<p>My daughter has taken the Chinatown bus from Philly to NYC (actually I think she's taking it this weekend). But, Boston to Philly would be gruelling because the Chinatown bus takes you into downtown Manhattan, then you get on a different bus to go to Philly. That side-trip into Manhattan adds a lot of time to the trip.</p>
<p>With $59 one-way airfares from Boston to Philly, flying is the way to go.</p>
<p>as i said, i'm not from boston so i wasn't sure if there was a direct service from boston to philly by one of these bus lines. $59 is great, so what was the poster talking about $400?</p>
<p>ok, i reread the earlier post. it included another parent and car rental (which one doesn't need in philly).</p>
<p>Yeah, It's usually cheaper to fly than take Amtrak from the Boston area to Philly. Southwest and Jet Blue both fly from Boston region airports and set the price to Phila.</p>
<p>Chinatown buses are great for Phila/NY or even NY/Boston, though. College students use 'em all the time.</p>