Bloomington Charter Bus Rental FAQs
About Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com
Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com is an advertising and quote comparison website that lets you compare bus rental options and pricing from a network of transportation companies serving Bloomington through a national booking platform. Fill out one quick form and you are taken straight to a results page showing available vehicles and prices — No waiting for callbacks to get pricing, no waiting, no account required. Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com is an advertising and referral website and does not own or operate any vehicles. It exists to make finding the right bus for your group fast, easy, and free to explore.
Call 952-697-2230 any time if you would rather go through it with someone.
No — Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com is a comparison and referral website. What that means for you in practical terms: you use it to compare vehicles and pricing from a network of independently owned transportation companies serving the Bloomington area, and the actual transportation is carried out by those independent operators. You come here, fill out one form, and head straight to a national booking platform where you can see your options and book the vehicle that fits your trip.
The site is the tool; the independently owned companies in the network are the ones moving your group.
When you search on your own, you call one company at a time, describe your trip over and over, and wait on callbacks that may not come until the next day. With Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com, you fill out one form — or make one call to 952-697-2230 — and you are taken to a results page showing vehicles and prices from a whole network of providers serving Bloomington, all at once. More options, different price points, and you see them in seconds instead of spending an afternoon on the phone.
That is the time you get back.
An independently owned transportation company serving the Bloomington area. Once you fill out the quote form, you are taken to a national booking platform where you choose the vehicle that suits your trip — the make, the size, the amenities, the price. What you are selecting there is a vehicle and a price, not a company off a list.
The specific transportation company assigned to your booking is confirmed to you through the booking platform after you complete the reservation.
Booking a Charter Bus
Fill out the form on this page — or call 952-697-2230 — with your pickup location, destination, group size, and trip timing. As soon as you submit, you are taken to a search results page on a national booking company's website. That booking company works with independent operators serving the Bloomington area, and right there on their site you can browse available vehicles, see trip-specific pricing, and book the bus you want online in minutes.
What you are choosing on that results page is a vehicle and a price — everything else follows from there.
The basics are your pickup city, where you are going, how many people are riding, and how many hours you need the bus. That is enough to get a quote started. The more detail you can add — your stops, your start and end times, how much luggage the group is bringing, and any amenities the trip needs — the more accurate the quote comes back and the better the match you will find.
A complete itinerary up front saves time on both ends.
Right away — there is no waiting on a callback. The moment you submit the form, you are taken straight to the results page on the booking platform and can see quotes immediately. No account, no approval process.
If you would rather go through it with someone, call 952-697-2230 and a live agent will walk through the trip with you and pull up your options on the spot.
The earlier the better on a popular date, and a specific vehicle or a large group goes further ahead. That said, one real advantage of submitting through Bloomingtoncharterbuscompany.com is that your request goes in front of a whole network of providers serving the Bloomington area rather than a single operator with one yard. Short-notice trips are often still workable for exactly that reason — you are not limited to whatever one company happens to have left on the calendar.
Submit the form or call 952-697-2230 even on short notice, and see what is available. You may be surprised.
All of those can be requested. Hourly or as-directed keeps the vehicle with your group for a set block of time and works well when the itinerary is flexible or the group is making multiple stops. A one-way transfer moves everyone from point A to point B. A round trip brings them back.
A multi-stop itinerary runs a planned route with several locations built in — a brewery loop, a wedding day with a rehearsal dinner and a venue, a game-day run with a tailgate stop. A multi-day booking covers a trip that runs across more than one day. Which format fits comes down to the trip itself, and a multi-stop or overnight itinerary should be laid out in full with the request so the quote comes back timed and 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, not a single number — because pricing is not one size fits all. The type and size of bus, the date, the distance, the number of stops, and how busy that particular weekend is in Bloomington all move the quote in one direction or another.
The range is a starting point. To see what your actual trip costs, fill out the form and get pricing for your specific date and route in seconds — or call 952-697-2230, where going through the trip with someone can turn up better packages and pricing than you would find searching on your own.
It depends on the trip, and all three are used. A short run of a couple of hours — say, a shuttle loop between a Bloomington hotel and U.S. Bank Stadium (900 S 5th St, Minneapolis, MN 55415) for a Vikings game — is typically priced hourly. A trip that covers significant distance, roughly past the 100 to 200 mile mark or heading well out of the metro, may carry a per-mile charge instead.
And a long day, generally around eight hours or more, often comes back as a flat day rate rather than stacked hours, because the vehicle is booked for so much of the day that a day rate is the cleaner structure. Submitting the actual trip is what determines which one applies to your booking.
Six things move the number: the type and size of bus, how long it is booked for, the day of the week and the date, the distance and the route, the number of stops, and how much demand is on that date locally. Sunday through Thursday prices lower than Friday and Saturday. Daytime trips price lower than those same nights.
Booking the size that fits your actual headcount beats reserving a 56-passenger coach for 22 people. And consolidating your group into one or two pickup points instead of five cuts the hours on the clock before the trip even starts.
In Bloomington specifically, the I-494 corridor is one of the busiest stretches in the Twin Cities metro, and dates tied to Vikings home games at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota State Fair, and the Mall of America holiday season pull the whole local market at once — so those dates book early and price accordingly. Flexibility on the day or the timing is the single most effective way to bring a quote down.
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, its own pickup and drop-off points — rather than riding a fixed public route. It is built for moving a large group over a distance in one vehicle, and a standard full-size coach seats roughly 40 to 56 people. The group has the whole bus to itself for the duration of the booking.
On the outside, a full-size charter bus is a tall, wide coach body with high windows running the length of the vehicle and luggage bay doors along the bottom skirt. 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 coach that shows up may not look identical to a photo. Popular full-size models include the MCI J4500, the Van Hool CX45, and the Prevost H3-45, all of which share the same general silhouette.
Inside, seating runs in pairs on either side of a center aisle, all forward-facing, in cloth or leather depending on the make and model. Overhead parcel racks run the length of the cabin. A restroom sits toward the rear.
The overall feel is closer to a long-haul aircraft cabin than a transit bus — the ceiling is high enough to stand, the seats recline, and the aisle is wide enough to walk without turning sideways.
Some of the amenities available on charter buses include reclining cloth or leather seats, individual climate controls, onboard restrooms, overhead parcel racks and undercarriage baggage bays, WiFi, power outlets and USB charging ports, a PA system with wireless mic, and flat-panel TV monitors. Specific vehicles may include some or all of these — features vary by make, model, and the operator behind the booking, and the exact amenities on any given coach are confirmed during the booking process. If there is something the group needs — WiFi, accessible seating, extra storage for equipment — note it with your trip details so the right vehicles come back in the results.
Generally 40 to 56 passengers, depending on the make and model, with 56 the most common build on a full-size coach. The MCI J4500 seats 56 as standard and is built for up to 60. The Van Hool CX45 is the same — 56 standard, up to 60 with a tighter configuration.
The Prevost H3-45 also seats 56. Shorter 35-foot coaches seat closer to 44. What changes the count on the same coach: extra legroom configurations pull seats out, and a wheelchair position takes the place of one or two standard seats.
Because this site works with a network of providers, the exact coach on any given trip depends on what is available for your date and headcount. Submit the trip or call 952-697-2230 if the group needs a specific capacity confirmed before booking.
A standard 56-passenger coach runs 14 rows, with two seats on each side of a center aisle — four seats across per row, 14 rows deep. All seats face forward. The row count drops on coaches configured with extra legroom or a wheelchair position, which each take the place of a standard row or part of one.
Some coaches also tier the front rows slightly higher for sightline reasons, but the basic layout — paired seats, one aisle, forward-facing — is consistent across full-size models.
A full-size charter bus is 45 feet long and 8.5 feet wide. If that is hard to picture, it is roughly the length of three cars parked end to end — which is the reason people ask, because they are usually working out whether one fits somewhere specific. Shorter coaches exist, most commonly around 35 feet, and are used when the route involves tighter streets or lower-clearance access points.
The 45-foot coach is the standard full-size vehicle and the one most commonly matched to groups of 40 or more.
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 as the standard. If you are checking whether a bus fits a specific garage, parking structure, or covered drop-off, 12 feet is the number to work with. For a real-world comparison, that is a little taller than the first story of a house.
Venues with low-clearance approaches — parking structures near the Minneapolis Convention Center (1301 2nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55403) or covered hotel entrances along the I-494 corridor — are worth flagging with the trip details so the right access point is used.
WiFi is one of the amenities available on charter buses, and many coaches on the road today are equipped with it. One thing worth knowing before the trip: onboard WiFi runs off a cellular connection and is built for light use across a full coach — phones, messaging, browsing, the occasional video call. It is not built for 50 or 60 people doing heavy work simultaneously.
Whether a specific vehicle has WiFi varies by make, model, and how the coach is configured, so it is not something every coach carries as a given. If the group needs it, note it with the trip details when you submit the form — that narrows the results to vehicles that are equipped.
Yes — an onboard restroom is standard on full-size charter buses, located toward the rear of the coach. It is there so the group does not have to make an unplanned stop, and on a longer run — say, a trip from Bloomington down to Des Moines, Iowa (about 245 miles and 3.5 hours) or up to Duluth (about 155 miles and 2.5 hours) — the trip is still typically planned with real rest stops along the way. Availability may vary by vehicle, so if an onboard restroom is a must for the group, note it with the trip details.
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 as standard, so it varies by vehicle. In practice, a group can keep phones and laptops charged across a full day of travel — which matters on a long run like a trip to Chicago (~410 miles, 6–6.5 hours) or a multi-day trip where the coach is in use across consecutive days.
If the group needs outlets at every seat, note it with the trip details.
Yes — in two places. Inside the coach, overhead parcel racks run the length of the cabin and handle carry-on bags and personal items. Underneath the coach, undercarriage baggage bays run along the lower skirt of the vehicle and are accessed from the outside through bay doors.
The numbers: 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 just under 2 cubic feet overhead — in practical terms, about one checked-size bag each below plus one small carry-on above. That is the baseline.
What changes it: a coach fitted with a wheelchair lift gives up some baggage bay space for the lift mechanism. Bulky gear — instrument cases, sports equipment, event supplies, trade show materials — takes the space of several standard bags. A group heading to a multi-day tournament or a convention at the Minneapolis Convention Center with display materials should state the luggage situation with the trip details so the right coach is matched to the group.
Surprises at the bay door on departure morning are avoidable.
Charter Bus Service in Bloomington, Minnesota
Any group that needs to move together. The most common trips booked through this site fall into a few categories:
Airport transfers — shuttling a group to or from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), which sits just minutes from most Bloomington addresses, without splitting everyone into separate cars. Corporate travel and employee shuttles — moving teams between offices, hotels, and conference venues along the I-494 corridor or into Minneapolis. Weddings and private events — guest shuttles between hotel blocks and venues, rehearsal dinner runs, and full wedding-day transportation.
Concerts and sporting events — concert buses to shows at Xcel Energy Center (175 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55102) and game-day charters to U.S. Bank Stadium and Target Center. School and church group trips — field trips from Bloomington's Jefferson and Kennedy high schools and Normandale Community College, plus congregation travel. Government and military moves.
Wine and brewery tours — multi-stop loops through the Twin Cities craft beer scene or out to Minnesota wine country. Prom and homecoming. And long-distance travel — one-way transfers and multi-day charters to Chicago, Wisconsin Dells, Green Bay, and beyond.
The network of transportation providers covers Bloomington and the surrounding Twin Cities metro — including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Richfield, Eden Prairie, Burnsville, Eagan, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Edina, Shakopee, and Prior Lake, among others across Hennepin and Dakota counties. Those are examples, not the complete list. If you are not sure whether a pickup or drop-off city is covered, enter the full route in the quote form or call 952-697-2230 and get a straight answer.
A few dates pull the whole local market at once, and those are the ones to move on early. Vikings home Sundays at U.S. Bank Stadium — eight to nine dates between September and January — are among the busiest single-day demand spikes in the metro. The Minnesota State Fair (12 days ending Labor Day, ~25 minutes from Bloomington) draws close to 2 million visitors and fills every available bus in the region.
Mall of America's holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve is enormous, and New Year's Eve itself is the single hardest night of the year to find a vehicle on short notice. Prom season at Jefferson and Kennedy high schools runs April through May. Graduation season — Normandale Community College, the University of Minnesota, and metro-area universities — peaks in May and June.
On those dates, the whole local network gets taken early. Book well ahead. For everything else, submit the form or call 952-697-2230 even on short notice — the network is larger than any one company's yard.
Planning Your Bloomington, Minnesota Charter Bus Trip
The primary airport for Bloomington groups is Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), located just 3 to 7 miles from most Bloomington addresses and roughly 10 to 20 minutes by road depending on traffic and the time of day. MSP operates two separate terminals: Terminal 1 (Lindbergh), which handles the majority of carriers, and Terminal 2 (Humphrey), used primarily by Sun Country and Spirit. They are connected by the Blue Line light rail but are separate buildings — confirm your terminal before the pickup.
For charter and coach pickups, MSP directs buses to the designated commercial vehicle pickup areas at each terminal. The bus meets your group outside the terminal at the spot MSP designates for larger vehicles, following the airport's own ground transportation guidelines. Have everyone through baggage claim and together before calling the bus forward — commercial vehicles hold in the staging area until the group is ready to board.
For groups flying in from out of state, Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Midway (MDW) are common origin points for long-distance bus trips into the Twin Cities, about 6 to 6.5 hours by coach.
The Twin Cities metro has one of the most complete stadium lineups in the Midwest, and all of it is within reasonable range of Bloomington. U.S. Bank Stadium — home of the Minnesota Vikings, about 15 miles and 20 to 30 minutes north — is the most common game-day destination. Buses use designated commercial vehicle zones near the stadium; oversized vehicle parking is coordinated per event through stadium operations.
Target Center (600 1st Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55403) hosts the Timberwolves and Lynx, with bus drop-off along 1st Avenue North. Target Field (353 N 5th St, Minneapolis, MN 55403) is home to the Minnesota Twins, with advance arrangements recommended for oversized vehicles. Xcel Energy Center hosts the Wild, about 35 to 45 minutes east.
Allianz Field (400 Snelling Ave N, St. Paul, MN 55104) hosts Minnesota United FC. Traffic patterns shift significantly around all of these venues on event days — build in extra time, especially on Vikings Sundays when I-35W north fills well before kickoff.
Bloomington's convention centers and event venues start with the biggest one in the state. Mall of America (60 E Broadway, Bloomington, MN 55425) is located directly in Bloomington and draws roughly 32 million visitors a year, making it one of the most visited destinations in Minnesota. Buses use the designated motorcoach drop-off zone on the east side of the mall along Lindau Lane and on the north side along American Boulevard — buses do not park in the general ramps.
The Minneapolis Convention Center is about 15 miles north and handles large trade shows and conferences; buses use the designated loading zone on 13th Street South between 1st and 2nd Avenues South. The DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington (7901 Normandale Blvd, Bloomington, MN 55437) has its own meeting and convention space along the I-494 corridor. For a repeat shuttle between a hotel and a convention venue, lay out the full schedule — number of runs, timing, headcount per run — with the request so it comes back timed and priced correctly.
Yes — any wedding venue in the Bloomington area and across the metro. Popular venues groups charter buses to include the Radisson Blu Mall of America (2100 Killebrew Dr, Bloomington, MN 55425) and the DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington for hotel-based receptions, as well as venues across the metro like The Depot Minneapolis (225 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55401), Aria Minneapolis (105 N 1st St, Minneapolis, MN 55401), The Nicollet Island Inn (95 Merriam St, Minneapolis, MN 55401), and Hazeltine National Golf Club (1900 Hazeltine Dr, Chaska, MN 55318). The most common setup is a guest shuttle loop between the hotel block and the venue — guests board at a set time, the bus runs the loop, and nobody is hunting for parking or waiting on a rideshare at the end of the night.
Give the exact venue address with the request and the right vehicle gets matched to it.
Field trips and team travel out of Bloomington's own schools are among the most common bookings. Bloomington Public Schools (ISD 271) includes Jefferson Senior High School (4001 W 102nd St, Bloomington, MN 55437) and Kennedy Senior High School (9701 Nicollet Ave, Bloomington, MN 55420), along with Lincoln, Oak Grove, and Valley View junior highs and multiple elementary schools. Normandale Community College (9700 France Ave S, Bloomington, MN 55431) is the only college located in Bloomington itself, with more than 11,000 students.
The network also serves trips originating from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Macalester College, Augsburg University, Hamline University, and Minnesota State University Mankato (~70 miles south). Field trips and team travel typically pick up at the school or campus; campuses have designated bus loading zones. Include the exact headcount plus any chaperone or accessibility needs with the request.
The Twin Cities area has enough breweries, wineries, casinos, and nightlife districts to fill a full day without repeating a stop. Popular brewery destinations include Surly Brewing Co. (520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, about 25 minutes from Bloomington), Indeed Brewing (711 NE 15th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55413), Fulton Beer (414 6th Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401), Bauhaus Brew Labs (1315 Tyler St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413), and Modist Brewing (505 N 3rd St, Minneapolis, MN 55401) — a Northeast Minneapolis brewery loop covers four or five of these in an afternoon. For wineries, Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings (about 40 minutes) and Saint Croix Vineyards in Stillwater (about 45 minutes) are the closest options.
For casinos, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel (2400 Mystic Lake Blvd NW, Prior Lake, MN 55372) is the largest casino in Minnesota and about 25 minutes from Bloomington via I-35W south to MN-13; Treasure Island Resort & Casino (5734 Sturgeon Lake Rd, Welch, MN 55089) is about 55 minutes. A multi-stop route is timed by how long the group stays at each location — list the stops and the approximate time at each one with the request so the hours come back right.
Yes — long-distance charters from Bloomington are booked regularly. Common destinations include Chicago, Illinois (about 410 miles and 6 to 6.5 hours via I-90/I-94), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (about 340 miles and 5 hours), Madison, Wisconsin (about 270 miles and 4 hours), Wisconsin Dells (about 280 miles and 4 hours, a popular group getaway), Green Bay, Wisconsin (about 300 miles and 4.5 hours — a classic Packers road trip), Des Moines, Iowa (about 245 miles and 3.5 hours), Duluth, Minnesota (about 155 miles and 2.5 hours for North Shore trips), and Rochester, Minnesota (about 85 miles and 1.25 hours for Mayo Clinic travel). Long-distance trips are typically structured as a one-way transfer or a multi-day booking rather than by the hour.
Overnight trips need the full itinerary — departure time, overnight stop, return timing — laid out with the request so it comes back priced correctly. Call 952-697-2230 if the route is complex or spans multiple days.