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JoyBus Executive: putting the 'Joy' in 'bus'

A typical JoyBus unit, 818650 2:30AM Executive Class being prepared for its trip

Bus travel will never be the same when we take our well-deserved vacations. Here to break the monotony of vacation travel, Genesis Transport Services brings to bus commuters to Baguio a heaven-sent deluxe service in the form of JoyBus.

It’s been a few years since JoyBus started services from Metro Manila to Baler and Baguio, and vacationers and regular commuters alike have embraced it as one of the best way to go back and forth to these summer capitals. And what better time to feature JoyBus than now, the summer of 2019.

So is riding in JoyBus a worthwhile and memorable experience? Let me share my thoughts with you guys.

Background

JoyBus is a deluxe bus service operated by Genesis Transport Services, Inc., a familiar name to regular commuters in Baguio, Aurora, and Bataan. JoyBus is distinguishable from its parent by its predominantly blue livery, with a globe outline and a Philippine map, and of course the large yellow letters that spell “JoyBus”. JoyBus makes trips from the Metro to Baguio and Baler, Aurora daily, as well as trips to and from Genesis’ stronghold in Balanga, Bataan. It offers three types of deluxe services: Semi-Deluxe (2x2 seats with CR), Executive or Deluxe (2x1 seats with CR) and Premiere (2x1 seats with individual on-board entertainment and CR). The most popular route, of course, is Baguio to Cubao/Pasay and vice versa, making trips on an almost-hourly basis, with occasional breaks in the schedule for other trips.

Giselle Park, Pasay Terminal. JoyBus 818631, 1:30 AM Premiere Class waiting for departure.

In Metro Manila, JoyBus has three terminals, shared with their parent Genesis:

1. Pasay: at Giselle Park terminal, behind Sogo and nearly adjacent to MRT Taft. If you are at the foot of MRT’s stairs, look for the small road beside McDonalds and walk on it to enter Giselle Park compound.

2. Cubao: at EDSA corner New York northbound. You won’t miss Genesis’ terminal in there, trust me.

3. Avenida: at Doroteo Jose St., near the LRT-1 station and below the LRT 1-2 connector walkway. You’d have to walk at street level though because there’s no shortcut at the connector.

For schedules, you may want to check Genesis’ Facebook pages or its affiliate online reservation agents (more below).

Reservation

For this trip, I decided to try Executive class for my first ride in JoyBus. With only 1 week to go before my trip and no time to visit the Pasay office, I opted to reserve through one of their affiliate reservation websites, IWantSeats.com. I’ve never tried reserving seats online before so I was nervous going through anything, but IWantSeats’ website is beginner-friendly and ergonomic. Soon I was making an account and selecting my trip and seat number. I selected the Executive trip at 2:30 AM and seat number 10C.

Next, I’d choose how I would pay. They accept payments thru over-the-counter deposits at BPI and BDO, GCash, and ECPay. I chose GCash because I can’t visit any banks during my work and I don’t have experience with ECPay yet. Payments need to be verified by them, so you’ll have to send your proofs of transaction to them via e-mail. As for me, their GCash account reached transaction limit, and when I asked them if there were any possible alternatives, their agent behind the monitor told me I can send cash to their bank accounts through GCash. Hey, that’s great! So I did just that, forwarded my transaction receipt, and in 5 minutes they confirmed my booking. That’s fast! I’d give them 5 stars any day.

After payment confirmation, IWantSeats will send you your reservation ticket by e-mail, which you should print and present to the JoyBus booking office before you check-in on your trip.

You have to print your e-ticket for reservation before going to the terminal!

Once you present your reservation ticket at the booking office, they give you your boarding pass.

Check-in

JoyBus has a required check-in time of 30 minutes before your departure time, 1 hour if you have extra luggage that you can’t hand-carry. So at the day of my trip, I arrived extra early because I don’t know how it’s supposed to go! With reservation ticket in hand, I entered their Pasay office and handed it to their booking agent. After an ID check, she handed me my bus ticket-slash-boarding pass. All that’s left is waiting for the bus!

JoyBus Genesis Pasay booking office and passenger waiting area

At 2:00 AM, our bus entered its slot in the Giselle Park terminal, but it won’t be until around 2:15 when the doors opened for us passengers because the driver had to wait for his accompanying stewardess. Despite the late boarding, check-in went smoothly and at 2:30, our departure time, our bus was pulling out of the terminal and leaving Pasay.

The unit

The bus they used for our trip was number 818650, a Yutong ZK6122HD9, one of the most recently-acquired units of JoyBus. As marketed, it has 2x1 seats spread in 10 rows. Its seats were Lazyboy type: it has a reclinable back rest and leg rest, and when fully-reclined, would be like a bed. I won’t recommend reclining it all the way back though if the seat behind is occupied, for obvious reasons. Its seats were numbered by rows (1-10) and lettered from the driver side (A-B-C). It is equipped with a restroom adjacent to rows 5 and 6, taking out the C seats in these rows. It can ultimately seat 28 passengers.

818650 interior, showing the typical layout of Executive buses. Want a row to yourself? Choose seat C.

Trip

Because it’s early in the morning, there was no traffic to speak of, and our bus was on its merry way through EDSA. By 2:45, we’re already in Cubao! Our bus reversed its way inside Genesis terminal, where a few more passengers are expected to board. They boarded quickly, but apparently we had to wait for the bus’ official departure time in Cubao, which is 3:30AM. While waiting, our stewardess handed out our water and biscuits, as well as freshly-laundered blankets (I can still smell that familiar laundry scent they used because it’s comsumer brand). Thanks to the blanket and the cold aircon, as soon as we pulled out of Cubao terminal, I quickly fell asleep before we even entered NLEX.

Water, biscuit, and blanket to complete a perfect early morning trip on JoyBus

I woke up 2 hours later to see a beautiful sunrise blooming out of the fields in Pangasinan. Woah, we’re in TPLEX already? So fast! And I didn’t even feel a bump on the way! It really shows how comfortable it was travelling in JoyBus through all that expressways, a nice change from all the times I felt like flying out my seat on ordinary buses passing through NLEX and SCTEX. A few minutes later we’re out of TPLEX and entering Manila North Road in Pozorrubio. Even at the national highways the bus passed smoothly, save for that section in Rosario and Pugo that’s notoriously filled with potholes and uneven cement, but even there I haven’t been moved an inch from my seat or hit the window with my head, as I did when I ride the ordinary bus to Baguio. Maybe our driver is just good, or maybe the bus really has nice air suspension, or both.

Getting cozy on seat 10C is easy when you have a blanket and two aircon ducts all to yourself.

A short comfortable nap later, courtesy of the bus’ good suspension and climate control, and I see the familiar Badiwan tunnel and viaduct. Finally, we’re in Baguio! So nice to see the sunrise shining in the mountains and all the glory of the City of Pines. There’s no traffic in Baguio as well despite being a work day (maybe because it’s work day hehe), and at 7:30, 5 hours after leaving Pasay, we’re disembarking at Gov. Pack in Baguio. That’s the fastest I travelled to Baguio yet!

Verdict

JoyBus Executive really is a one-of-a-kind experience for me. For 730 pesos, I had a comfortable seat, comfortable sleep, snack on board, restroom break anytime I want, and a fast travel time. That’s some awesome service from a company that really knows its customers well from all their time serving the North! They are certainly something worth trying out when you visit the City of Pines, so why don’t you book your seat now?