Amtrak dining and cafe service
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You left out a step: Put on reading glasses (assuming I didn't leave them in the car.)
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I'd say dislike of QR codes for restaurant menus is certainly not generational or a lack of being tech savy. Personally I find them low class and lazy and I won't go to restaurants that want to digitize my experience while expecting me to increasingly subsidize their payroll with larger tip percentages. On the otherhand I like the ordering kiosks at Sheetz and WaWa. Now I'd be all for a QR code at my seat on Amtrak where I could order from the café car, pay, and an attendant delivers to my seat. I'd be happy to tip for that service too.
I would only be able to eat the one in the middle. A dairy allergy puts me out for at least 48 hours. I am not a big fan of Thai food. I am taking a backpack full of food on my trip. Six years ago, I stopped taking all chances. I'm sorry that you are in a similar boat.
The hubby and I ran into QR menus in restaurants a couple of times during the pandemic. I have a smartphone, but had no idea how to access a QR menu, so waitstaff had to bring out the one paper menu they had as a backup.
QR menus certainly wouldn't work on most of Amtrak's LD routes, because of the lack of reliable internet.
I love ny phone. It's my library, my calendar, my prosthetic memory. But IF my phone cooperates and scans the QR code correctly or at all, IF my fat fingers cooperate in poking the right places on the screen, IF my senior eyeballs can read the font size or IF increasing the font size doesn't make the text break awkwardly, IF the menu choices fit on the screen without scrolling too much (see above fat fingers)(and I like doing a fast scan of the entire menu to see categories), and on trains, IF the surface on which I am sitting/standing doesn't lurch suddenly (like trains never do that) and I poke at something that makes the page vanish, ... That's all without adding in the killer if, mentioned by others, functional internet. I've had an internet connection on trains that told me yes, I'm connected to the train's internet but no, I'm not getting anything useful from the outside world.
It would be cool to use an internet available menu for planning (is there anything they're offering worth staggering to the cafe car to get, or that my stomach will tolerate today). It would be very cool if staff could update said menu on the fly (oops, they just ran out of cheesecake). But sometimes the old-fashioned way is still the most functional. After all, we still use the wheel.
It would be cool to use an internet available menu for planning (is there anything they're offering worth staggering to the cafe car to get, or that my stomach will tolerate today). It would be very cool if staff could update said menu on the fly (oops, they just ran out of cheesecake). But sometimes the old-fashioned way is still the most functional. After all, we still use the wheel.
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And we have not even discussed the wonderful avenues of social engineering that QR codes stuck on tables or walls opens up for bad characters to entice people into doing things that could cause harm to themselves down the line. All that you need to do is direct them to a intermediary site which asks for and collect information while acting as if it is the menu provider. There is a reason that I never scan a QR code from random walls.
I HATE QR code menus and have even walked out of restaurants that had them. They are an abomination ( and for an old guy I'm decently tech-savvy).
I don't like the idea of using my phone, which is an important personal information tool, with something that could be dangerous and lead to a possible cybercrime.
"A problem with QR codes is that hackers can easily replace a legitimate QR code with a malicious one. For example, if a restaurant provides QR codes that link to its menus, an attacker could simply create stickers containing malicious QR codes and then place those stickers on top of the legitimate QR codes"
I do see a lot of those chemicals in regular food from the grocery store. Enriched bread has thiamin, niacin, etc. I know guar gum (derived from seaweed) can cause intestinal distress for some people. I have some reservations about consuming powdered cellulose. A lot of the other ingredients are ok.
They should make the labels big enough to read for people that could be affected or have allergies.
"A problem with QR codes is that hackers can easily replace a legitimate QR code with a malicious one. For example, if a restaurant provides QR codes that link to its menus, an attacker could simply create stickers containing malicious QR codes and then place those stickers on top of the legitimate QR codes"
I do see a lot of those chemicals in regular food from the grocery store. Enriched bread has thiamin, niacin, etc. I know guar gum (derived from seaweed) can cause intestinal distress for some people. I have some reservations about consuming powdered cellulose. A lot of the other ingredients are ok.
They should make the labels big enough to read for people that could be affected or have allergies.
The Eagle is 32 hours long,by far the longest journey with flex and no sightseer car. For some reason the Amtrak higher ups regard the TE as an afterthought. Simply pathetic. When all the other Western trains got traditional dining back, the Eagle didn’t. Makes absolutely no sense.
The Crescent SB is 30 hr 47 min and the Crescent NB is 32 hr 59 min Sunday through Thursday and on Friday and Saturday is 32 hr and 31 min and also has flex dining and no sightseer car. Maybe it has something to do with being in the Central Time Zone for both routes.
It wouldn't have a Sightseer since it's a single level train and that wouldn't fit in NYP. It would be nice if it had a Viewliner diner to use as a "sleeper lounge" and Flex service car like the Lake Shore Limited instead of only an Amcafe.
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Now that I have traveled Acela First Class earlier this week I can report that I found the French Toast selection and the Lasagna selection to be excellent and I look forward to having them again.
Dr. Nigel Wilson at MIT used to point out a phenomenon in which a transit system, railway, airline, etc. becomes obsessed with getting rid of some service. That attitude excludes trying to earn more revenue or to cut costs in constructive ways. As he observed, that's even when a well-organized customer group has been successful in saving the service. When he described this it was easy for me to think of examples, sorry to say.
Somebody doesn't like the Texas Eagle.
Somebody doesn't like all the long distance service, but especially the Texas Eagle.
Ben Biaggini is alive and living at Amtrak.
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Is there a way to view the Amtrak menus for a particular train from a home or work computer a day or two before traveling?
If so, I'd skip the QR coding and cell phone hassles on board by printing the menus to bring with me.
But that makes too much sense, right?
If so, I'd skip the QR coding and cell phone hassles on board by printing the menus to bring with me.
But that makes too much sense, right?
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Not a fan of the QR code menu, but at this point, on Amtrak, I believe they have only been implemented on the San Joquins, a decision by the Joint Powers Authority that actually "owns" the service, which Amtrak operates for them.
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It would be tolerable if they consistently let passengers hang out in the CCC, especially when they're not serving meals. Otherwise, being stuck in one's room or seat for 32 hours is a bummer. But then, the vast majority of the riders aren't riding end-to-end. The same applies to the Crescent, the Cardinal, and the Capitol Limited. (Actually, despite the fact that the Capitol Limited run is only 18 hours, a large percentage of the passengers do ride end-to-end. On my last ride on the Cap, which was 6 hours late, they did let us hang out in the CCC during the day, which turned out to be OK.)
Does the train type affect the menu in case of a long delay?
Do all of the trains serve Dinty Moore on the same plates?
Do all of the trains serve Dinty Moore on the same plates?
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In my opinion the outright long distance hostility bordering on conspiracy stuff is largely a myth. Is the NEC priority 1? Certainly - but there have actually been some honest efforts to improve things on the food service front. The traditional dining and cafe improvements are an honest effort to improve passenger options. And I think many who want to say it’s The Penn central days all over again conveniently downplay the major issues with labor and supply chain that continue to plague the industry. I have little doubt there’s been some dumb decisions - RPA made quite clear that the cuts they made during the funding lapse would take years to dig out of and they were right - but on the other hand Amtrak warned Congress about their intents and how it could be avoided and Congress did nothing until it was too late so pinning it all on Gardner or Flynn or whoever you want to blame ignores the full picture - and no one at the time knew when or what the pandemic recovery would look like. People who believe that Amtrak could be running pre pandemic consists across the board tomorrow and have traditional dining rolled out to every train instantly aren’t living in reality. Yes trains like the Texas Eagle are lower in the priority list due to finite resources - it’s not a stealth attack on the train it simply isn’t the priority due to its historic performance. Putting more cars there at the moment would mean not putting them elsewhere.
Some truth in your post but the Texas Eagle is a 32+ Hour Trip between Chicago and San Antonio, and needs a Sightseer Lounge, Traditional Dining and another Sleeper!
Being a Prisoner in your Room or Seat ( Coach) for 32+ Hours is NOT worth what Amtrak is charging for this Train!!!
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As an example -
It should - but for it to have a sightseer right now would mean pulling it from somewhere else which they aren’t going to do. The eagle’s ridership is heavily skewed towards the Chicago - St. Louis corridor that it is part of. Long haul ridership on that train is on the lower end. Certainly amenities and capacity might boost is a bit but it seems to be a longer term lower performer for overnight ridership at least compared to other routes. On a time of limited resources it will be one of the last to see such amenities restored. Like it or not amenities like traditional dining are going to be restored based on business considerations not length of trip - hence the decision to restore to the silvers before the eagle.
It should - but for it to have a sightseer right now would mean pulling it from somewhere else which they aren’t going to do. The eagle’s ridership is heavily skewed towards the Chicago - St. Louis corridor that it is part of. Long haul ridership on that train is on the lower end. Certainly amenities and capacity might boost is a bit but it seems to be a longer term lower performer for overnight ridership at least compared to other routes. On a time of limited resources it will be one of the last to see such amenities restored. Like it or not amenities like traditional dining are going to be restored based on business considerations not length of trip - hence the decision to restore to the silvers before the eagle.
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Has there been any statement from Amtrak management that Amtrak actually aspires to restore the lost amenities of the Texas Eagle at some point in the future?
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