Whenever I need to get intercity bus tickets (mostly going
to Incheon Airport or Gimhae Airport), I personally visit the Dongdaegu Bus
terminal a few days or weeks before my trip. I only use the
Bustago website or the
Kobus website to check the schedule so I can see beforehand the departure times of the buses.
I was thinking of doing the same thing again for an upcoming trip but I decided
that I want to try booking it online. However, when I searched for tickets in
the English version of the website, there seemed to be no way to book them. I checked
online and found out that bookings are only possible using the Korean version
of the site or through the mobile app.
I feel like you would not really need to
be fluent in Korean to use the website but it would be a big help if you could
read. I also use Naver Papago to translate some of the longer notices on the
website if I am curious as to what it says.
I am sharing below the steps on how I reserved our bus
tickets from the Bustago website.
2. Fill in the reservation information (instead of typing
the place of arrival and departure, there is an option to choose it from a list
by clicking the little magnifying glass on the side). Some pop-up windows will appear,
just click ok or the blue button and then click the grey button.
3. Check the reservation details again and click the blue
button. A pop-up window will appear (asking if you have read the cancellation
and refund terms and if you agree to it), click ok.
4. The bus search results will appear.
5. Clicking the first button on the side (light blue) opens
a window and shows information about the trip. Click the blue button to close
it.
6. Check the results and choose a departure time. Click the
darker blue button in line with your preferred time and select a seat location.
Click the blue button to confirm.
7. A new window will appear asking to confirm the details of
your booking. If everything is correct, click the blue button.
8. The next page will ask you either to sign-in to your
bustago account (if you have one) or booking without being a member. If you do
not have an account or do not want to make one, just click on the boxes to
agree to the terms.
9. Next, input your birthdate (year, month and day) and your
mobile phone number then click the blue button.
10. The top part of the next page will show the details of
your booking (not pictured). To process payment, input the required information
at the bottom part of the page and click the blue button.
11. Once payment has been processed, the booking is complete
and the page can be printed (there is a print button below).
Please take note of the reminders in this page (translated
from Naver Papago):
- Please make sure you get a ticket from the
terminal window or the unmanned machine after the reservation is completed.
- Booking confirmation and payment details cannot
be used as a ticket.
When I decided to book the tickets online, I thought that I
would get an actual ticket. It turns out that the physical tickets are issued at
the terminal so be sure to arrive a little early to get it.
I referred to this
post a lot while writing this. Check that page for other information as well as for some
Korean phrases that can be used at the bus terminal.
UPDATE (1/20/2019): My husband wanted to have the actual tickets before our trip so I went to the Dongdaegu Bus terminal, approached the ticket window and showed our reservation confirmation. I did not print it and just saved a copy on my phone. The lady looked at it, typed something on her computer and gave me the tickets without any questions.
