Search results

Sure, people’s experiences and needs vary. For me, before providing services that I don’t want, the SCA should say, when stopping by at the beginning of the trip, “Do you need help with your bed/dinner/wake-up call/getting off?” I could say no, be left alone and be happy. You could say yes...

Amtrak’s approach: plenty of nasty employees combined with a system that emphasizes lots of contact between employees and passengers likely compounds customer dissatisfaction. For example: 1. If I could order dinner online, then I wouldn’t have to deal with employee attitude when the Amtrak...

Then Amtrak needs to actually block the passageway between the first class car and the rest of the train or put up a sign saying “Employees Only”. NJ Transit does so by having a metal bar cross the passageway between cars at waist level. Amtrak puts signs on baggage and baggage-dorm car...

I witnessed both incidents, both within a few feet from me.

Rudeness doesn’t excuse rudeness. I may be wrong, but I think that the passenger who asked for a Sam Adams boarded well after the Amtrak employee had passed his row taking orders. The Amtrak employee was taking orders at the other end of the car and walked by when the passenger asked for a Sam...

I saw two passengers on the Acela Express who got lectured by an employee, although the passengers were perfectly polite: One boarded the first class car by entering through the kitchen area from another car. The Amtrak employee stopped her, told her that she wasn’t allowed to enter that way...

Amtrak already received more rooms by receiving Viewliner II sleeping cars and baggage/dorm cars. Yet prices have gone up significantly, at least on the Crescent. Past experience doesn’t indicate that more rooms will result in lower prices, but maybe a change in management could result in...

I took the survey and it seemed to indicate more types of rooms, but all at high prices. No thanks. I love American Airlines and its nice employees and good customer service and will pick it over Amtrak anytime. If Brightline ran night trains, I’d take it.

I received it. Lie-flat seats, solo rooms and a range of luxury rooms. And cars with work spaces, gyms, etc. And high prices. It all sounds nice until you realize that the nasty on-board employees will be handling it. Now they hang out in the cafe car and yell at passengers who try to sit...

I have a $270 Amtrak eVoucher, am Select Plus and will not take Amtrak again. Is there any lawful way to give the voucher to charity? If not, I’ll just let it expire. Thanks.

Airlines don’t have a “head of onboard customer-facing staff” on planes, at least in the US on domestic flights, yet airlines seem to provide much more consistent customer service than Amtrak does. I know that plenty of people don’t like airlines. But airlines don’t have the range of service...

The Crescent also often has higher fares between the Northeast and the Carolinas than fares between the same Northeastern cities and Atlanta. I’d like to think that Amtrak monitors the competition and charges based on comparable competitor prices but I doubt it.

Yes, I haven’t flown transatlantic since taking US Airways but I’ve heard similar reports. In any event, as we both agree, airlines are generally smoother in terms of employees in customer-facing roles.

Didn’t Amtrak rename them “first class lounges”, at least on the Crescent?

What happens to Amtrak employees who customers complain about (by contacting Amtrak by email or letter after the trip)? For example, if Steve4031 wrote Amtrak to complain about the sleeping car attendant that he described, what would Amtrak do the employee, if anything? I’ve flown probably...

Since the Crescent has one less coach than it used to, and only two sleeping cars instead of more at peak times, it’s surprising that it is performing so well.

Is there any Amtrak specific written rule (such as in an employee service manual) that states how passengers must board and get off sleeping cars? In the past, I’ve been screamed at when I boarded one sleeping car but my room was in the next car (though right near the door I used), and I’ve...

Quick vent: what I dislike most about Flexible Dining is that it’s INflexible. You are given dinner when the cafe car attendant wants you to have it. On the Crescent, if the regular staff is handling sleeping cars, that generally means 4:30pm. Why can’t you be served dinner at one of...

Here’s a new suggestion: Start listing trains on the station departure board. Today, the Amtrak train that I’m on wasn’t shown on the departure board. I arrived in an area right next to the gates 18 minutes before departure and waited. (Usually tracks are posted 10 minutes before departure.)...

I’d say that Amtrak ought to take a few Amfleets, put some Delta One-style seats in them, and see how they fare in the marketplace. Since airlines have clearly moved to lie-flat seats (customers demand them), I couldn’t see a transportation company moving away from a flat sleeping...