First Charter Bus Rental - Albany Reviews 37

TrustScore 3 out of 5

2.8

130 Retreat House Road, 12077-0000 Glenmont, NY, US


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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

So helpful and efficient through the whole process! Will definitely be a returning customer.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

The shuttle arrived on time from the hotel to the wedding venue. However they did not come for the 9:30 pick up and multiple elderly guests were waiting outside for it. I was notified they weren’t t... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Easy to book and create itinerary. Would highly recommend for big parties that need reliable transportation.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Booked first charter for end of the night shuttle service for my wedding and they did a great job! Showed up on time and were professional with great service. Would recommend to anyone


Company details

  1. Bus and Coach Company
  2. Bus Charter

About First Charter Bus Rental - Albany

Written by the company

Think Yellow for your next event.

From field trips and party buses to corporate events and conventions to national organizations and non-profits, choosing yellow is the fun and flexible choice for all types of groups and destinations. School bus rental prices range from $85 to $125* per hour.

First Student is North America’s largest and most trusted provider of chartered yellow school bus transportation because we have the best drivers, buses and customer service.

The best buses

Because we have North America’s largest fleet, we are able to provide you with the best, newest and cleanest buses in the industry.

The best drivers

Most of your experience comes down to the driver, and we take our responsibility to provide you with a safe, respectful and caring professional driver, very seriously. We have a thorough screening and selection process to ensure we hire only the best and a continual training program to make them even better.

The best customer service

First Student has dedicated charter centers across North America, staffed with transportation professionals who know your region and are ready to partner with you on your most complex transportation needs.

*Location prices vary. Minimum trip time and other restrictions may apply.

Your Event
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Contact info

  • 130 Retreat House Road, 12077-0000, Glenmont, NY, United States

  • 800-774-3135

2.8

Average

TrustScore 3 out of 5

37 reviews

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The WORST company

The WORST company! Booked a bus for a client's wedding and they did not show. When I called at the time the ceremony was suppose to show they said there was a snafu and the bus was not sent to pick up guests. When I called back to get more information and ask why I was never notified there was a problem, they said they overlooked the booking and never had a bus scheduled even though we confirmed the order a few days in advance. I asked for the driver's contact information, they gave me a name and contact number, when I contacted the driver it was not the driver for the run, nor the right name. I tried to call dispatch and left a message, they NEVER returned my call.

10 October 2025
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

The shuttle did not show up for the 9:30 pickup from wedding venur

The shuttle arrived on time from the hotel to the wedding venue. However they did not come for the 9:30 pick up and multiple elderly guests were waiting outside for it. I was notified they weren’t there. I called 4 phone numbers and finally got a hold of a person. They did not have the bus drivers phone number so I waited on the line for them to reach a manager then finally the driver. The driver seemed to be at home and not even aware of the pickup being so late now. She finally arrived after 10pm. Then had to return for 10:45 which did happen.
This was an unnecessary stressful situation that we were put into during the wedding celebration. Especially since we had made these plans months ago and spent a lot of money towards it. I’m not sure what happened on your end but a phone call to apologize or discuss the issue would have been appreciated!!
That is why I have only 3 stars.

21 September 2024
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

No show for wedding transportation

We found out 1/2 hr before the wedding that the buses that were hired did not show up to bring guests from hotel to the venue. Could not get ahold of them by phone. It just went to voicemail. Needless to say, they also weren’t there to shuttle back to the hotel. I’d give them a zero if I could. I would never hire them again or recommend them to others. They caused much stress and a delay in the wedding! What they did was unthinkable. This company was a total failure.

8 June 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Completely unprofessional

Completely unprofessional. No call, no update, no reschedule email...just DIDN'T show up. Left 50+ people to find travel last minute for A WEDDING. How low do you have to go? The disrespect. Shame. Shame. Shame.

8 June 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Can we give 0 stars????? We had two shuttles scheduled for our…

We had two shuttles scheduled for our wedding this weekend and for a lack of better terms they ghosted us. No shuttles ever arrived to the hotel to pick up our 90 waiting guests. We of course find this out 15 minutes before the ceremony- thanks for the stress first charter we obviously greatly appreciate added stress on our wedding day. Now not only did they not show up they then DIDNT ANSWER ANY OF THE THREE NUMBERS ON OUR CONTRACT. Two went straight to voicemail (nice trick guys) and the other rang and rang. When someone FINALLY answered she had the audacity to claim she didn’t work for the company (again nice trick). Then at 11pm for kicks I called again- the same voicemail number I’d called 47 times earlier- and lo and behold someone answered. She claimed ignorance and said she’d give the manager our number. Everyone take a guess as to if they did- WRONG. Oh wait the best part is they automatically charge your credit card for the final bill four days before hand so we paid for a trip that never happened oh joy what a great day!
So I’d like to thank First Charter for being the absolute worst vendor. Please NEVER USE THEM OR GIVEN THEM BUSINESS.

8 June 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

If I could rate this zero I would…we…

If I could rate this zero I would…we were attending a friends wedding with pre-arranged transportation from the hotel to the venue. They never showed up and didn’t answer the phone after NUMEROUS attempts to contact them. And then when we finally connected with them, they feigned ignorance of the entire situation. Do NOT use this company.

8 June 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Our experience was terrible

Our experience was terrible! We rented a bus for our wedding day to transport the wedding party and guests from the hotel to the venue. As the bride, I needed to be at the venue a few hours before the ceremony. The shuttle never showed up. After multiple calls we were told that our time got pushed back and then it still never showed up. I had to drive myself to my own wedding in order to not be late. We were told that our reservation got outsourced due to them being busy but we were never previously informed of this and we also had a detailed timeline of what the timeline was supposed to be. We were then told we would be getting a partial refund after we had already fully paid and have still not received anything or any kind of contact from the company

30 September 2022
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

The week before the event there was not…

The week before the event there was not a way to actually speak to anyone to be sure the drivers would all arrive. The phone was never answered at the local affiliate and the voicemail was full. As the person in charge of securing the movement of 400 people that day I had no assurance everything was in place nor did I have any confidence there would be support should something go wrong such as a bus not showing or a driver getting lost or something of this nature.
I do not have complaints about the drivers themselves just the larger administrative support.
To secure the reservation I had to offer an address in order to get the process started - this was needed way before the event was defined. I gave one of the many addresses i would need for the buses to drive to. The day of the event one of the drivers arrived unclear about her site to which she was to drive because of the confusion created by this initial address securing the reservation. The process is faulty.
Plus I do not wish to have a "Trustpilot account" as a result of filling this out.
I am sorry to report I would choose to not work with your organization in the future and would actively advise others not to do so. For the exhorbitant cost, the support was greatly lacking.

10 September 2022
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

We hired First Student Charter for our…wedding

We hired First Student Charter for our wedding in Hudson, NY and we were incredibly disappointed by the service of the Albany location. I called the day prior to our event to confirm the itinerary and the agent I spoke with was dismissive and terse. She would not verify the time or locations of the pick-ups, but rather kept assuring me that everything was set. My worst nightmare came true - there were transportation issues on the day of our wedding. The dispatch did not provide the bus driver with the current itinerary. So, the driver skipped our second pick-up location. Guests were left without a ride and had to find alternative transportation in a pinch. At the end of the night, when my husband and I got on the bus to return to our hotel, the driver was adamant that the location was not on the itinerary and she refused to stop there. Fortunately, my husband was able to pull up the correct schedule confirmation which indeed had the location listed and the driver agreed to drop us off. In addition to the distress this caused, there was a phallic symbol and profanities graffitied on the bus. We called First Student Charter to file a formal complaint over a week ago, but have yet to receive a response or compensation for this unacceptable experience.

5 September 2022
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I had a pretty poor experience with…

I had a pretty poor experience with this company to be completely honest. I changed plans the week of the wedding for the bus trip TO my wedding, but I confirmed with them nothing was changing for the evening ride back to the hotels. I received the confirmation email and it was good. The night of the wedding however, the bus drivers decided to do something different and messed up the plan. I tried to discuss with them what they were supposed to be doing and they did not follow instruction for what I paid for/requested. This ended up leading to my grandparents, of all people, to literally be dropped off at the WRONG Marriot hotel, even though they knew which other Marriot everyone else was staying at. They also decided to drop one bus off at the restaurant we were doing for the after party, INSTEAD of dropping off at the hotel just down the street where they were supposed to let everyone off….this was very disappointing unfortunately. I had many confused guests, many upset guests.

30 August 2022

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