Luxury Steers Some Travelers to Coach

Charlene Trujillo recently spent a couple of hours reclining in air-conditioned comfort while watching “The Client.” After the movie, she could choose from dozens of stereo programs ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth to comedy from Paul Rodriguez. When she wanted something to eat or drink, an attendant was ready to take her order.

First-class air travel? Guess again. It’s the regularly scheduled bus to Las Vegas.

“I get tired when I drive,” explained Trujillo, a registered nurse from Garden Grove. “This is very relaxing--it’s a lot like flying.”

Suggest a bus trip, and most Americans think of riding in a yellow school bus or a noisy Greyhound with uncomfortable seats occupied by passengers too poor to fly. Times have changed. Today, luxury motor coaches--they’re not called buses anymore--carry more than 25 million passengers annually along the highways of America, constituting one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry. The number of people traveling by bus has increased by 22% since 1993, according to the National Tour Assn.

“People are beginning to find that it’s a lot more pleasant than they remember,” said Steve Sprague, executive director of what used to be called United Bus Owners of America. Two years ago, the group, based in Alexandria, Va., changed its name to the United Motor Coach Assn.

One place the trend is evident is Anaheim, where a tour company recently purchased what bus aficionados consider the most comfortable and technologically advanced motor coach in North America. The 48,800-pound Renaissance Tour Bus features a full galley, video monitors throughout, zoned air conditioning and a 38-speaker, eight-channel sound system. The first several rows are tiered like theater seats so everyone can see out the huge rounded windows in front. A computer screen next to the driver monitors the 56-passenger bus’ operations. A wide spiral staircase offers easy access.

“This is not the school bus you rode on as a kid,” said Bruce Sankey, editor and publisher of Bus Ride Magazine based in Phoenix. “It’s smoother and quieter than a 737.”

Since beginning service in October, the new bus has been running at near capacity on daily trips to Las Vegas. “The reaction has been overwhelming,” said Michael Valen, president of Valen Transportation and Tours. The company also has regular trips to San Diego, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Laughlin, Nev.

Other companies have experienced similar reactions to their new and improved bus service.

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P&S; Transportation, based in Orlando, Fla., began operating in 1993 with five motor coaches. Today, the company owns 30 of them, the newest one a Renaissance. “Motor coaches have evolved from what used to be known as shoe boxes with wheels,” said John Perez, a spokesman for the company, which offers tours throughout the South.

Locally, the Automobile Club of Southern California sold about 35,000 tickets for motor coach tours last year, a steady increase of 17% each of the previous three years. The most popular destinations are Las Vegas, San Francisco, Mammoth Lakes, Lake Tahoe, Tijuana and Branson, Mo., a center for country music.

“Coach trips are very popular,” auto club spokeswoman Lana Braudy said. “In some cases, it’s a whole social experience. It’s effortless. All you do is pay and show up, and they take care of everything.”

Passengers and travel experts cite a variety of reasons for the increasing popularity of bus tours. In addition to the comfort afforded by the luxury motor coaches, they say, customers are attracted by the relative ease, convenience and affordability of the travel.

“You don’t have to deal with the traffic, and you don’t have to deal with road maps,” said Ginger Croce, a spokeswoman for the American Bus Assn. based in Washington. “It’s a different way of viewing the experience.”

The boom has been aided by increasing amount of travel and leisure time, especially among older people and foreign tourists used to traveling by bus back home.

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While buses obviously are slower than airplanes, if you factor in getting to and from the airport and time spent waiting on the ground, total travel time--especially on a shorter trip such as the 4.5-hour drive from Anaheim to Las Vegas--can be comparable.

The price is also a bit cheaper. While airline passengers generally pay about $100 for round-trip tickets from Orange County to Las Vegas purchased 21 days in advance, for instance, round-trip seats aboard the Anaheim-based motor coach go for $89 on the day of departure, or $79 seven days in advance.

Industry analysts believe that rather than siphoning passengers away from airlines or cars, motor coaches are attracting mostly new travelers.

“A lot of tour operators are listening to what travelers are saying and incorporating it into the design of their motor coaches and tour buses,” said James Ashurst, a spokesman for the American Society of Travel Agents in Alexandria, Va. “Motor coaches are becoming more and more luxurious. If people say they want more comfortable coaches, it’s only good business to listen to what they’re saying.”

Not everyone is convinced, however.

Rochelle Severson, a travel agent in Huntington Beach, says she only recommends motor coach travel to people who have lots of time. “For the person who has to get there now,” she said, “it’s not going to work.”

And Betsy Lineberger, a Long Beach travel agent, says that she can still think of major advantages to traveling by car or air. “You can get there faster, you go at your own speed,” she said.

For the 26 people sharing the bus with Trujillo on her recent excursion to Las Vegas, however, such issues didn’t seem to present problems.

“This is Yorba Linda, home of former President Nixon,” coach attendant Dana Judd informed them on a public address system near the start of the trip. Only a handful seemed to be listening. “There is a library for him,” she said, “and he is buried here.”

Hours later, Judd continued her patter after a brief stop in Barstow. “This is Route 66,” she said brightly, “one of the main routes through the U.S. You can still see the old restaurant and car stop. And let me tell you about the little town of Baker, the hottest spot in the Mojave. There’s a tall thermometer by the road to tell you just how miserable it is.”

Inside the bus, the misery seemed far away as the passengers sipped beers or soft drinks while listening to their stereo headsets.

“We do this four times a year--just a little weekend getaway,” said Larry Nelson, 47, a mechanic from Anaheim en route to a family gathering. “We flew one time, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. This is cheaper and I enjoy the scenery. I’ve driven a couple of times too, but I don’t like it. You have to pay too much attention to the road and you can’t relax.”

Ed Hyka, a retired city employee from Long Beach, said that while he and a friend had been trekking to Las Vegas regularly for years, the trip has recently taken on a new aura of comfort. “We’ve met lots of people,” Hyka said. “We sit back, relax, and let the driver worry about the trip.”