Charter Bus Rental
Charter Bus Rental: Group Buses for Every Size of Party
Not every group needs a sleeper coach. School buses, minibuses, full-size charter coaches, accessible vehicles and passenger vans, each with a professional driver, quoted against your date, your head count and your route.
- CDL-certified driversClass A or B, three-year minimum on entertainer coaches
- EMC memberEntertainer Motorcoach Council membership
- US DOT registeredSatisfactory FMCSA safety rating
- 24/7 dispatchLive routing and support, coast to coast
- 48 states servedPickup and drop-off in any major US city
Knights Coaches is known for entertainer coaches, and those are still what the touring side of the business runs on. But the questions that arrive at dispatch are not all tours. A school moving two classes to a museum. A company shuttling staff between a hotel and a conference centre for three days. A church group driving to a retreat. A wedding party that needs everyone at the venue at the same time.
None of those need bunks. They need the right number of seats, at the right door, at the right time, with someone qualified behind the wheel. This page is where you work out which vehicle that is.
The line-up
Book the right bus for your group
Capacities below are the standard configurations of each vehicle type. Tell dispatch your head count and the exact seating on the assigned vehicle is confirmed in writing with the quote.
School bus — 44 to 48 seats
Bench seating, heating and an AM/FM stereo. The lowest cost per seat of anything on this list, and the right answer for field trips, camps, day programmes and short shuttle runs where nobody is carrying luggage.
Charter coach — up to 56 seats
The full-size motorcoach. Reclining seats, climate control, overhead storage and luggage bays beneath the floor, with a restroom on most units. This is the long-distance vehicle.
Executive coach
The same full-size platform with a higher-specification interior. Booked when the passengers are clients, board members or visiting executives and the vehicle is part of the impression.
Minibus — 24 to 38 seats
Smaller footprint, easier to park, quicker to load. It fits venue lots and city streets a full-size coach cannot, which makes it the workhorse for corporate shuttles and mid-size groups.
Sprinter and passenger van — up to 14 seats
Airport runs, executive transfers, crew moves and small teams. Quick to dispatch and the least disruptive vehicle to bring to a residential address or a hotel forecourt.
ADA-accessible vehicle
Lift or ramp access with wheelchair securement positions. Securement positions replace seats, so the seated capacity depends on how many are needed — say so when you request the quote.
Limo and party bus
Perimeter seating, interior lighting and a sound system. Booked for weddings, birthdays, proms and nights out where the journey is part of the event rather than a way to reach it.
Sleeper coach
Bunks, a galley and lounges, for groups travelling overnight between cities. This is the entertainer-coach platform, and it has its own section of the site.
Equipment trailer
Gear, kit, instruments, merchandise or event equipment towed behind the vehicle, so a group and its load move on one contract instead of two.
How to pick between them
Three questions settle it almost every time.
How many people, including the ones who join at the second stop? Head count decides the class of vehicle before anything else does. A group that grows by six between the booking and the day is the single most common reason a trip goes wrong, so count generously.
How long are they on board? Under an hour, bench seating is fine and nobody notices. Past an hour, reclining seats, climate control and a restroom stop being luxuries and start being the difference between a group that arrives ready and a group that arrives tired.
What are they carrying? A school bus has no luggage bay. Suitcases, instruments, sports kit or display equipment mean a coach with under-floor bays, or a trailer behind the vehicle.
Who books these vehicles
- Schools and school districts — field trips, athletics fixtures, band and choir travel, summer programmes.
- Companies — staff shuttles, offsites, conference transfers, airport runs, hotel-to-venue loops that repeat across several days.
- Sports teams and leagues — travel to away fixtures with kit, and parent or supporter coaches following the team.
- Churches and community groups — retreats, conventions, volunteer days and regular Sunday transport.
- Weddings and private events — moving guests between ceremony, reception and hotels so nobody drives and nobody is left behind.
- Government and municipal bodies — agency travel, emergency relocation, election and polling transport.
- Tour operators and travel agents — ground transport under a client itinerary, quoted to sit inside an existing package.
On selected vehicles
Features that depend on the vehicle you book
These are configuration-dependent, not standard across every vehicle. Ask for the ones that matter at quote stage and they are confirmed against the assigned unit rather than assumed.
Restroom on board
Standard on most full-size charter coaches, absent on school buses, minibuses and vans. It decides where the comfort stops go on a long itinerary, so confirm it before you plan the route.
Climate control
Charter coaches and minibuses run climate control through the saloon. A school bus has heating. In July, over two hours, that difference is the whole trip.
Luggage bays and overhead storage
Under-floor bays are a full-size coach feature. Overhead racks handle coats and day bags. School buses have neither, which is why luggage decides the vehicle class.
Power outlets and USB charging
Available at the seat on higher-specification coaches. On a multi-hour corporate transfer where people intend to work, this is worth specifying rather than hoping for.
Screens and PA system
A driver-operated microphone and screens for route briefings, itinerary announcements or a film on a long leg. Standard on touring coaches, optional elsewhere.
Wheelchair lift and securement
A lift or ramp with securement positions in the saloon. Each securement position replaces seats, so request it with the head count rather than after the vehicle is assigned.
Why book with us
What you get on every charter
A professional driver, always
Every vehicle is chartered with its driver. Nothing on this page is rented for a customer to drive themselves, and the driver is named on the contract.
Dispatch around the clock
A live person on the phone for a routing change, a delayed group or a pickup that moved, at any hour, rather than a ticket queue answered the next working day.
A quote broken out line by line
Vehicle, driver time, mileage, overnight costs and any waiting time shown separately, so you can see what a change to the itinerary will cost before you make it.
Coverage across 48 states
Pickup and drop-off in any major US market in the contiguous states, with one-way, round-trip and multi-day itineraries quoted the same way.
How it works
Booking a charter bus in four steps
- 1
Send the trip
Date, pickup address, destination, head count, and whether it is one way, a round trip or several days. Two minutes on the form or one call to dispatch.
- 2
Get the options priced
Dispatch comes back with the vehicle classes that fit your head count and route, each priced separately, so you are choosing between real options rather than one take-it-or-leave-it number.
- 3
Confirm the vehicle
A signed contract and deposit hold the vehicle and the driver for your date. The itinerary on the contract is the itinerary the driver is dispatched against.
- 4
Travel
The vehicle arrives at the pickup address ahead of the scheduled time. Your named contact has the driver number and the dispatch number for the whole trip.
Coverage
Where we pick up and drop off
Pickup and drop-off in any major US city across the 48 contiguous states, with the fleet positioned primarily in Nashville, Tennessee and the Mid-Atlantic region.
States we serve
48 states
- ALAlabama
- AZArizona
- ARArkansas
- CACalifornia
- COColorado
- CTConnecticut
- DEDelaware
- FLFlorida
- GAGeorgia
- IDIdaho
- ILIllinois
- INIndiana
- IAIowa
- KSKansas
- KYKentucky
- LALouisiana
- MEMaine
- MDMaryland
- MAMassachusetts
- MIMichigan
- MNMinnesota
- MSMississippi
- MOMissouri
- MTMontana
- NENebraska
- NVNevada
- NHNew Hampshire
- NJNew Jersey
- NMNew Mexico
- NYNew York
- NCNorth Carolina
- NDNorth Dakota
- OHOhio
- OKOklahoma
- OROregon
- PAPennsylvania
- RIRhode Island
- SCSouth Carolina
- SDSouth Dakota
- TNTennessee
- TXTexas
- UTUtah
- VTVermont
- VAVirginia
- WAWashington
- WVWest Virginia
- WIWisconsin
- WYWyoming
Hawaii and Alaska sit outside the operating area, and trips crossing into Canada are quoted case by case because driver eligibility and vehicle paperwork change at the border.
Got questions?
Charter bus rental questions
Count everyone travelling, then add luggage. A full-size charter coach seats up to 56, a full-size school bus seats 44 to 48 on bench seating, a minibus covers 24 to 38, and a passenger van handles up to 14. Groups near a boundary — 50 people, say — are usually better on the next size up than on two smaller vehicles, because one vehicle means one driver, one arrival time and one head count.
A school bus is bench seating, heating and a stereo, built to move a lot of people a short distance at a low cost per seat. A charter coach adds reclining seats, climate control, luggage bays under the floor, a restroom on most units and overhead storage. Under about an hour of travel with no luggage, the school bus is the sensible choice. Over that, or with bags, the coach earns the difference.
Yes. Every vehicle is chartered with a professional driver. We do not rent vehicles for a customer to drive themselves. What the quote separates out is driver time beyond the scheduled day, overnight accommodation on multi-day trips, and any waiting time built into the itinerary.
Send the itinerary as soon as the date is fixed. Spring field-trip season, graduation weekends, conference season and major sporting fixtures clear the available vehicles in a market weeks ahead, and a group that calls the week before is choosing from what is left rather than from what fits. There is no penalty for asking early.
Yes. A group larger than one vehicle is quoted as a convoy on a single contract, with the vehicles routed together so they arrive within the same window. Mixed convoys work too — a coach for the main party and a van for staff and equipment, on one itinerary.
Yes. Multi-day itineraries are quoted with the driver hours, overnight stops and return legs laid out line by line, so you can see what each day costs before you commit. Federal hours-of-service rules in 49 CFR 395.5 cap a driver at 10 hours of driving after 8 consecutive hours off duty, and a realistic itinerary is built around that rather than against it.
Date, pickup address, destination address, head count, and whether it is a one-way transfer, a round trip or a multi-day itinerary. Anything else — luggage, wheelchair access, a stop on the way, a hard arrival time — tell us at quote stage rather than after the contract is signed.
Ask for it on the quote request. Accessible vehicles are a specific configuration with a lift or ramp and securement positions, and the number of securement positions changes the seated capacity, so it needs to be specified before the vehicle is assigned rather than arranged on the day.
Tell dispatch as early as you can. A change to the pickup time or the route is usually straightforward; a change to the date, the vehicle size or the number of days is a re-quote, because it changes which vehicle and which driver are held for you. Call the dispatch line on 855 838 5542 rather than emailing a change you need confirmed quickly.
Pickup and drop-off across the 48 contiguous states. Alaska and Hawaii sit outside the operating area. Trips crossing into Canada are quoted case by case, because driver eligibility and vehicle paperwork change at the border.
Go deeper
The vehicle types with a page of their own.
School Bus Rental
Yellow school buses seating 44 to 48, with a driver. What they cost you in comfort, what they save you per seat, and the trips they are the right answer for.
Read about school bus rental
Entertainer Coach Rental
Prevost sleeper coaches with twelve bunks, a galley, a shower and lounges at both ends, for groups travelling overnight between cities.
Read about entertainer coaches
Our Fleet
Every coach in the Knights Coaches fleet, with its chassis, bunk count, slide-out configuration and rear layout on the card.
View the fleet
Tell us the trip and we will price it
Date, pickup, destination and head count is enough to start. Dispatch answers 24 hours a day on 855 838 5542 and comes back with the vehicles that actually fit, each priced line by line.