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What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

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Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#11

Post by exDM69 »

fruitcake wrote: post #10
anotheryou wrote: post #7

You americans don't have any trains, eh? :) Not exactly the ritz, but does the job: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=sleeping+train

There is a sleeper train up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco: https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train

Someone in the comments mentioned that Amtrak's sleeper train travels daytime on the SF to LA stint and the terminals are some way away from the city. So the travel by night advantage is gone.

Amtrak's sleeper cars are also quite expensive when I last looked at it as an option for getting from Colorado to San Francisco. The price compared to a seat on the train was 2..3x or more (but it includes food).

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#13

Post by nkoren »

dewey wrote: post #9

I haven't used Cabin but a lot of other bus companies (Megabus, Greyhound, Flixbux,...) and trains with sleeping compartments and I imagine the bus to be a lot harder to sleep on (vibrations, breaking, highway noise,...) than a train on fixed tracks.

Have you ridden trains in America? I've travelled almost every Amtrak route across the country. In a country that properly maintains its rail infrastructure, Cabin will definitely lose much of its competitive advantage. In America, however...

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#14

Post by [deleted] »

fruitcake wrote: post #10
anotheryou wrote: post #7

You americans don't have any trains, eh? :) Not exactly the ritz, but does the job: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=sleeping+train

There is a sleeper train up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco: https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train

[deleted]

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#15

Post by atemerev »

If only we'd had similar capsules on transcontinental flights — now, that would be something. Otherwise, it is just a bus serving two points, no more exciting than a sleeping car in a train.

Properly sleeping on a flight, on the other hand, feels like luxury.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#16

Post by toomanybeersies »

That's a very expensive sleeper bus. I took an 8 hour sleeper bus here in New Zealand, including free wifi (which you don't even need, you're sleeping), and it cost me NZ$30 (US$22), including luggage. The same thing in Vietnam cost me about $10, but had the problem that the beds were Vietnamese sized, which for a European wasn't super comfortable.

Sure, they weren't quite as fancy, but it really doesn't matter if you're sleeping, you're asleep. I guess that's the SV markup on everything that's been common in the rest of the world for a long time.

They are super convenient though, pick up and drop off in the middle of the city, and accommodation included. Go to sleep, and you wake up at your destination.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#17

Post by toomanybeersies »

atemerev wrote: post #15

If only we'd had similar capsules on transcontinental flights — now, that would be something. Otherwise, it is just a bus serving two points, no more exciting than a sleeping car in a train. Properly sleeping on a flight, on the other hand, feels like luxury.

They do, if you fly first class. You just have to spend several thousand dollars on a ticket. Air New Zealand also offers skycouch (https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/economy-skycouch), which is similar and cheaper, but really is only worth it if you're traveling with your partner or someone else you feel comfortable spooning for an entire flight.

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#18

Post by dewey »

nkoren wrote: post #13
dewey wrote: post #9

I haven't used Cabin but a lot of other bus companies (Megabus, Greyhound, Flixbux,...) and trains with sleeping compartments and I imagine the bus to be a lot harder to sleep on (vibrations, breaking, highway noise,...) than a train on fixed tracks.

Have you ridden trains in America? I've travelled almost every Amtrak route across the country. In a country that properly maintains its rail infrastructure, Cabin will definitely lose much of its competitive advantage. In America, however...

Only used trains in Europe so far hence why my impression of trains is probably a bit biased...

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#19

Post by atemerev »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #17
atemerev wrote: post #15

If only we'd had similar capsules on transcontinental flights — now, that would be something. Otherwise, it is just a bus serving two points, no more exciting than a sleeping car in a train. Properly sleeping on a flight, on the other hand, feels like luxury.

They do, if you fly first class. You just have to spend several thousand dollars on a ticket. Air New Zealand also offers skycouch ( https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/economy-skycouch ), which is similar and cheaper, but really is only worth it if you're traveling with your partner or someone else you feel comfortable spooning for an entire flight.

Capsules are arranged differently — they can be stacked together vertically, and probably be offered at least for the price of business class seats.

(If the weight is a great concern, and it is, and capsules are too heavy — hammocks can also be an option).

Re: What it’s like to ship yourself overnight on Cabin’s sleep pod bus

#20

Post by dageshi »

dewey wrote: post #9

I haven't used Cabin but a lot of other bus companies (Megabus, Greyhound, Flixbux,...) and trains with sleeping compartments and I imagine the bus to be a lot harder to sleep on (vibrations, breaking, highway noise,...) than a train on fixed tracks.

I've done sleeper buses/trains in south east asia/China and my impression was you actually get used to it fairly easily. The trains were generally better simply because the beds were bigger, but I'd definitely take a "sleeper" bus over a regular sit down bus any time, lying down even if it's a bit cramped is always more comfortable than sitting up.
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