Best business class seats

[Exvalley]

I'm looking for advice on reserving a business class seat that has a nice, full view out the window.

My first trip is on a regular Northeast Regional. Can anyone recommend a row that they know has a good view? I am currently booked in row 7, but the seat map gives no indication whatsoever where the windows are.

The second trip is on the Vermonter. This is the business class seating that is made up of half of the café car. The seat map shows the bathrooms at the front of the car and then six rows of 1-2 seating. The first two rows on the single seat side are blocked out for handicap seating. I am currently booked in the 5th row - which if a YouTube video I saw is any indication, has a full view out of the window.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Exvalley]

I watched a few YouTube videos to try to figure out the best seats.

On the Northeast Regional, it looks like row 12 has a very good view out of the window.

The Vermonter is harder to figure out. The seat map shows the restrooms toward the front - but I thought that the cafe was toward the front. It's been a while since I have ridden business class on the Vermonter and I cannot remember where the restrooms are in the cafe/business class car. It's possible that the restrooms are on the other side of the cafe, so the seat map orientation is correct. I went with row 3, but I am not 100% confident that I picked a good seat.

I really like being able to pick a seat - and it's super easy to do it through the app.

 

[OBS]

I watched a few YouTube videos to try to figure out the best seats.

On the Northeast Regional, it looks like row 12 has a very good view out of the window.

The Vermonter is harder to figure out. The seat map shows the restrooms toward the front - but I thought that the cafe was toward the front. It's been a while since I have ridden business class on the Vermonter and I cannot remember where the restrooms are in the cafe/business class car. It's possible that the restrooms are on the other side of the cafe, so the seat map orientation is correct. I went with row 3, but I am not 100% confident that I picked a good seat.

I really like being able to pick a seat - and it's super easy to do it through the app.

the restrooms are in the front.

 

[PVD]

Of course, nothing is guaranteed, but any time I've ridden in a split car, whether it was the first or last car, the car was facing so the BC part was not constantly walked through by passengers heading to the cafe. The Lake Shore would be the obvious exception.

 

[Exvalley]

the restrooms are in the front.

Now I am confused. Are the restrooms on the end of the car with the cafe dining seats - or are they on the end of the car with the business class seats? Or both?

 

[jis]

Avoid Row 7 in a full length NER BC. You have only half a window. The rest is blank wall. I traveled in that row both ways between Washington DC and Roanoke over last weekend. Didn't bother me that much because I slept half the way

 

[OBS]

Now I am confused. Are the restrooms on the end of the car with the cafe dining seats - or are they on the end of the car with the business class seats? Or both?

The restroom is on the food service end by the tables, not the BC end.

 

[Exvalley]

The restroom is on the food service end by the tables, not the BC end.

Thanks! Hopefully Amtrak's seat selection tool is accurate when it shows the direction of travel.

 

[OBS]

Thanks! Hopefully Amtrak's seat selection tool is accurate when it shows the direction of travel.

With those particular cars, on the Vermonter, It should be correct 99.9% of the time. I spent many years on the Vermonter....

 

[bratkinson]

My personal choice for NEC BC is row 12, or row 10, followed by 11 and 14. Row 12 and 10 have a full window view, and 11 and 14, nearly so. They are at the far end from the restrooms as well, allowing odor-free and door slamming sound-free travel. As they are always on the rear of the train on the NEC, I'll always prefer seat ''F" which is a window seat on the right side, typically the non-sunny side, which makes viewing my laptop a lot easier.

It's been my experience that 95% of the time, the car is facing 'correctly' such that the restrooms are at the front of the car and my preferred rows at the rear of the car, and train. The only downside with row 14 is that some NEC conductors will set up 'house' on the faciing seats directly behind and leave their radio set to 'loud', which I find annoying as they usually don't have the squelch set low enough to minimize the static. I should also note that as the last rows of the last car of the train, it is subject to a bit 'rougher' ride than center of the car, which always has the smoothest ride. The reason for the rougher ride is 'crack the whip'. Without a car behind it to restrict its bounce and sway, you'll find the rough spots on the NEC you'll remember for some time.

As for the split cafe/BC cars and it's seats, I'm not sure which ones are at windows. I'm not sure whether the Amtrak reservation system is capable of doing seat selection in those cars, so it's first come first served. But I do remember that the first row (closest to the center) has only a partial window view. Also, the restroom (singular) is at the cafe end of the car. And yes, on train 448/449(48/49) the passengers walking through the BC seats are those in the BOS sleeper, no others other than Amtrak staff.

 

[wwchi]

any word on expanding the option to select your business class seat on trains other than the NEC trains? Would LOVE to be able to do that on the Michigan Services trains!

 

[PVD]

The restroom is on the food service end by the tables, not the BC end.

The sign at the end of the car agrees with you

 

[railiner]

Too bad there’s no “seat guru” site for Amtrak, like there is for airlines…

 

[jis]

The layout of cars in wich assigned seating is available now can be found at Amtrak Reserved Seating

 

[Exvalley]

The layout of cars in wich assigned seating is available now can be found at Amtrak Reserved Seating

Sort of.

The Vermonter's business class car is not on that webpage.

Also, the diagram they provide of the Northeast Regional doesn't seem quite right. Specifically, the depiction of the seats in regard to window locations doesn't seem to jibe with reality. I know it sounds, crazy, but after spending some time watching YouTube videos and comparing them to the diagram, I can say this with confidence.

If you want to see for yourself, compare row 12 on the diagram to row 12 in this video:

You will have to pause and count rows, but if you do, you will see that row 12 in the video is farther back along the window than row 12 is depicted in Amtrak's diagram.

And, yes... that his how type-A I was when selecting my business class seat! I'm not proud, LOL.

 

[jis]

Sort of.

The Vermonter's business class car is not on that webpage.

Also, the diagram they provide of the Northeast Regional doesn't seem quite right. Specifically, the depiction of the seats in regard to window locations doesn't seem to jibe with reality. I know it sounds, crazy, but after spending some time watching YouTube videos and comparing them to the diagram, I can say this with confidence.

If you want to see for yourself, compare row 12 on the diagram to row 12 in this video:

You will have to pause and count rows, but if you do, you will see that row 12 in the video is farther back along the window than row 12 is depicted in Amtrak's diagram.

And, yes... that his how type-A I was when selecting my business class seat! I'm not proud, LOL.

I believe you. I don't have enough of a dog in this race to bother checking. Personally as I said I don't care much about this detail But thanks for pointing out the discrepancies.

For the trip last weekend I chose the seat I chose to be close to the group rather than to make sure I had the best window seat. So this detail was not that important for me.