Minneapolis Charter Bus Rental FAQs
About Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com
Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com is an advertising and quote comparison website that lets you compare bus rental options and pricing from a network of bus companies serving Minneapolis through a national booking company. Fill out one quick form — or call 320-462-1180 — and you're taken straight to a results page showing available vehicles and pricing in seconds. No waiting on callbacks, no calling five companies to get five quotes. Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com is an advertising and referral website and does not own or operate any vehicles.
No — Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com is a comparison and referral website. You use it to compare vehicles and pricing from a network of independently owned bus companies serving the Minneapolis area, and the transportation itself is carried out by those independent operators. Think of it as one place to see your options side by side rather than hunting them down one at a time.
You submit your trip details, review what comes back, and book the vehicle that works for you.
When you search on your own, you call one company, get one price, and either take it or start over. With Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com, you fill out one form or make one call and immediately see more options and more price points than any single operator can offer. Companies in the network are competing for your booking, which is how you end up with better options than calling around yourself.
The whole process takes minutes instead of an afternoon.
An independently owned transportation company serving Minneapolis. Once you fill out the quote form, you're taken to a national booking platform where you choose the vehicle that fits your trip — the price, the size, the amenities. What you're selecting there is a vehicle and a price, not a company off a list.
The transportation company confirmed to your booking is communicated to you after the reservation is made.
Booking a Charter Bus
Fill out the form on this page — or call 320-462-1180 — and you're taken directly to a search results page on a national booking company's website. That booking company works with a network of independently owned operators serving the Minneapolis area. Right there on their site, you browse available vehicles with photos and trip-specific pricing, and you book the one you want online in minutes.
What you're choosing is a vehicle and a price — the whole thing is done without a single callback.
Your pickup city, where you're going, how many people are riding, and how many hours you need the bus. That's the minimum to get a quote started. The more detail you add — your stops, your start and end times, any luggage or oversized items, and the amenities that matter to your group — the more accurate the pricing comes back and the better you can match the right vehicle to your trip.
Right away — there's no waiting on a callback. The moment you submit the form, you're taken straight to the search results page on the booking company's website, where pricing is already there for you to review. No forms sitting in an inbox, no one getting back to you tomorrow.
If you'd rather walk through it with someone, call 320-462-1180 and you'll have options in front of you just as fast.
The earlier the better on a popular date — and if you need a specific vehicle or a larger coach, booking further ahead gives you more to choose from. That said, because Minneapoliscoachbuscompany.com puts your request in front of a whole network of providers serving Minneapolis rather than one operator with one yard, short-notice trips are often still very workable. That's the real advantage of comparing a network instead of calling a single company and being told they're booked.
Submit the request or call 320-462-1180 even if your date is close — it's always worth checking.
All of those can be requested. Hourly or as-directed keeps the vehicle with your group for a set block of time — great for events where the schedule isn't fixed. A one-way transfer moves your group from one place to another.
A round trip brings everyone back. A multi-stop itinerary runs a planned route with several stops, like a brewery loop through Northeast Minneapolis or a shuttle between your hotel and a wedding venue. A multi-day booking covers trips that run across more than one day.
Which format fits comes down to the trip itself — and if your itinerary has multiple stops or runs overnight, lay it out in full when you submit so the quote comes back priced correctly.
Charter Bus Pricing
A charter bus costs $205–$385+ per hour on weekdays, $225–$410+ per hour on weekends, and $1,650–$2,950+ per day. Those are real planning ranges — but pricing is not one size fits all. The type of bus, the date, the distance, and how busy that weekend is in Minneapolis all move the number.
The range is a starting point, not your price. The fastest way to see what your specific trip actually costs is to fill out the form and get pricing in seconds, or call 320-462-1180 — going through the details with someone can turn up better packages than you'd find on your own.
It depends on the trip, and all three are used. A short run of a couple of hours is usually priced hourly. A trip that covers significant distance — roughly past the 100 to 200 mile mark, or heading well out of the Minneapolis metro — may carry a per-mile charge instead of stacked hours.
And a long day, generally around eight hours or more, often comes back as a flat day rate because the vehicle is booked for so much of the day that hourly pricing stops making sense. Which structure applies to your trip is determined by the actual itinerary you submit — there's no guessing required on your end.
Six things move the price: the type and size of bus, how long it's booked for, the date and day of the week, the distance and route, the number of stops, and how busy that date is locally. Sunday through Thursday prices lower than Friday and Saturday. Daytime trips on those same days cost less than the evening hours.
Booking the capacity your group actually needs — rather than over-sizing the vehicle — keeps the quote tighter. And grouping your riders into one or two pickup points instead of five cuts the hours on the clock before the event even starts. In Minneapolis, late August through Labor Day weekend is the single tightest stretch of the year — the State Fair draws over two million people to the Snelling Ave fairgrounds and the whole metro market gets taken early.
Book those dates well ahead.
About Charter Buses
A charter bus is a full-size passenger coach that a group hires for its own trip — its own route, its own schedule — rather than riding a fixed public line. It's built for moving a large group over a distance in one vehicle, and a full-size coach seats roughly 40 to 56 people. The group has the whole bus to itself for the duration of the trip.
Outside, it's a full-size coach body with high windows running the full length of the vehicle, a smooth lower panel, and a row of baggage bay doors along the bottom half. The exterior is usually finished in white, silver, black, or a solid color — though some coaches are wrapped in an operator's own graphics, so the bus that shows up won't always look the same. Inside, seats run in pairs on either side of a center aisle, all facing forward.
Seat fabric is cloth or leather depending on the make and model — a Prevost H3-45 typically comes in leather, while a Motor Coach Industries J4500 may be either. Overhead parcel racks run the length of the cabin, and a restroom sits toward the rear. The interior is taller and wider than most people expect until they've ridden one.
Some of the amenities available on charter buses include reclining cloth or leather seats, individual climate controls, onboard restrooms, overhead parcel racks, undercarriage baggage bays, WiFi, power outlets and USB charging ports, a PA system, and flat-panel TV monitors. Features may include any combination of those depending on the make, model, and operator — no two coaches are identical, and what a specific vehicle carries is confirmed during booking. If your group needs a particular amenity, note it with your trip details when you submit the form so the vehicles that come back are the ones that actually fit.
Generally 40 to 56 passengers, depending on the make and model. The 56-seat configuration is the most common build on a full-size coach — the MCI J4500 seats 56 as standard, built for up to 60; the Van Hool CX45 is the same, 56 standard and up to 60; the Prevost H3-45 seats 56. Shorter 35-foot coaches seat closer to 44.
What changes the count on the same coach: extra legroom configurations and wheelchair positions each take seats out of the total. Because this site works with a network of providers, the exact coach on any given trip depends on what's available for your date — submit the trip or call 320-462-1180 if the group needs a specific capacity confirmed.
A 56-passenger coach runs 14 rows, with two seats on each side of a center aisle — forward facing, paired, one aisle straight down the middle. The row count drops on coaches configured with extra legroom or a wheelchair position, since those configurations take space from the seating plan. Some coaches also tier the front rows slightly for sightlines, which changes the feel of the front section without changing the total count meaningfully.
A full-size charter bus is 45 feet long and 8.5 feet wide. The easiest way to picture it: roughly three cars parked end to end. That's the number that matters when a group is working out whether a bus fits a particular drop-off lane or parking area.
Shorter coaches exist — most commonly around 35 feet — and those come up when a venue or route has clearance constraints. The 45-foot coach is the standard full-size vehicle you'll see most often.
A full-size charter bus stands about 11 to 12 feet tall depending on the model, and traffic engineers design overhead clearances for 12 feet. The easiest comparison: a little taller than a single story of a house. That's the number that matters when a group is checking a parking structure or a venue with a covered entrance.
Most open-air drop-off lanes and surface lots clear it without issue; covered structures and low-clearance garages are where it comes up.
WiFi is one of the amenities available on charter buses, and many coaches on the road are equipped with it. It's worth knowing exactly how it works, because this is where groups sometimes get surprised. Onboard WiFi runs off a cellular connection and is built into the coach as an equipment option rather than something every vehicle carries — so whether a given bus has it varies.
And when it is on board, it's designed for light use across a full coach: phones, messaging, browsing. It's not built for 50 or 60 people doing heavy video or file work simultaneously. If your group needs WiFi, note it with your trip details when you submit — that narrows the results to vehicles that actually have it.
Yes — an onboard restroom is standard on full-size charter buses. It sits toward the rear of the coach and is there so the group doesn't have to stop every hour. On a longer run, the trip is still usually planned with real rest stops built in, so the onboard restroom is a backup as much as a primary.
Features may vary by vehicle, so if it's important to your group, note it with the trip details when you submit the request.
Yes — charter buses are built with 110-volt AC power outlets, and coaches are commonly fitted with them at every seat, some with a USB port built into the same outlet. This is an equipment option rather than something every coach carries, so it varies by vehicle. What that means in practice: a group can keep phones and laptops charged across a long run from Minneapolis to Chicago or down to Des Moines without anyone rationing battery.
If your group needs outlets, note it with the trip details so the vehicles that come back are the ones equipped for it.
Yes — in two places. Overhead parcel racks run the length of the cabin inside, and undercarriage baggage bays run along the bottom of the coach outside. A full-size coach carries roughly 460 cubic feet of underfloor baggage space and around 100 cubic feet in the overhead racks.
Across a full 56-passenger load, that works out to roughly 8 cubic feet per person underneath and under 2 cubic feet overhead — in practice, about one checked-size bag each below plus one small carry-on above. What changes that math: a coach fitted with a wheelchair lift gives up some baggage bay space, and bulky gear — instruments, sports equipment, event supplies, oversized cases — takes the space of several standard bags. If your group is carrying anything beyond standard luggage, state it with the trip details when you submit.
That's what gets the right coach matched to the group rather than finding out at the curb.
Charter Bus Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Just about any group trip you can think of. Airport transfers to and from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International are one of the most common requests — one bus, one pickup, no splitting the group across a parking garage. Corporate travel and employee shuttles between office campuses, hotels, and the Minneapolis Convention Center are another staple.
Weddings use charter buses and minibuses to shuttle guests between hotel blocks and venues across the metro. Concerts and sporting events at U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Center, and Target Field are popular — one vehicle beats hunting for parking on a Vikings Sunday. School and church group trips, government and military moves, brewery and winery tours through Northeast Minneapolis, prom, and long-distance travel to Chicago, Duluth, or beyond — all of it is available through the network.
The network covers Minneapolis and the full Twin Cities metro, including St. Paul, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Eagan, Roseville, Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Blaine, St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Shakopee, Prior Lake, Woodbury, Stillwater, Chaska, Wayzata, and Elk River — those are examples, not the complete list. If your city isn't named here, enter the full route on the quote form or call 320-462-1180 and you'll find out quickly whether service is available there.
The Minnesota State Fair is the single tightest stretch of the year — 12 days in late August through Labor Day, over two million attendees at the Snelling Ave fairgrounds in St. Paul, and the whole metro bus market gets taken early every year. Prom season in April and May across Minneapolis Public Schools, Anoka-Hennepin, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Edina, Wayzata, and the other major suburban districts fills fast. University of Minnesota graduation in May, Vikings home Sundays at U.S. Bank Stadium from September through January, Twins home games at Target Field from April through September, Twin Cities Marathon weekend in October, Aquatennial in mid-July, and New Year's Eve in downtown Minneapolis are all high-demand dates.
Wedding season peaks June through September. Book those dates well ahead — and for anything else, submit the request even on short notice, because the network is larger than any single operator's yard.
Planning Your Minneapolis, Minnesota Charter Bus Trip
Yes — the primary airport serving Minneapolis is Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) (4300 Glumack Dr, St Paul, MN 55111), about 13–17 miles southwest of downtown via I-494 and I-35W — typically 20–35 minutes off-peak and 45–60 minutes or more during rush hour. MSP has two terminals: Terminal 1 (Lindbergh) and Terminal 2 (Humphrey), each with its own ground transportation curb. A charter bus meets your group outside the terminal at the spot MSP designates for buses and larger vehicles, following the airport's own ground transportation guidelines.
Have everyone together with luggage in hand before calling the bus forward — that's what keeps the pickup clean and on schedule.
Yes — all of them. U.S. Bank Stadium (401 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55415) is home to the Minnesota Vikings and hosts major concerts and events; charter buses drop off on the 5th St S corridor between Chicago Ave and 4th Ave S, and the surrounding streets close for major events, so building extra time into the departure is smart. Target Center (600 First Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55403) hosts the Timberwolves and Lynx.
Target Field (1 Twins Way, Minneapolis, MN 55403) is home to the Twins. Xcel Energy Center (199 W Kellogg Blvd, St Paul, MN 55102) hosts the Wild. Huntington Bank Stadium (420 SE 23rd Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55455) is the Gophers football home.
Allianz Field (1045 Snelling Ave N, St Paul, MN 55108) hosts Minnesota United FC. Traffic patterns around all of these venues change significantly on event days — plan your departure window with that in mind.
Yes — including the Minneapolis Convention Center (1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55403), one of the largest convention facilities in the Midwest with 1.6 million square feet of total space; charter buses use the designated loading zones in front of the building on 2nd Avenue S. The Minnesota State Fairgrounds (1265 Snelling Ave N, St Paul, MN 55108) hosts the State Fair and major events year-round, with designated bus parking in the fairgrounds lots. Mystic Lake Center (2400 Mystic Lake Blvd NW, Prior Lake, MN 55372), about 30 miles southwest via US-169, is a major casino resort and event venue with ample bus access on property. Large venues have designated bus loading areas separate from the main pedestrian entrance — a repeat shuttle between a hotel block and a convention center should have its full schedule laid out with the request so it comes back timed and priced correctly.
Yes — any wedding venue in the area. The network serves historic downtown spaces like The Depot Minneapolis (225 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55401), The Lumber Exchange Event Center (10 S 5th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402), and Aria Minneapolis (105 N 1st St, Minneapolis, MN 55401); lakeside venues like Calhoun Beach Club (2925 Dean Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN 55408) on Bde Maka Ska; the waterfront Nicollet Island Inn (95 Merriam St, Minneapolis, MN 55401) on the Mississippi; and estate and barn venues further out like Bavaria Downs in Chaska and Camrose Hill Flower Farm in Stillwater. Shuttling guests between a hotel block and the venue is the most common wedding setup — give the exact venue address with the request and the right vehicle gets matched to it from the start.
Yes — all of them. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (100 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455) is the largest campus in the state, with its own designated bus loading zones throughout the East Bank and West Bank. Minneapolis Public Schools serves the city's K-12 students across schools including Southwest, South, Patrick Henry, Edison, Roosevelt, and Washburn; major suburban districts include Anoka-Hennepin, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Edina, and Osseo.
Private colleges including Augsburg University, Macalester College, Hamline University, St. Catherine University, and Bethel University are all served. Field trips and team travel are typically pickups at the school or campus itself — include the exact headcount plus any chaperone or accessibility needs with the request so the right vehicle comes back.
Yes — and Northeast Minneapolis is the place to start. The NE MPLS brewery district packs Indeed Brewing (711 NE 15th Ave), Bauhaus Brew Labs (1315 Tyler St NE), Dangerous Man Brewing (1300 NE 2nd St), Fair State Brewing Cooperative (2506 Central Ave NE), Sociable Cider Werks (1500 Fillmore St NE), and Tattersall Distilling (1620 Central Ave NE) into a walkable stretch — street parking fills by 7–8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, which is exactly when a bus makes the most sense. Surly Brewing Co. (520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414) is a destination taproom on its own.
Mystic Lake Casino is about 30 miles southwest. Schram Vineyards in Waconia is about 40 miles west. A multi-stop brewery route is timed by how long the group stays at each stop — list the stops and the time at each one when you submit the request so the hours come back right.
Yes — long-distance trips are booked regularly from Minneapolis. Chicago is about 410 miles southeast via I-90/I-94, roughly 6.5–7.5 hours by motorcoach. Milwaukee is about 340 miles via I-94, 5–6 hours.
Madison is about 275 miles, 4.5–5.5 hours. Duluth is 155 miles north via I-35, about 2.5–3 hours — popular for North Shore trips and group outdoor travel. Fargo is about 235 miles northwest via I-94, 3.5–4 hours.
Des Moines is about 245 miles south via I-35, 4–4.5 hours. The Mall of America in Bloomington is just 12 miles south of downtown and one of the most popular group destinations in the region. A long-distance trip is usually booked as a one-way transfer or a multi-day trip rather than by the hour — and an overnight itinerary should be laid out in full with the request so it comes back priced correctly from the start.