# Coach Passenger Visiting Family in Sleepers



## Traveler (Mar 2, 2012)

I plan to take the Empire Builder. We are 3. I can only afford 1 roomette so while 2 will take the roomette, 1 has to be in coach. Can the coach passenger go to the roomette or the sleeper cars?

Will we be able to dine together? I will pay for food consumed by the member in coach.


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## the_traveler (Mar 2, 2012)

Yes, you can certainly dine together!

And as long as you tell the SCA that a family member will be visiting you, or have 1 member go get you and walk you thru the Dining Car (as they sometimes question you), it should be no problem! But just be aware that there are only 2 seats in the roomette (opposite each other), with the 3rd person standing in the hallway. A better place to meet may be in the Lounge Car!


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 2, 2012)

I've done the sleeper + coach thing when there were not enough rooms left for everyone. From what I can tell the experience of meeting up in the sleeper is largely dependent on the attitude of the staff. Sometimes they're friendly and easy going about it and sometimes they're not. As Dave has already advised, you can always meet up in the diner and in the lounge car without issue and you'll generally have more room there to relax and enjoy your company. You can almost fit three people in a roomette if you really try. Two people in the seats below and one person laying down in the bed up top. But that's really only useful if the person up top is trying to sleep or read a book or something. It's not that helpful for general socializing. The other option is for the third person to just stand in the hallway, but you'll have to keep your voices down to avoid annoying others since you won't have a door to close. There's also not much room in the hallway and the hallway person will have to lean into the compartment in order for other people to pass by. At the end of the day it's probably best to just meet up in the diner or lounge and not bother with three or more people trying to meet up in a roomette. Hope that helps! ^_^


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## Michigan Mom (Mar 2, 2012)

Having just experienced both, I'd say it would be a heck of a lot easier to hang out and chat in a BR as opposed to a roomette, for 3 people. 2 in the Roomette at a time is easy. For 3, it would be a little awkward. People love the lounge/sightseeing car so I'd recommend meeting there.


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## benjibear (Mar 2, 2012)

I guess a question on this same line is can a coach and roomette passenger change places in the middle of the trip?


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## the_traveler (Mar 2, 2012)

In January, I had a bedroom and another AU member had a roomette. Altogether there were 4 AU members on the train.

When we met at the roomette, 2 of us had to stand in the hallway, and move whenever someone came thru. In the bedroom, 3 of us sat comfortably on the couch and one sat on the floor - with plenty of room to spare! The same thing happened 2 years with 4 AU members and the bedroom/roomette situation!


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 2, 2012)

benjibear said:


> I guess a question on this same line is can a coach and roomette passenger change places in the middle of the trip?


Amtrak definitely frowns on people swapping classes during their trip. However, if you had exactly one roomette passenger and one coach passenger you could simply add the coach passenger to your room. If you did it before departure they could also enjoy free meals.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

Technically, only the passengers ticketed in the roomette are permitted in the sleeping car. I would not say that the staff is doing anything wrong or there is anything incorrect about their attitude to require you to ride in the class of service for which you paid.

You will be much more comfortable visiting together in the lounge car and there should be no problem sitting together in the diner. For dinner, I'd guess you should make one reservation for 3 for your party.


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## Texan Eagle (Mar 2, 2012)

One time I was traveling in one LD train with two friends and out of the three of us, two had a roomette and one had a coach seat, and by grace of AmtrakGods, we got very nice onboard staff so the coach passenger was allowed to enter and exit the sleeper car and spend time in the roomette for as long as desired, and at dinner the attendant not only let the three of us sit together, but also charged the coach passenger with the sleeper passengers, so effectively gave free dinner to three passengers instead of just the two sleeper passengers. Of course we made up for the "loss" he/she ensued by giving a good tip





Just to save a$$ (of the passenger as well as the staff), I won't say when and where did this incident take place, but it is true story from not-so-long-ago


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## Cho Cho Charlie (Mar 2, 2012)

Guest said:


> Technically, only the passengers ticketed in the roomette are permitted in the sleeping car. I would not say that the staff is doing anything wrong or there is anything incorrect about their attitude to require you to ride in the class of service for which you paid.


If this was on a plane, I wonder if coach passengers would think it was OK, and expected, that they would be welcome to come up and enjoy the amenities of first class for the flight, if they knew someone up in first class?

The same should be true of a train. If you want the comfort of sleeper class, then buy the accommodation.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Mar 2, 2012)

I heard from a reliable source that one time when a coach passenger slipped into a sleeper, he was caught by the conductor and kicked off the train! :unsure:

At least after reading that, I would advise the OP not to enter the sleeper.


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## Larry H. (Mar 2, 2012)

Texan Eagle said:


> One time I was traveling in one LD train with two friends and out of the three of us, two had a roomette and one had a coach seat, and by grace of AmtrakGods, we got very nice onboard staff so the coach passenger was allowed to enter and exit the sleeper car and spend time in the roomette for as long as desired, and at dinner the attendant not only let the three of us sit together, but also charged the coach passenger with the sleeper passengers, so effectively gave free dinner to three passengers instead of just the two sleeper passengers. Of course we made up for the "loss" he/she ensued by giving a good tip
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I had the same experience last year when returning from meeting two rail enthusiast friends who had a sleeper and I getting off in the middle of the night was only going coach. The attendants had no problem with me visiting in the bed room, in fact I was told over the phone by the amtrak agent that technically since the bedroom could hold more than two people I could ride with them as long as I paid the coach fare. In the dinner when I came from the coach end my friends requested I be able to sit with them in the diner. To my surprise as was mentioned here, the waiter put my meal on the sleeper ticket as well thus it was also free. I was quite surprised at that. Not sure how often than happens or if its a violation of policy or not. I was choosing to ride in coach so they could turn in with out my disrupting their sleep by detraining in late evening that the attendant figured I could have been in the sleeper, thus getting the meal anyway..


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 2, 2012)

Cho Cho Charlie said:


> If this was on a plane, I wonder if coach passengers would think it was OK, and expected, that they would be welcome to come up and enjoy the amenities of first class for the flight, if they knew someone up in first class? The same should be true of a train. If you want the comfort of sleeper class, then buy the accommodation.


It's quite often that all available rooms are already sold and cannot be purchased _at any price_. Even when there _are_ rooms still available for purchase it's surprisingly rare that you can convince anyone to actually sell them to you. I've also paid more for coach seats ($150 X 2 = $300) than I would have for a low bucket roomette ($274) seating the same number of people. But no matter how much anyone paid it's always the coach passengers who are the cheapskates, right?


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## Michigan Mom (Mar 3, 2012)

I've also paid more for coach seats ($150 X 2 = $300) than I would have for a low bucket roomette ($274) seating the same number of people. But no matter how much anyone paid it's always the coach passengers who are the cheapskates, right?

Tex,

Stop trying to incite class warfare, where there is none. And enough with attacking the straw man. No one has advanced that argument.

Secondly, if you could have had a roomette for less than the price of two coach tickets, what on earth stopped you??


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## rrdude (Mar 3, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> I heard from a reliable source that one time when a coach passenger slipped into a sleeper, he was caught by the conductor and kicked off the train! :unsure:
> 
> At least after reading that, I would advise the OP not to enter the sleeper.


They are talking about "visiting" family members, NOT trying to sneak into sleeper class. Jeeze, you all take such a serious attitude on this. It's really simple.

Inform the TA/S that you have a fellow family member in coach, who you'd like to invite back to "show" the roomette to. Done.

And "IF" that evil conductor comes by and asks for the lowly coach-passenger's ticket, and begins to slow the train down to throw the offending slummer off the train, simply sneak past the conductor, back to your steerage seat.





*Disregard* any posters who posit "_If you want to 'see' sleeper-class, buy a ticket....._......" Hogwash. Play nice with the TA/S, and/or conductor and you'll be fine. There's a small chance you'll run into a troll-of-an-employee, but that's life.


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## rrdude (Mar 3, 2012)

Cho Cho Charlie said:


> Guest said:
> 
> 
> > Technically, only the passengers ticketed in the roomette are permitted in the sleeping car. I would not say that the staff is doing anything wrong or there is anything incorrect about their attitude to require you to ride in the class of service for which you paid.
> ...


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## Ryan (Mar 3, 2012)

Michigan Mom said:


> Stop trying to incite class warfare, where there is none. And enough with attacking the straw man. No one has advanced that argument.


Except the person he quoted right there in his post.


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## Montanan (Mar 3, 2012)

As a sleeper passenger, I certainly wouldn't have an issue with someone inviting a coach passenger back for a visit in his/her room ... I've done that before, myself.

But I WOULD have an issue with coach passengers hanging out in the hallway of my sleeper, chatting with a sleeper passenger. That's just rude, and disturbs the peace and quiet that the car's other passengers have paid for.


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 3, 2012)

Michigan Mom said:


> Tex, Stop trying to incite class warfare, where there is none. And enough with attacking the straw man. No one has advanced that argument. Secondly, if you could have had a roomette for less than the price of two coach tickets, what on earth stopped you??


So in your view it's only "class warfare" when someone dares to stick up for coach class? -_-

In any case, the answer to your question is that all roomettes were sold out by that point. As I was saying, the assumption that those traveling in coach are simply too cheap to afford a sleeper is rather misguided. On a full train there's a decent chance a high-bucket coach traveler paid as much as a low bucket sleeper traveler, maybe even more in some cases. And then there are the AGR folks redeeming points for sleepers that may have cost them less than even a low bucket coach fare. I'm lucky enough to travel in sleepers for most of my trips, but I don't presume to know what sort of person a stranger is just because they ended up in coach. It could have been for any number of reasons unrelated to money. Sometimes it's as simple as not having the flexibility to book far enough in advance to have any sleepers still available. Or not having enough free time to keep checking back over and over again to see if any sleepers have freed up. Or maybe they're not even on board long enough to benefit from having a sleeper. It would seem altogether better not to make assumptions of someone's worth based on nothing more than where they sit on a train.


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## amamba (Mar 3, 2012)

I don't see anyone in this post "making assumptions about someone's worth based on nothing more than where they sit on a train."

I don't see a problem with a coach passenger coming to visit the sleeper to see it. But I would have a problem with a coach passenger standing in the hallway and blocking it while visiting with their friends/family in the roommette for an _*extended*_ period of time. And the issue would be that it is disruptive, not that I have anything against coach passengers. Frankly I get annoyed when people do that in a coach car, too. (stand up and block the aisle while talking loudly for an extended period of time).


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## TimePeace (Mar 3, 2012)

Agreeing that it is up to the staff. My son and I made friends with a guy from coach and wanted to offer him a drink, so we invited him back to our roomette. The attendant saw us back there and said "Sure you may bring a guest back here - but it is a good idea to ASK me first!" I thanked her and she smiled and said no problem.

And then three of us sat in the roomette's seats, two side by side. For those young guys there was no sign of discomfort. You might not want to take a long ride that way, but two not so-large-people (young adults) can share one roomette seat for a while, IMHO.

And since we were not getting in the way in the hallway, nor making much noise, we didn't offend anyone nor cause anyone to feel that someone was riding in a place they HAD NOT PAID FOR!


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## Swadian Hardcore (Mar 3, 2012)

rrdude said:


> Swadian Hardcore said:
> 
> 
> > I heard from a reliable source that one time when a coach passenger slipped into a sleeper, he was caught by the conductor and kicked off the train! :unsure:
> ...


The guy said that he WAS only visiting, but did not tell any crewmembers, and was thus kicked off. If he told a crewmember, would he have been denied anyway?

BTW, the only time I tried to see a sleeper as a coach passenger, the guy I asked for permission denied me rudely and gave me a dirty look!


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2012)

So, the next question is:

What constitutes a "visit?"

10 minutes? 10 hours?

And, if the SCA DOES grant you the favor, you are then asking them to police whatever the answer is and to possibly "have an attitude" or be a "troll-of-an-employee" if their definition of a "visit" doesn't agree with yours.


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## Michigan Mom (Mar 3, 2012)

So in your view it's only "class warfare" when someone dares to stick up for coach class?

_____

No that is not my view... that is you attacking a straw man yet again.

Who is that pictured in your every post?


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## Michigan Mom (Mar 3, 2012)

Texas Sunset said:


> Michigan Mom said:
> 
> 
> > Tex, Stop trying to incite class warfare, where there is none. And enough with attacking the straw man. No one has advanced that argument. Secondly, if you could have had a roomette for less than the price of two coach tickets, what on earth stopped you??
> ...



Here is the flaw in your logic, at least, the major flaw. You are presuming that someone is being treated differently based on which cabin they landed in, independent of the fare paid, and that somehow all these judgments are being made by sleeper car passengers against coach passengers. Ridiculous. First of all no judgments are being made. You score sleeper accommodations, whether it's low bucket, high bucket or AGR, doesn't matter, you get whatever goes along with that product you purchased. You buy coach tickets for more than the price of the roomettes that have sold out? Whatever, Tex, that was fully YOUR CHOICE. That was apparently what was available to get you from point A to point B. If that strikes you as unfair, then fly or drive. Those are options that are available to you. Again, no one is making assumptions about "worth" - that may be your issue which you have put forth as a "straw man."


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## Peter KG6LSE (Mar 4, 2012)

YOU paid for it .. its YOURS .. as long as your actions dont effect others by blocking a walkway or raising hell . then i dont see a issue..

remember this is VISIT .. not raid the coffee machine . not Free food in the dining car .. just sitting in ones room ..

with a guest . or more likely a parent Ect .. .

let me paint a photo for you

a mom a dad and a kid are on the train to station X ........... the dad being the bigger man decides to let his wife and his Son ride in comfort ....... the father is in coach ........... are you tellling me this dad CANT see his son as he is not a ":sleeeper	1st class white star line" Pax ? so to those whom think is so black and white cut and Dry .. then I feel sorry for you ...

and the idea with comparing it to a airline is flawed .. you dont sit in most flights for DAYS at a time .. but you do on the train ..

iam shure that most can agreee that on a flight there is not enough time to visit anyways .. hell When i fly I just close my eyes and have a nap and I am where I need to be ........... not quite the same on a train . I can sleep and Still not leave the same state ...

in the grand scheam I feel a room on a train is some where between a hotel and a coach seat ..

Live and let live people ..


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