# Day Trip to Boston First time in Acela First Class



## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 4, 2010)

To say I was excited was an understatement I woke up almost an hour before my alarm was set to go off. I decided to just get up and catch an earlier New Jersey Transit North Jersey Coastline train. I boarded a 6:55 AM express train to New York Penn Station. It was my first trip on New Jersey Transit since astronomical fare increase. My NJT trip used to be 20 dollars, this morning the ticket vending machine wanted $29.50 for the same trip!

The train pulled up on time, and I boarded a pretty empty car and headed toward New York. The train filled up over the course of its run through New Jersey. There wasn’t a single seat left by the time we started our express run up Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

We pulled into New York Penn Station a few minutes late, and I made my way to a ticket window to upgrade my return trip to first class. I was successful which means today will be my first experience in Acela First Class  . I checked into the New York Club Acela to wait for my train.

The boarding call in the lounge came about 5 minutes in advance of the official one, so I had no trouble getting a great place in line for boarding Acela 2154 on track 11. I went down and secured a window seat on the right (ocean) side of the train. I was happy to see it was a refurbished set with the leather seats. Even though it killed me inside I gave my seat away to a British couple who wanted to sit together. I swapped them for an aisle seat.

I found the wi-fi to be working just fine through Stamford, and my new laptop with a built in GPS receiver had no trouble making a connection even in aisle seat. We were slowed down and even stopped once for track and station work being done by Metro North Railroad.

Without a window seat any hopes of photography were pretty much dashed. I walked through the train after we made our station stop in New Haven and all the window seats were in use. I guess that’s what happens when more people ride trains. I spent most of the time glancing out the window and monitoring our speed.

A little bit after New Haven I headed to the Bistro Car (Café) to get some lunch. I was surprised to see several folks taking advantage of the seating in the bistro car. On previous rides the car usually stays pretty empty as people take everything back to their seats. In fact, I remember reading that Amtrak is thinking of converting that part of the car into more revenue seats. Lunch was standard Amburger and Pepsi, which was microwaved to perfection by an LSA that was friendly but inefficient.

We made it Providence, RI and according to the GPS blew through Kingston at 145 MPH. We did hit and maintain 150 MPH for a minute or two in some spots. It was nice to see that we hit the magic 150 although onboard it feels about the same as 100. After Providence we had a couple MBTA meets on our way to the first of 3 Boston Stations.

The conductor informed us we would be reaching our top speed of 150 MPH in just a moment to which the British couple sitting next to me scoffed, “Well that’s really not that fast it’s like 210km/h.” I informed them that they wouldn’t find a train moving any faster on this continent, and sadly we were years behind Europe in speed and rail service in general.

We then arrived at our first of 3 Boston stations, Route 128, after a moment we were on our way again. Then we made our stop in Boston Back Bay, and finally Boston South Station. I walked off the train and heading for the Club Acela. Boston was the only Club Acela I had not been in, and as I climbed the stairs I was quick to decide Boston is the nicest of 4. The ceilings are quite high and very ornate, and there is a lot seating. When I checked in there was only one other person in the lounge which created quite a nice atmosphere.

I had thought about riding a the subway a few stops and returning, but decided to stay in the lounge and await train 2171 the 3:15 departure back to New York.

I headed out of the Club Acela at 3 PM since the attendant clearly wasn’t going to make a boarding call. I walked toward the only Acela train set sitting at the station, and showed my first class ticket to the gate agent and was allowed to walk to the last car and get settled in. I took a single seat on the left side so I would have views of the shoreline during the ride.

There were 2 first class attendants so I have to figure one was in training. Neither one of them was very receptive to me, I guess I don’t fit the average Acela First Class passenger demographic a young kid wearing blue jeans and a ball cap, but the gentlemen across the was handed beer number 2 before I was even asked if I wanted anything (and I boarded before him!).

I got my drink and a menu, and was told orders would be taken after Route 128. The choices were ribs, or chicken teriyaki. I elected to have the chicken teriyaki which was good, but the portion was at least to me a little small. We got held up because the bridge was open (not sure which bridge we were south of New London, CT) and another train had to pass. Not a big deal we sat for 3 or 4 minutes then a Northeast Regional led by an AEM-7 rolled by and we were back on our way.

We made good time to New Haven where we stopped for a couple of minutes and met an Acela Express. The trip between New Haven and Stamford was rather uneventful as we met several outbound metro north trains. After Stanford we ran pretty slow toward New York city. I noticed the attendants became invisible, but I figured I would see them again when I detrained looking for a tip.

Overall, I enjoyed first class, but I guess I set my standards a little high. Frankly, I’ve been served more drinks in business class on a Northeast Regional. The food was good, I just wished there was a little bit more of it. Was it worth the $71 dollars it would have costed me? I don’t feel that it would have been. I certainly enjoy the Acela and find paying the premium over the regional to be worthwhile but I don’t think I would spend the money on a first class upgrade. I’m glad I got to experience it and I will certainly enjoy the 750 AGR points.

I had a small debate about tipping the attendant even though his service was far from the best I have experienced on Amtrak I still felt I should give him a little something for his service. I had a five dollar bill in my fist which I planned to hand to him while detrained, but I noticed no one else tipped him as they stepped off. I wasn’t sure if that’s because you don’t tip a first class attendant, or if they weren’t thrilled with his service either. I decided not to tip him, and instead use the 5 dollars to get a subway sandwich to satisfy my hunger. I’m still not sure if I did the right thing or not, but it’s too late now.

I took an escalator up to the circus that in New York Penn Station in the middle of a weekday rush hour. I personally love the hustle and bustle of the station at this time, so I took the long way and walk through most of the Long Island Railroad Terminal. That tends to be the most crowded and interesting part of the station and tonight was no exception. I heard the coastline train prior to the one I had planned on taking was canceled to equipment malfunction, so I decided I would wait an extra 20 minutes for the next one. I got my sandwich walked around the station a little more, and found a good spot to make the dash to my train.

The train wasn’t to crowded, and I got a pair of seats to myself. We pulled out right on time, but when we arrived in Secaucus Junction we were held for 25 minutes due to a medical emergency in the car behind mine. I didn’t really mind since this was my last train of the day, and even though it meant the sunlight wouldn’t last all the way to Little Silver I wouldn’t miss anything I hadn’t seen before. We arrived at Little Silver just shy of a half hour late.

Overall, I had a great day on the rails, and really enjoyed all 4 parts of my trip. I was glad to try Acela First Class, even though it wasn’t the best experience I’ve had on Amtrak. It was still a positive one, now I know its not worth paying for an upgrade, although like all things on Amtrak the crews attitude makes or breaks something.

Thank you so much for reading my report! I would like to apologize for any errors in spelling and grammar. Please feel free to ask any questions, or leave any comments!

On a side not Amtrak Connect worked flawlessly the entire trip I was able to maintain a wi-fi connection and the speeds were decent. It’s a great service and it made the trip even more enjoyable. I hope Amtrak expands the service to other routes.

Photos can be found here


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 4, 2010)

Great report Stephen!  Look forward to the pics! I agree that paying for a FC upgrade isnt worth it, a coupon or on your employer's nickel is a different story! I'm surprised that the FC attendants were missing in action but not surprised they catered to older pax( in a suit no doubt!)  You can't judge a book by it's cover as they say! I'd say you did the right thing not tipping, TIPS stands for: "to insure prompt service", some say professional, but it's not automatic!  Glad you enjoyed the lounges, they definitely are worth it in most stations!  (New Orleans might be the exception!)BTW-a 50% increase in fare is pretty steep, I thought Republicans were conservatives, that new NJ Gov sounds like an idiot based on what Ive read!


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## MikefromCrete (Jun 5, 2010)

Great report, Long Train. I'd say you were right in not tipping the attendant since it seems he didn't go "above and beyond" with you. The money was better spent on the sandwich!


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## Steve4031 (Jun 5, 2010)

You did the right thing in not tipping. Regardless of age, you are entitled to proper service. The attendance have no way of knowing you used an upgrade certificate, so as far as they should be concerned, your $71 dollars is the same as the $71 dollars from the guy across the aisle who got two beers before you were even acknowledge.

I have usually received good service in Acela first class, but once or twice it was sup-par. The most memorable was a trip from New Haven to NYP a couple of years ago. Of course I like Acela because of the large windows, and the equipment. A side benefit is usually fewer kids, and usually none in first class.

On this particular trip, I grabbed the only available window which as in a set of 4 seats facing each other. I noticed some mysterious goo on the table as I started to set my Iphone down. Luckily I saw it first. I notified the attendant, who was not apologetic. I assumed somebody had left a mess and just gotten off In New Haven. This was not the case. A couple sitting behind me had a baby. Apparently, the lady had moved up to my seating area to feed the baby, and had left a mess. To her credit, she apologized and offered to buy me a drink. I declined.

After cleaning up the spill, the attendant (a female) proceded to kneel on the seat next to me and engage in the ooey gooey baby ritual with the lady behind me. She had yet to acknowledge me, offer a drink, or bring the warm nuts. After a moment of the ooey gooey baby ritual, I pointedly asked her to see the lunch menu. She retreated to get the menu, surprised at my abruptness. Then when she returned with lunch menu, I asked for a coke. So now another trip. And then a third trip to get the nuts. By now she knew I was irritated and was trying to play catch up and be nice.

I wasn't buying it. She down 21-0 going into the 4th quarter, and I ran up the score. Smiles were greeted with glowers, and I requested one or 2 more cokes before the end of the trip. And I did not tip.


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## the_traveler (Jun 5, 2010)

If you were south of NLC, that bridge that was open had to be the one over the Connecticut River, just east of OSB. The other bridges are north of NLC. The one just north of NLC has the Coast Guard Academy on one side of the Thames River (just north of the bridge), and a Navy (sub) base on the other side of the river (although the naval base may have closed).

BTW - good report!


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## confused_cambio (Jun 5, 2010)

Long Train Runnin said:


> The conductor informed us we would be reaching our top speed of 150 MPH in just a moment to which the British couple sitting next to me scoffed, “Well that’s really not that fast it’s like 210km/h.” I informed them that they wouldn’t find a train moving any faster on this continent, and sadly we were years behind Europe in speed and rail service in general.


Great trip report! What kind of laptop comes with built-in GPS receiver?

Sadly, that's the truth.... the US is decades(not years) behind Europe and Asia in high speed rai! Even Communist China now has 200mph high speed rail.... <sigh>

I visit Germany every year.... never had the guts to go beyond 120mph on the autobahn.(actually, the cars I rented probably wouldn't beyond that)

Last year, I stayed with my friend who just bought a Porsche Cayenn Turbo. We took a long road trip from Hamburg to Munich.(north to south)

On some empyt stretches of the autobahn, she allowed me to drive. With some coaching, I managed to take it up to almost *170mph* for half an hour!

(most awsome experience in my life, other than the time I lost "it" at age 15) Being a stupid American driver, I remained in the left lane a few seconds

to long and I had to yield to an Audi R8 that was doing close to 200mph+. Unfortunately, I had to slow down to below 100mph for most of the time

because of congestion.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 6, 2010)

confused_cambio said:


> Long Train Runnin said:
> 
> 
> > The conductor informed us we would be reaching our top speed of 150 MPH in just a moment to which the British couple sitting next to me scoffed, “Well that’s really not that fast it’s like 210km/h.” I informed them that they wouldn’t find a train moving any faster on this continent, and sadly we were years behind Europe in speed and rail service in general.
> ...


The GPS was one of the main selling points for me on this laptop. The Sony Vaio Signature Z Series. The raided solid state drives were the icing on the cake.


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## Bill Haithcoat (Jun 6, 2010)

Most of my limited Acela experience has gone well.

Something really great happened on my WAS to BOS trip last year to the AU gathering

My large luggage had been stored up front. It accidentally got set on the platform at NYP as though I was dteraining in NYP. One of the attendants noticed a bag sitting there unclaimed and suspected it was mine and brought it straight to me.

For whch I was most greatful. She received a handsome, well deserved tip.


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## AAARGH! (Jun 6, 2010)

Both times I have been in Acela first class there were 2 attendants. I received excellent service on both triips.


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## Shanghai (Jul 31, 2010)

*Good Report, Stephen,*

*I will be making the same trip in a few weeks as a points run.*

*My previous experience in First Class was very nice.*


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## amamba (Aug 4, 2010)

Great report! Thanks for sharing.


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