# Special announcement from Amtrak this weekend?



## Cal (Nov 22, 2021)

Interesting


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## Sidney (Nov 22, 2021)

Perfect announcement would be traditional dining is returning to every train,The Sightseer car returns to the Texas Eagle and Capitol Limited and there is a sale on sleeper fares. One can dream.


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 22, 2021)

Dang, that’s annoying to say this and make us wait 5 days.

totally overthinking and reading waayyy to much into things, but:

what if they’re showing an Amfleet car instead of a superliner because they’re returning traditional Dining to eastern trains?


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## JoshP (Nov 22, 2021)

That will be the black friday sale, more likely


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## me_little_me (Nov 22, 2021)

Sidney said:


> Perfect announcement would be traditional dining is returning to every train,The Sightseer car returns to the Texas Eagle and Capitol Limited and there is a sale on sleeper fares. One can dream.


Fantasize, you mean. Dreams are possible. Fantasies are unrealistic.

Amtrak Announcement: "We're going to one day a week". ONLY KIDDING! <----Please NOTE!!!!


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 22, 2021)

JoshP said:


> That will be the black friday sale, more likely


I don't think this is likely. They have a black friday sale every year, so why make us all intensely wait for something ordinary?


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## MARC Rider (Nov 22, 2021)

me_little_me said:


> Dreams are possible.


Youve never seen any of my dreams. Some of them are truly weird scenarios. Freud would have a field day with me.


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## McIntyre2K7 (Nov 22, 2021)

Maybe it has something to do with this.....


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## PaTrainFan (Nov 22, 2021)

It is unusual to make any kind of major announcement on the weekend.


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## CCC1007 (Nov 22, 2021)

My guess is a restoration of the full NEC schedule... I think that one of the only things that would make it to their Twitter.


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## Cal (Nov 22, 2021)

CCC1007 said:


> My guess is a restoration of the full NEC schedule... I think that one of the only things that would make it to their Twitter.


The picture I posted was on Instagram, and they announced the return of traditional dining to western trains on it (and frequently advertise the scenic views). Their social media team is great.


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## TinCan782 (Nov 22, 2021)

Saw that on Facebook. Don't know what to make of it. Not holding my breath!


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## CCC1007 (Nov 22, 2021)

Cal said:


> The picture I posted was on Instagram, and they announced the return of traditional dining to western trains on it (and frequently advertise the scenic views). Their social media team is great.


Looks like I misidentified the platform, but I still hold the view that the most likely announcement on a weekend will be the restoration of the NEC to full schedule, since that is the last major part of the network to be reduced in schedule, which Amtrak doesn't have to negotiate with states over.


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## TrackWalker (Nov 22, 2021)

McIntyre2K7 said:


> Maybe it has something to do with this.....
> 
> View attachment 25637




Linky thingy


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## JoshP (Nov 22, 2021)

McIntyre2K7 said:


> Maybe it has something to do with this.....
> 
> View attachment 25637


That was already announced 2 days ago, it was on Amtrak website


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 22, 2021)

What we need from Amtrak is less suspense, not more. Just make the announcement already.

The only announcement that would get me excited is if the Adirondack starts running again, and it can’t be that.


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## chrsjrcj (Nov 22, 2021)

They’re bringing back PDF schedules.

OR

Cyber Monday sale is my more likely bet.


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## west point (Nov 22, 2021)

A real WAG how about some Siemens cars are going into service for CHI regionals. As well one or two Superliner routes will go back to single level so more SL cars for western trains.


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## TaseMeBro (Nov 22, 2021)

Not to.. erm.. derail... the topic of this thread, but what have the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales been like in years past?

Just a flat percent off? I've been casually eyeing a relatively inexpensive/short sleeper trip, as well as a rail pass... might be tempted.

(Posted from aboard the Surfliner, I'm happy to say)


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## josephr33 (Nov 23, 2021)

My guess is either firm date for new Acela in service or details on the Siemens amfleet replacements.


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## Cal (Nov 23, 2021)

There’s a looooot of ideas on here. Watch them all be wrong!


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## neroden (Nov 23, 2021)

I want it to be published ingredients lists, but it won't be


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## Trogdor (Nov 23, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> I don't think this is likely. They have a black friday sale every year, so why make us all intensely wait for something ordinary?



Have you seen how marketing departments work?


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## Hans627 (Nov 23, 2021)

Following!


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## TheVig (Nov 23, 2021)

Bringing back smoking on the train?
Cafe car will now accept food stamps, in order to further bolster equity on the rails?
Partnership with Greyhound?
Troublemakers will be forced to do community service by cleaning Amfleet plumbing systems?
Catering and dining car services will be contracted out to VIA Rail?
All sleeper rooms will have individual cooling/heating units?
Trump will be named CEO?

Anybody’s guess is just as good as the next.


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## cocojacoby (Nov 23, 2021)

Is that really the best picture they could find? An Amfleet car under a very rusty train station canopy?


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## TheVig (Nov 23, 2021)

cocojacoby said:


> Is that really the best picture they could find? An Amfleet car under a very rusty train station canopy?



Center For Excellence doesn’t have anyone trained in photoshop skills.


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## joelkfla (Nov 23, 2021)

cocojacoby said:


> Is that really the best picture they could find? An Amfleet car under a very rusty train station canopy?


Maybe that's the "before" picture, and we'll be treated to the "after" picture this weekend.

From an artistic standpoint, it does have nice composition.


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## cassie225 (Nov 23, 2021)

I just want traditional dining back on the Crescent so I can visit my daughter in Jersey, we all got our wish list lol


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## Rasputin (Nov 23, 2021)

They are going to restore the Olympian.


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## denmarks (Nov 23, 2021)

I want them to announce that they are lowering all their bedroom fares and will give me a big refund for my trip next April.


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## jis (Nov 23, 2021)

I suspect there are two major possibilities:

1. something to do with new equipment order, full funding or deployment. 

2. Something to do with food service.

But of course we will know in a few days, won't we?


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## PerRock (Nov 23, 2021)

jis said:


> Something to do with new equipment order, full funding or deployment.



That's a good point, there was a Youtuber who recently released a video claiming insider knowledge of a big Siemens equipment order Amtrak had placed. His source was that he had talked to 'someone at Amtrak media relations'. Most of the order was to replace the single level fleet.

peter


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## Sidney (Nov 23, 2021)

A big tease by Amtrak five days ahead of the announcement better be substantial and price related.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 23, 2021)

It might be “brightline has bought us. All cars will now be First Class. Free champagne for all adults. For all children, free coloring books with pictures of Amtrak rolling stock and free crayons to color the equipment with nice brightline neon colors. And really good free cookies for everyone.”

Or, more likely, it could be, “Our announcement has been delayed. We will announce it on a triweekly schedule on a day that does not contain a “y.”


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## chrsjrcj (Nov 23, 2021)

Amtrak has already confirmed Siemens for new corridor equipment, right?

Seeing the Amfleet made me think equipment related announcement, but at this point all that is left are long distance. I’m too cynical to believe that’s the case.


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## neroden (Nov 23, 2021)

How about a big announcement that they'll be publishing timetables like every other railroad in the world. No? Not expecting that either.


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## PerRock (Nov 23, 2021)

chrsjrcj said:


> Amtrak has already confirmed Siemens for new corridor equipment, right?
> 
> Seeing the Amfleet made me think equipment related announcement, but at this point all that is left are long distance. I’m too cynical to believe that’s the case.



Sort of, they announced (not considering the one, uncredited youtuber leak I mentioned earlier) the Siemens is the preffered bidder, but not that they had won any bids.


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## Trogdor (Nov 23, 2021)

Equipment orders aren’t the kind of things marketing departments tease five days in advance. Those things tend to be disclosed either as soon as the ink hits the paper on the contract, or once the board votes to approve such a purchase.

And marketing/social media wouldn’t be privvy to the details of contracts before they’re signed.


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## Cal (Nov 23, 2021)

cocojacoby said:


> Is that really the best picture they could find? An Amfleet car under a very rusty train station canopy?


They use any and all pictures posted by people on Instagram, which is a good thing imho. Interacting with riders and railfans.


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## Exvalley (Nov 23, 2021)

It's odd to me that they would drop this on the weekend after a major holiday. That suggests to me that it is more leisure focused than business focused. Going by the picture, I am going to say that the announcement will be the restoration of traditional dining to eastern US trains. 

But their stunt is working. They have us all talking about it.


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## AmtrakBlue (Nov 23, 2021)

Exvalley said:


> It's odd to me that they would drop this on the weekend after a major holiday. That suggests to me that it is more leisure focused than business focused. Going by the picture, I am going to say that the announcement will be the restoration of traditional dining to eastern US trains.
> 
> But their stunt is working. They have us all talking about it.


But cyber Monday is after the weekend. And don’t we all buy our tickets online?


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## me_little_me (Nov 23, 2021)

TheVig said:


> Bringing back smoking on the train?
> Cafe car will now accept food stamps, in order to further bolster equity on the rails?
> Partnership with Greyhound?
> Troublemakers will be forced to do community service by cleaning Amfleet plumbing systems?
> ...


A man after my own heart.

I have a few more:

Amtrak executives will publicly announce their ignorance and incompetence at a public session. Each executive will donate the equivalent of their entire salary of the past 5 years to the RPA and will personally assume the responsibility for cleaning all coach restrooms on December 15 and each subsequent day until every car restroom in the inventory has received at least one cleaning..

Amtrak guarantees that if you take a long distance train during the month of January, you will find an executive riding from end to and, listing all the deficiencies found and interviewing not less than 100 coach and sleeper passengers to get their input on the quality of service.

Amtrak will announce their new, high quality web site and the replacement for Arrow which will be released without a single bug by January 1.

Amtrak executives will live in roomettes on board a stored superliner car from this weekend until the last superliner car stored since Covid began has been returned to full service and all VL2 sleepers are put to use.

Only flex food will be served in the executive dining room and at Board meetings for one year.

Amtrak executives will each ride every superliner train and, until all SSLs are restored, only sleep in the SSL car or the baggage car which means those trains that don't have an SSL will have no place for the executive to sleep other than the baggage car.

Once the penalty phase for freight-caused delays begins, Amtrak Chargers will each pull a disabled P42 engine at the rear end of their train and drop it off behind them at a single-track location every time an Amtrak train is delayed due to freight interference.

Have I missed anything?


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## me_little_me (Nov 23, 2021)

cocojacoby said:


> Is that really the best picture they could find? An Amfleet car under a very rusty train station canopy?


So appropriate.


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## Cal (Nov 23, 2021)

me_little_me said:


> Only flex food will be served in the executive dining room and at Board meetings for one year.


We’ll that’d be a death sentence with all the sodium! Or is that your plan….


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## MARC Rider (Nov 23, 2021)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> It might be “brightline has bought us. All cars will now be First Class. Free champagne for all adults. For all children, free coloring books with pictures of Amtrak rolling stock and free crayons to color the equipment with nice brightline neon colors. And really good free cookies for everyone.”


There's a widespread belief in some places that all that's needed to increase the ridership and relevance of passenger rail are more luxuries and perks. Personally, I'd like to see more of:

More trains that operate at convenient schedules and competitive speeds with consistently good timekeeping. (i.e., they run on schedule)
Trains in tip-top mechanical condition so that the trip is not rudely interrupted by equipment failure
Staff who are efficient and helpful (most staff are already, but there are some big exceptions.)
Seating and accommodations that are reasonably comfortable. (Someone needs to replace those hard prison mattresses currently installed in the Viewliner I upper level berths.)
Consistently clean restrooms.
Trains that run on time. (I think I already said that, but it bears repeating.)
Safe operations (derailments and crashes, in addition to putting us at risk for personal harm, also mess up the timekeeping.)

While the food service could definitely be improved, it's really not necessary for me to have 5-star gourmet food as part of a 5 - 45 hour train trip. I can get that at a 5-star restaurant at my destination.


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## Sidney (Nov 23, 2021)

Cal said:


> We’ll that’d be a death sentence with all the sodium! Or is that your plan….


I always wondered if Richard Anderson ever rode a long distance train for an overnight and ever had the flex food he enthusiastically proclaimed as the new improved dining experience? My guess is no and no.


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 23, 2021)

jis said:


> I suspect there are two major possibilities:
> 
> 1. something to do with new equipment order, full funding or deployment.
> 
> ...


Man I hope you're right.

Given my conversations with various OBS workers, and the chatter over the past 10 months, I actually think a return to some semblance of traditional dining on eastern trains is actually possible.


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## 87YJ (Nov 23, 2021)

They are building "new" Pacific parlor cars for the Coast Starlight!


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 23, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> There's a widespread belief in some places that all that's needed to increase the ridership and relevance of passenger rail are more luxuries and perks. Personally, I'd like to see more of:
> 
> More trains that operate at convenient schedules and competitive speeds with consistently good timekeeping. (i.e., they run on schedule)
> Trains in tip-top mechanical condition so that the trip is not rudely interrupted by equipment failure
> ...



I heartily agree with absolutely everything you say here. I was just being goofy and having some fun with the brightline comments —everything you mention here is much more important than luxury perks.


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## MikefromCrete (Nov 23, 2021)

It's probably something very mundane, like a ticket sale. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in an outside photo of any type of car.


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## west point (Nov 23, 2021)

Management shake up ???? Remember news that makes management look really bad comes on weekends. Usually after evening news on Saturday. The Olympic bombing suspect retraction a good example.


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## rickb (Nov 23, 2021)

Will their press conference be repeatedly interrupted by executives from Norfolk Southern, UP, and CSX, who will shove the Amtrak spox to the side, whenever and for as long as they choose?


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## Skylark (Nov 23, 2021)

Either they will start selling the new blankets
Or
Full restoration of trad dining service


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## Cal (Nov 24, 2021)

Skylark said:


> Either they will start selling the new blankets
> Or
> Full restoration of trad dining service


Why would them selling the new blankets be a big announcement? Did they even sell the OLD blankets?


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## Skylark (Nov 24, 2021)

Cal said:


> Why would them selling the new blankets be a big announcement? Did they even sell the OLD blankets?


That was mainly tongue-in-cheek but they are apparently in demand especially as they are branded now...


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## AmtrakMaineiac (Nov 24, 2021)

P


rickb said:


> Will their press conference be repeatedly interrupted by executives from Norfolk Southern, UP, and CSX, who will shove the Amtrak spox to the side, whenever and for as long as they choose?


Then the Amtrak exec's PA system will fail so they will have to ask CSX to borrow one of theirs, which will show up 5 hours later as they had to call up PA techs off of the extra board


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## chrsjrcj (Nov 24, 2021)

The latest post on Amtrak’s Instagram of the interior of a Viewliner dining car strongly implies (to me) we’ll be getting a traditional dining announcement for Eastern LD trains.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 24, 2021)

From your post to Amtrak's ear...


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 24, 2021)

I’m in agreement.
This actually makes some announcement about dining seem likely. It may not be the traditional dining we hoped for, but these clues make it pretty obvious.


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## 87YJ (Nov 24, 2021)

The trains will run on time.....


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## TrackWalker (Nov 24, 2021)

Amtrak will now accept cash in its new updated dining cars. (Please bring your own quarters as there is a national coin shortage.) -Amtrak


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## Cal (Nov 24, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> I’m in agreement.
> This actually makes some announcement about dining seem likely. It may not be the traditional dining we hoped for, but these clues make it pretty obvious.
> View attachment 25645


We’ll, y’all beat me to it. I agree


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 24, 2021)

That pretty much nails it. Yahoo! As soon as the news hits, I'm booking something...


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## pennyk (Nov 24, 2021)

Brian Battuello said:


> That pretty much nails in. Yahoo! As soon as the news hits, I'm booking something...


I am hoping you all are correct. I recently booked Silvers for a January trip. My fingers are crossed that traditional dining will return before my trip (or I can delay my trip).


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## Sidney (Nov 24, 2021)

pennyk said:


> I am hoping you all are correct. I recently booked Silvers for a January trip. My fingers are crossed that traditional dining will return before my trip (or I can delay my trip).


Sounds plausible. Probably after the New Year putting an end to one of Amtrak's biggest blunders.


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## oregon pioneer (Nov 24, 2021)

Oh, I sure hope it will have something to do with real food for my Jan/Feb trip which includes the LSL!


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## lordsigma (Nov 24, 2021)

I’m skeptical it’s OBS related - we’d be getting info from rail passengers and rumors/leaks - my prediction is that it will be a big sale which they always do this time of year. Not trying to be a party pooper just a realist. With vaccine mandate still presenting unknowns regarding service I can’t imagine they’re thinking about expanded OBS at this time. Also when I look at the careers page the only possible traditional dining related jobs are one chef for the Chicago base (likely for the Zephyr) and a general OBS for the auto train.


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## joelkfla (Nov 24, 2021)

lordsigma said:


> I’m skeptical it’s OBS related - we’d be getting info from rail passengers and rumors/leaks - my prediction is that it will be a big sale which they always do this time of year. Not trying to be a party pooper just a realist. With vaccine mandate still presenting unknowns regarding service I can’t imagine they’re thinking about expanded OBS at this time. Also when I look at the careers page the only possible traditional dining related jobs are one chef for the Chicago base (likely for the Zephyr) and a general OBS for the auto train.


There were a lot of OBS postings, including chefs, a month or 2 ago. If they were hired, they might be coming out of training soon.

I don't think passengers would know anything.


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## NSC1109 (Nov 24, 2021)

joelkfla said:


> There were a lot of OBS postings, including chefs, a month or 2 ago. If they were hired, they might be coming out of training soon.
> 
> I don't think passengers would know anything.


not talking about actual passengers but rather RPA, the passenger railroad advocacy group.

all Amtrak trains on BNSF lines will carry a Z9 symbol since the A symbols are meaningless. If you know, you know.


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## lordsigma (Nov 24, 2021)

joelkfla said:


> There were a lot of OBS postings, including chefs, a month or 2 ago. If they were hired, they might be coming out of training soon.


There were but all the ones relevant to full dining cars seemed to be at crew bases serving the western long distance trains that currently have full service dining - unless someone spotted something I didn’t - but I never saw anything at NYP or MIA or anything like that.


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## Amtrakfflyer (Nov 25, 2021)

Black Friday sale or cyber Monday.


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## joelkfla (Nov 25, 2021)

lordsigma said:


> There were but all the ones relevant to full dining cars seemed to be at crew bases serving the western long distance trains that currently have full service dining - unless someone spotted something I didn’t - but I never saw anything at NYP or MIA or anything like that.


I did note some postings for MIA, but I don't remember how many nor whether they were food service related.


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## lordsigma (Nov 25, 2021)

The thing to look for would be chef and food specialist jobs - though I think prior to going flex in the east due to the smaller amount of tables and sleeper rooms they operated with just a chef, LSA - Diner, and one server. I never recalled seeing a food specialist on the eastern trains on the trips I took.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 25, 2021)

Amtrak doesn't need people to provide service. They proved that 18 months ago when they laid everyone off.


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## Cal (Nov 25, 2021)

FYI, the train shown is a long distance train, I saw a diner in the consist (it’s a video)


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 25, 2021)

Cal said:


> FYI, the train shown is a long distance train, I saw a diner in the consist (it’s a video)



to those who keep claiming a usual Black Friday sale, there is just way too much advertising and suspense for that.

It would be pretty low of them to do all this for a Black Friday sale.


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## Skylark (Nov 25, 2021)

Dining related announcement + Thanksgiving does make sense too


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## AmtrakBlue (Nov 25, 2021)

I think I found the answer.


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## chrsjrcj (Nov 25, 2021)

I’m back to thinking it’ll be Cyber Monday sale. 

I don’t remember there being any build up to the traditional dining announcement for Western LDT.


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## Cal (Nov 25, 2021)

chrsjrcj said:


> I’m back to thinking it’ll be Cyber Monday sale.
> 
> I don’t remember there being any build up to the traditional dining announcement for Western LDT.


However, after seeing the huge positive reaction maybe they decided to build it up for the introduction to all trains.


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## PaTrainFan (Nov 25, 2021)

Prediction: The ultimate announcement will underwhelm.


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 26, 2021)

this better not be it...


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## Danib62 (Nov 26, 2021)

It is and I’m just here for the reactions.


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## lordsigma (Nov 26, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> View attachment 25662
> 
> this better not be it...


That be it


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## Sidney (Nov 26, 2021)

That 's the announcement we waited five days for? Good God! How about a sleeper deal or the return of real food to every train? I normally travel alone,so this is underwhelming,to say the least.


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## jis (Nov 26, 2021)

And it happens virtually every year. So basically ho..hum.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 26, 2021)

So someone decided to puff up a routine announcement with some social hype. I propose we all pelt him with his choice of brownies or blondies.


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## daybeers (Nov 26, 2021)

Doesn't the Track Friday sale usually include routes outside the Northeast Corridor/VA/Maine? Either way it's a bad sale.



Brian Battuello said:


> So someone decided to puff up a routine announcement with some social hype. I propose we all pelt him with his choice of brownies or blondies.


Endless high fructose corn syrup!


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## TrackWalker (Nov 26, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> View attachment 25662


The only friends I have is the money in my pocket.
The more money I have, the more friends I have. 
The less money I have, the less friends I have.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 26, 2021)

And really. Valid for travel Jan 4 through Apr 30th. Like I know today when my friend and I want to go to NYC in March. 

Zzzzzz......


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## TylerP42 (Nov 26, 2021)

A lot of hype for something that happens almost yearly! lol


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## Cal (Nov 26, 2021)

Once again, hugely disappointed.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 26, 2021)

This is it? Really? This is beyond insulting to longtime Amtrak travelers. 

Amtrak must realize that, with such a buildup, we were expecting something important—most likely, return of traditional dining in the east.

Instead, it’s just a BOGO deal like you can get in any cheap store.

I am feeling less and less like taking Amtrak anywhere anymore, between their high prices and cavalier attitude.

If some of you think I’m overreacting, think of it like this: suppose your favorite bookstore advertised and hyped a book sale—and when you got there (first in line and excited), you found all they had was one tattered used paperback for sale. Would you go back and spend your money there? Of course not.

Has Amtrak’s marketing department been told to antagonize and turn away longtime customers as they go after new ones? Or are they just dumb as dirt?

At least they are honest enough to refer to the deal as “an experience,” not “a good experience”!


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## Rasputin (Nov 26, 2021)

Quite underwhelming! I don't see any clarification if this is only for a one way trip or if it can be used for a round trip.


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## NSC1109 (Nov 26, 2021)

Good lord…..


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## lordsigma (Nov 26, 2021)

I mean no disrespect to anyone who had higher hopes, but I think people read way too much into the photos that were chosen for this social media posting. They do a BOGO sale every year this time of year - that was my automatic assumption when I saw the teaser. There has been absolutely no information coming out to indicate anything related to dining cars in the east / if that was what the announcement was we’d all know by now because RPA would have been told and it would have been released to employees and there’d be rumors galore and with the staffing situation I can’t imagine that’s even remotely close to the front burner at Amtrak right now - we will be lucky to maintain status quo through the winter….so while I don’t want to be rude….. not quite sure why anyone is that surprised. Perhaps a poor choice of photos when you consider the sensitivity of the food and beverage situation to many railfans but the social media department isn’t necessarily going to be that attuned to what makes the railfans tick. They wanted to try to push the sale and they picked some pretty photos.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 26, 2021)

We wouldn't be Amtrak riders if we weren't optimists. Why else would we ride a train not knowing what day, much less hour, it will get to its destination?


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 26, 2021)

lordsigma said:


> I don’t want to be rude....
> 
> Perhaps a poor choice of photos...but the social media department isn’t necessarily going to be that attuned to what makes the railfans tick. They wanted to try to push the sale and they picked some pretty photos.



You are not being rude at all. And you make good points. 

I do feel that if the social media department is professional, they should be aware of what is important to those who take the trains the most, and the pictures they choose should be pertinent to the topic.

(I had the same problem throughout my editing career—the arts/graphics people were always trying to throw in pictures that had nothing to do with the report, and when I asked why they chose pictures that had nothing to do with the topic, they said because “they were eye catching.”)

I guess I will have to treat Amtrak’s press releases and teasers the same way I now treat actual Amtrak travel: expect only the bare minimum and be pleasantly surprised when it is anything better.


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## Brian Battuello (Nov 26, 2021)

And I bet that regular AU posters are a miniscule and insignificant part of the market. They send out a few hundred thousand emails and some folks bite. Not like it cost them anything.


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## lordsigma (Nov 26, 2021)

And most likely AU would probably know about the return of traditional dining in the east before the Amtrak social media department lol.


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## Tlcooper93 (Nov 26, 2021)

Well, see you all next time


lordsigma said:


> And most likely AU would probably know about the return of traditional dining in the east before the Amtrak social media department lol.



to be fair, there has been some chatter of the return of traditional dining in the east. 

Certainly not in time for this announcement, but it’s definitely on the radar in some form.


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## TaseMeBro (Nov 26, 2021)

Has anyone tried booking with the C240 discount code to take advantage of this?

I tried a couple dummy bookings, going as far as the payment screen, but didn't have any luck.

The routes, stops, and dates I tried all fit within the terms. On desktop, it says the code isn't valid at all. On mobile/app, it shows the code as valid, but doesn't actually discount anything.

Anyone have any luck? If so, mind sharing the city pair and date you used so I can see what it looks like?


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## AmtrakBlue (Nov 26, 2021)

TaseMeBro said:


> Has anyone tried booking with the C240 discount code to take advantage of this?
> 
> I tried a couple dummy bookings, going as far as the payment screen, but didn't have any luck.
> 
> ...


Did you read all the terms & conditions?


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## west point (Nov 26, 2021)

Here is a guarantee item that will not happen. Amtrak announces once a week round trip PHL <> NYP on the new Acela-2. Non stop 59 minutes each way


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## TaseMeBro (Nov 26, 2021)

AmtrakBlue said:


> Did you read all the terms & conditions?



I certainly think so. As an example, one search I tried, just to test, was from:

NYP > NWK (Which fits in the area allowable under the T&C)
January 25th (Which fits in the date range allowable under the T&C)
On the NER (Which is fine under the T&C)

On the desktop site, putting c240 returns "Coupon Code Not Valid" - With 2 passengers listed.
On the app, it takes the code, but doesn't change the final price.

Tried a couple other city pairs too, just to test and see if maybe there was a blackout around something I was trying.


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## PaTrainFan (Nov 26, 2021)

You know the story of the boy who cried wolf...


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## TinCan782 (Nov 26, 2021)

Another NEC only deal. Other LD trains - forget it!


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## lordsigma (Nov 26, 2021)

Tlcooper93 said:


> Well, see you all next time
> 
> 
> to be fair, there has been some chatter of the return of traditional dining in the east.
> ...


There’s been chatter - but nowhere near what preceded the return of traditional dining out west.


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## Mystic River Dragon (Nov 26, 2021)

TinCan782 said:


> Another NEC only deal. Other LD trains - forget it!



But we still only have frozen dinners and flexible brownies/blondies for our meals out here.

Also, to make you feel better, notice that the “deals” are the cheapest things they can get away with. It would be a better deal if it were BOGO in NEC Business Class or Acela First Class.


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## jis (Nov 26, 2021)

Maybe the marketing department forgot to notify the center for excellence so that they could whip the rear end of the IT department into alignment.


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## Just-Thinking-51 (Nov 26, 2021)

jis said:


> Maybe the marketing department forgot to notify the center for excellence so that they could whip the rear end of the IT department into alignment.


Or maybe the IT department has the holiday weekend off, and will get around to this on Monday.


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 26, 2021)

Cue Sinatra singing " Is that All there is".


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## MikefromCrete (Nov 26, 2021)

Hey guys, I hate to say I told you so, but check out post #51.


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## Ryan (Nov 26, 2021)

JoshP said:


> That will be the black friday sale, more likely


Winner in post #4.


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## daybeers (Nov 26, 2021)

TaseMeBro said:


> I certainly think so. As an example, one search I tried, just to test, was from:
> 
> NYP > NWK (Which fits in the area allowable under the T&C)
> January 25th (Which fits in the date range allowable under the T&C)
> ...


Try using the link here to access the search for the sale prices: Buy One Ticket, Bring a Friend for Free for Northeast Travel | Amtrak
Be aware it only applies to Value and Flexible fares, not Saver fares. The T&Cs also state the sale prices are not available on all trains at all times, so I assume that means as the trains fill up, fewer seats are available in the fares allocated to the sale.


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## TaseMeBro (Nov 26, 2021)

daybeers said:


> Try using the link here to access the search for the sale prices: Buy One Ticket, Bring a Friend for Free for Northeast Travel | Amtrak
> Be aware it only applies to Value and Flexible fares, not Saver fares. The T&Cs also state the sale prices are not available on all trains at all times, so I assume that means as the trains fill up, fewer seats are available in the fares allocated to the sale.



Thanks, tried that link as well, but no luck. When I put "C240" (or c240) into the promo code box, it says it's not valid, and won't even let me click to the next screen to see prices and fare types.

I suppose it could be full promotion seats or a blackout, but I've tried a couple of different city pairs across a few different dates.


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## City of Miami (Nov 27, 2021)

TinCan782 said:


> Another NEC only deal. Other LD trains - forget it!


Isn't that where Amtrak has extra capacity to market? Not on the LDs which are frequently sold out or close to it at highest bucket.


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## F900ElCapitan (Nov 27, 2021)

City of Miami said:


> Isn't that where Amtrak has extra capacity to market? Not on the LDs which are frequently sold out or close to it at highest bucket.


Very true.


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## lordsigma (Nov 27, 2021)

I just bought a ticket to NYP for late December - I actually got it before the sale because I have a bunch of AGR companion coupons and figured the price would probably go up for whatever BOGO sale was coming!


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## Amtrakfflyer (Nov 27, 2021)

Disgusting is my opinion. Black Friday or Cyber weekend is for all intents and purposes a National holiday or at least a National event. Amtrak management decides to only throw a bone to customers of their beloved NEC. 

Granted the network trains are very well patronized with the short consists but there’s still no reason they couldn’t announce the off season sale at the same time as the NEC especially since they stired up all this hype and anticipation.


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## Willbridge (Nov 27, 2021)

lordsigma said:


> I mean no disrespect to anyone who had higher hopes, but I think people read way too much into the photos that were chosen for this social media posting. They do a BOGO sale every year this time of year - that was my automatic assumption when I saw the teaser. There has been absolutely no information coming out to indicate anything related to dining cars in the east / if that was what the announcement was we’d all know by now because RPA would have been told and it would have been released to employees and there’d be rumors galore and with the staffing situation I can’t imagine that’s even remotely close to the front burner at Amtrak right now - we will be lucky to maintain status quo through the winter….so while I don’t want to be rude….. not quite sure why anyone is that surprised. Perhaps a poor choice of photos when you consider the sensitivity of the food and beverage situation to many railfans but the social media department isn’t necessarily going to be that attuned to what makes the railfans tick. They wanted to try to push the sale and they picked some pretty photos.


Amtrak has a tradition of misapplying photos. After the _San Francisco Zephyr _was moved to Colorado to restore the _California Zephyr, _Amtrak ran an ad showing the beautiful mountain scenery that they would now access. Unfortunately, the stock photo mountains were the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. Wyoming customers who had just lost their service were outraged and their members of Congress made up for their small numbers by being vocal in their complaints.

These things matter. In 1991 when Amtrak came back to Wyoming ("never to leave again"), Senator Alan Simpson -- a very articulate man -- welcomed the new train but skewered Amtrak over that photo from years before.


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## Willbridge (Nov 27, 2021)

Brian Battuello said:


> We wouldn't be Amtrak riders if we weren't optimists. Why else would we ride a train not knowing what day, much less hour, it will get to its destination?


Out of sheer spite. That was why some of us rode the SP.


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## Ryan (Nov 27, 2021)

Amtrakfflyer said:


> Disgusting is my opinion. Black Friday or Cyber weekend is for all intents and purposes a National holiday or at least a National event. Amtrak management decides to only throw a bone to customers of their beloved NEC.
> 
> Granted the network trains are very well patronized with the short consists but there’s still no reason they couldn’t announce the off season sale at the same time as the NEC especially since they stired up all this hype and anticipation.


As was mentioned just above your post, the LD trains are selling out at the current prices. Why put them on sale just to deprive yourself of revenue?


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## Lumeria (Nov 27, 2021)

Well, I lose on two counts: I'm nowhere near the NEC (Seattle area), and BOGO's useless to me because I have no friends.


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## me_little_me (Nov 27, 2021)

Does this mean Amtrak executives are NOT announcing they are being fired for cause?

Darn! It thought I nailed it!


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## Amtrakfflyer (Nov 27, 2021)

Advertising, I won’t even say loss leader because at 25% off accommodations, Amtrak would still make a pretty penny. In the spirit of Black Friday having a 24-48 hour sale of rooms for the low season would drum up new customers. 25% off would also help the trains during the Jan-March doldrums. Short consists won’t last forever. The potential for the network trains really is unlimited if they were just managed well, which in my opinion they are not.


Ryan said:


> As was mentioned just above your post, the LD trains are selling out at the current prices. Why put them on sale just to deprive yourself of revenue?


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## NYP2NFL01 (Nov 27, 2021)

I cannot use the discount because my travel dates miss the date range by just one day!! They probably would not apply the discount to an existing reservation anyway!
So, a BOGO sale was the BIG announcement? I am too stinking upset!!!


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## lordsigma (Nov 27, 2021)

The NEC is where they need to boost revenue. If you take a look at the year end performance report it will be clearer why.


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## lordsigma (Nov 27, 2021)

And they do Long distance and auto train sales periodically - just not always at the same time.


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## west point (Nov 28, 2021)

As I posted. Announcement date and time made to get minimum criticisms from the press. Also more importantly trying to avoid congressional and executive notice of how lame announcement is. As others have posted LD trains no effect. Still Amtrak trying to boost the NEC before there is a realization that LD travel needs more capacity that can be robbed from NEC without having any effect on NEC ridership


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## Rambling Robert (Nov 28, 2021)

These potential passengers show their disappointment that the announcement was not Coach communal dining. They were also hoping a special rate in the CUS metropolitan lounge for a family communal shower.


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## Ryan (Nov 28, 2021)

Amtrakfflyer said:


> Advertising, I won’t even say loss leader because at 25% off accommodations, Amtrak would still make a pretty penny. In the spirit of Black Friday having a 24-48 hour sale of rooms for the low season would drum up new customers. 25% off would also help the trains during the Jan-March doldrums. Short consists won’t last forever. The potential for the network trains really is unlimited if they were just managed well, which in my opinion they are not.



Decent idea, poor timing. What's the point in drumming up a whole bunch of new customers when they're simultaneously contemplating going to less-than-daily service because they may not have enough staff to work the trains. You complain about mismanagement, but I'm pretty sure that attracting a whole bunch of new customers to immediately **** them off with limited availability and high prices would be a pretty bad idea.

Get the staffing right, get all of the equipment back out on the road, and then try to fill the trains with sales (preferably sales that aren't going to blow a hole in your revenue by discounting trains that are guaranteed to sell out at not-sale prices).


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## Rambling Robert (Nov 28, 2021)

A BOGO offer or any discount really isn’t needed to attract potential passengers. When I talk about my Amtrak train trips to friends and relatives ... or even strangers :.., the typical response is “I’ve been meaning to take an Amtrak trip.”

Of course I’m serious about Coach passengers a reservation to available communal seating in the Dining Car. To me that’s a big reason to travel with Amtrak.

Yeah, the BOGO is a little bogus BUT - DC is a must SEE and is FREE at most of the 18 odd Smithsonian Museums. During the height of the pandemic I enjoyed a $39 night train each way Boston to DC. I enjoyed the ride, dinner at the Dubliner (near DC US) - and little things like the response I got giving a two dollar tip to an over worked “attendant” in the cafe. The experience was priceless.


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## neroden (Nov 29, 2021)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> Has Amtrak’s marketing department been told to antagonize and turn away longtime customers as they go after new ones? Or are they just dumb as dirt?



We know already that the answer is "dumb as dirt". These are the people who failed to publish timetables for over a year, remember? Timetables are the most basic piece of train marketing. Everyone knows that, except apparently the losers at Amtrak Marketing who made that idiotic decision.


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## MARC Rider (Nov 29, 2021)

west point said:


> LD travel needs more capacity that can be robbed from NEC without having any effect on NEC ridership


What can long distance service gain in capacity from the NEC? If it's not Acela (which can't operate off the NEC), all the equipment are Amfleet 1 coaches. These hold 72 passengers in relatively cramped seating (at least compared to Amfleet 2 long-distance coaches), and have no curtains on the windows. They're really not suitable for overnight service. There's plenty of equipment around for longer consists, and thus more capacity on the long-distance trains, and, form some reports here, it appears that the consists are starting to get longer again. There's really no need to inflict Amfleet 1 corridor coaches on poor unsuspecting long-distance passengers who are used to a different hard product.

Also, be aware that service on the NEC has been cut back, too.


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## Rasputin (Nov 29, 2021)

Has anyone tried a booking on this sale? I tried a dummy booking but went fairly far along in the process but never saw anything about putting in a C240 code.

For another basic question I assume that the Amtrak booking site allows you to apply more than one voucher to a payment. Is that correct?
Thanks.


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## jis (Nov 29, 2021)

Rasputin said:


> For another basic question I assume that the Amtrak booking site allows you to apply more than one voucher to a payment. Is that correct?
> Thanks.


In the past I have been able to use multiple vouchers. However, I would not vouch for what can be done today. As we all know, in matters Amtrak always YMMV.


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## jebr (Nov 29, 2021)

Rasputin said:


> Has anyone tried a booking on this sale? I tried a dummy booking but went fairly far along in the process but never saw anything about putting in a C240 code.
> 
> For another basic question I assume that the Amtrak booking site allows you to apply more than one voucher to a payment. Is that correct?
> Thanks.



It does, though there's one voucher that I have that it just never wants to accept. Hopefully I'll be able to use it up on a single booking that I need to do soon anyways. Not sure what's different about it, but the system likes to randomly error out and cause headaches - thanks Amtrak IT!


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## Trogdor (Nov 29, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> What can long distance service gain in capacity from the NEC? If it's not Acela (which can't operate off the NEC), all the equipment are Amfleet 1 coaches. These hold 72 passengers in relatively cramped seating (at least compared to Amfleet 2 long-distance coaches), and have no curtains on the windows. They're really not suitable for overnight service. There's plenty of equipment around for longer consists, and thus more capacity on the long-distance trains, and, form some reports here, it appears that the consists are starting to get longer again. There's really no need to inflict Amfleet 1 corridor coaches on poor unsuspecting long-distance passengers who are used to a different hard product.
> 
> Also, be aware that service on the NEC has been cut back, too.



Midwest corridors are using LD coaches because of a lack of serviceable Horizons, with the Siemens cars not in service yet. If Amfleet Is replaced Amfleet IIs on St. Louis trains, those Am-IIs could go to an LD train.


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## Willbridge (Nov 29, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> What can long distance service gain in capacity from the NEC? If it's not Acela (which can't operate off the NEC), all the equipment are Amfleet 1 coaches. These hold 72 passengers in relatively cramped seating (at least compared to Amfleet 2 long-distance coaches), and have no curtains on the windows. They're really not suitable for overnight service. There's plenty of equipment around for longer consists, and thus more capacity on the long-distance trains, and, form some reports here, it appears that the consists are starting to get longer again. There's really no need to inflict Amfleet 1 corridor coaches on poor unsuspecting long-distance passengers who are used to a different hard product.
> 
> Also, be aware that service on the NEC has been cut back, too.


I'm not recommending it, but the _Pioneer _was originally operated with Amfleet 1 rolling stock for a one-night trip. The main trouble was that the amount of baggage on a sold-out train with no checked baggage service was overwhelming.

And when I rode the _Night Owl _in 1987 it was supposed to have one Heritage leg-rest coach for long-distance riders and the rest were Amfleet 1.

It was common for long-distance trains in the "Golden Era" to carry a non-leg-rest coach in the consist for short-haul passengers, employees traveling on passes, etc.


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## jis (Nov 29, 2021)

Indeed, I am sure no one will complain too loudly if they are able to get a seat on an Amfleet I anywhere, as opposed to not getting a seat at all. This business of trying to gold plate all service or not provide any service at all if the gold plating is not available is a crazy thing to do I am afraid. But it appears to be quite common practice among the circle of rail passenger enthusiasts of late.

The "You can't start or run an overnight train because we have no Diners and Sleeping Cars available" syndrome. As pointed out above, The Pioneer started as a Coach only overnight service and then grew from there. Theoretically it could have continued reverted back to a single level Coach only service when a shortage of Superliners appeared, but the preference chosen was to can it instead with no thought given to continue anything on the route.


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## west point (Nov 29, 2021)

The problems of the Siemens cars not in service is the cause of many capacity problems now and especially Thanksgiving. Why is the real cause of the delays seem to be a highly classified it is time to get some answers. Getting those cars in service will free up all AM-2s and Superliners assigned to the Midwest regionals. Then the reeded ups can go to LD trains where they belong.

If that is not enough single levels on long distance then use AM-1s for shorts.


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## TinCan782 (Nov 29, 2021)

Meanwhile, back to the "sale"...
*Amtrak limits ‘Track Friday’ sale; service reductions possible in January as unions file suit
Discount period coincides with company’s postponed employee vaccination enforcement *








Amtrak limits 'Track Friday' sale; service reductions possible in January as unions file suit - Trains


WASHINGTON — In a departure from the post-Thanksgiving “Track Friday” sale that Amtrak has staged since 2016, this year’s version is only available from Maine to Virginia in the Northeast instead of on most routes nationwide. Through today (Monday, Nov. 29) the company is offering “Buy One, Get...




www.trains.com


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## tricia (Nov 30, 2021)

neroden said:


> We know already that the answer is "dumb as dirt". These are the people who failed to publish timetables for over a year, remember? Timetables are the most basic piece of train marketing. Everyone knows that, except apparently the losers at Amtrak Marketing who made that idiotic decision.



There's no reason this has to be either/or. Perhaps BOTH "told to antagonize" AND "dumb as dirt."


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