billed us in full a few days before the event, so it was nice to have one less thing to worry about bringing money for on the day of our wedding. They called me on the day of, just to confirm details, which I REALLY appreciated, and I gave them a point person who they utilized. Both busses were at the hotel on time, and although one bus got slightly lost on the way to cocktail hour, every single guest was transported safely and on time for the party. Afterwards they took us to an after party, as well as back to the hotel. All in all they were affordable, safe, and punctual; can’t really ask for much more than that. I would recommend to anyone based on our experience.

ing up to the event, working with First Student's nat'l customer service, I was less than thrilled with them. Many people I spoke with seemed completely clueless. Once I began working with the local branch, I felt a bit better. They were very nice and professional in the office. I had a good friend running point since I was not there for the first pick up, and she had a less than pleasant interaction with Vince. She said he was very short with her and seemed on-edge. Unfortunately, at the end of the night, I saw this too. He was yelling at guests to get on the bus more quickly, he yelled at me to pick my dress up more as I boarded the bus, and he was generally kind of nasty. As my now-husband and I got off the bus he remarked "What, no tip?" which I found incredibly rude. In fact the best man had the tip for him; we should have told him to forget about it!