# ClubAcela Lounge Access for Business Class?



## D E K E R

Hi all,


This morning, I tried to visit the ClubAcela lounge in NYP, but I was holding a business class ticket for the NE Regional. I was told only first class passengers are allowed in ClubAcela.

That being said, there is no first class available on the Regional. Business is the highest seating available on those trains. As a result, it sounds like no NE Regional passengers are allowed in ClubAcela.

Anyone else run into this? Thoughts?


Thanks.


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## swc34

That is true, on the NEC, you must be Acela First class or Sleeper Class to use the lounge, but anywhere else in the country, a business class seat gets you access. I am sure it comes down to the fact that the lounge is not large enough to accommodate that influx of people. As to what you can do, I have been told a business class ticket can gain access by paying a fee of $20 I believe, please correct me if I’m wrong.


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## D E K E R

I wasn't offered an option by the lounge attendant to pay and get in. She simply informed me that it's first class passengers only and my business class ticket was not eligible.


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## jis

swc34 said:


> That is true, on the NEC, you must be Acela First class or Sleeper Class to use the lounge, but anywhere else in the country, a business class seat gets you access. I am sure it comes down to the fact that the lounge is not large enough to accommodate that influx of people. As to what you can do, I have been told a business class ticket can gain access by paying a fee of $20 I believe, please correct me if I’m wrong.


There are no purchasable day passes for Business Class customers, for the New York and Washington DC lounges. Business Class passengers can purchase day passes for Boston and Philadelphia lounges

Information from the veritable horse's mouth at:

https://www.amtrak.com/station-lounges

I looked at the policy after a long time and am delighted to discover that now I can use my United Club membership at all Club Acela and Metropolitan Lounges! We used to be restricted to only Club Acelas in the past. Good change!


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## Bob Dylan

Aren't the Club Acela Lounges being rebranded as Metropolitan Lounges?


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## jis

Bob Dylan said:


> Aren't the Club Acela Lounges being rebranded as Metropolitan Lounges?


The current names as they are appear in the Lounges information. What happens in the future, who knows? I suspect nothing will change in NYP until the Lounge(s) in the Moynihan Concourse come on line.


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## bratkinson

Rather than $20 a pop to buy a Club Acela/Metropolitan Lounge pass, one can always 'purchase' them with points...5,000 points for a pack of 5 coupons. It's necessary to go to your AGR account, click the 'redemption' button and 'Amtrak Travel' button and then scroll down to see the Lounge passes. And, for what it's worth, at 5,000 points at 34.5 points per dollar usual redemption value = $144.93. I think I'd rather pay upon entry $20 each, or, $100 for five visits, and buy $144.93 worth of tickets.


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## Palmetto

If you are changing from sleeper class to a different class in order to continue your journey, then you will have access to the lounge. This is a pretty common occurrence when passengers from the Florida trains are going further east into New England somewhere.


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## D E K E R

Yes, this definitely makes sense. Points are better spent on tickets.



bratkinson said:


> Rather than $20 a pop to buy a Club Acela/Metropolitan Lounge pass, one can always 'purchase' them with points...5,000 points for a pack of 5 coupons. It's necessary to go to your AGR account, click the 'redemption' button and 'Amtrak Travel' button and then scroll down to see the Lounge passes. And, for what it's worth, at 5,000 points at 34.5 points per dollar usual redemption value = $144.93. I think I'd rather pay upon entry $20 each, or, $100 for five visits, and buy $144.93 worth of tickets.


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## PVD

I don't think Washington or NY sell day passes, but the coupons from the 5 packs available from AGR are accepted.
While points for tickets over coupons usually makes sense, I have a unique situation. I get reimbursed for most of my tickets, so I don't have many opportunities to use points for tickets. I use NER and Empire Service, and the points for coupons was not a bad way to have the lounge option at penn.


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## Acela150

PVD said:


> I don't think Washington or NY sell day passes



Correct. Those are the two busiest lounges. Philly and Boston have passes for purchase.


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## MARC Rider

Also, if you earn enough points to make Select Plus, you also have access to all the lounges, even if you're traveling coach.


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## jis

MARC Rider said:


> Also, if you earn enough points to make Select Plus, you also have access to all the lounges, even if you're traveling coach.



Or even if you are not traveling at all!


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## uppereastsider

MARC Rider said:


> Also, if you earn enough points to make Select Plus, you also have access to all the lounges, even if you're traveling coach.



And also, United Club Access, which for me makes my Amtrak status one of the most valuable frequent traveller statuses for me


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## the_traveler

The Lounges in PHL and BOS have been rebranded as Metropolitan Lounges. The Lounges in NYP and WAS are still called Club Acela - at least for now. That is why you can not purchase a day pass for them.


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## Acela150

the_traveler said:


> The Lounges in PHL and BOS have been rebranded as Metropolitan Lounges. The Lounges in NYP and WAS are still called Club Acela - at least for now. That is why you can not purchase a day pass for them.



Dave, that's actually not why. Day passes were for sale at BOS and PHL longgggg before the rebrand. The main reason is because BOS and PHL are not used as heavily as WAS and NYP.


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## PVD

If you started adding extra traffic into NYP and WAS, you could easily overwhelm them, both see a fair amount of sleeper passengers in addition to the Acela FC, and neither is particularly large. When NYP relocates maybe it will change, but who knows.


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## jis

PVD said:


> If you started adding extra traffic into NYP and WAS, you could easily overwhelm them, both see a fair amount of sleeper passengers in addition to the Acela FC, and neither is particularly large. When NYP relocates maybe it will change, but who knows.


NYP will remain exactly where it is. What will happen is an additional concourse will be built for primary use of Amtrak on the west side of 8th Ave. There will be no change in the location of any tracks or platforms.

There will be a much larger upper class lounge (whatever it is called) in the new concourse - the so called Moynihan Concourse (or as some like to call it to confuse themselves - the Moynihan Station).


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## PVD

Yes, of course I meant the lounge in NYP, not NYP itself.....


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