Club Acela - Washington Union Station

[cmthru]

I a few weeks I'll be boarding the Palmetto from WAS going to North Carolina. My ticket is for business class. I called AMTRAK to ask about using the Club Acela since I'll be arriving about two hours before departure and wanted a place to store my stuff. The first person I spoke to said she was sure I could enter. But she put me on hold to check. After three minutes the call was disconnected. I called again and was told at first 'yes', then 'no' because the Club Acela is for first class or sleepers only. My response was that the Palmetto has no first class or sleepers, only coach and business class. Put on hold again. Disconnected one minute later. So, does anyone here know the correct answer? Oh, I do not want to use checked baggage because of a bad incident years ago.

 

[The_Rockaway_Kid]

You will be unable to use the Club Acela lounge

 

[Tony]

Only First Class Acela passengers, LD Sleeper passengers, and any passenger with a day pass (usually purchased thru AGR), can use the lounges.

 

[MrFSS]

I a few weeks I'll be boarding the Palmetto from WAS going to North Carolina. My ticket is for business class. I called AMTRAK to ask about using the Club Acela since I'll be arriving about two hours before departure and wanted a place to store my stuff. The first person I spoke to said she was sure I could enter. But she put me on hold to check. After three minutes the call was disconnected. I called again and was told at first 'yes', then 'no' because the Club Acela is for first class or sleepers only. My response was that the Palmetto has no first class or sleepers, only coach and business class. Put on hold again. Disconnected one minute later. So, does anyone here know the correct answer? Oh, I do not want to use checked baggage because of a bad incident years ago.

It is for First and Sleeping Car Passengers only.

 

[cmthru]

I appreciate your swift answers. Thanks.

 

[Upstate]

Only First Class Acela passengers, LD Sleeper passengers, and any passenger with a day pass (usually purchased thru AGR), can use the lounges.

and AGR Select+, Continental Presidents Club members as well
Does AMEX Platinum get you in as well?

 

[Tony]

and AGR Select+, Continental Presidents Club members as well
Does AMEX Platinum get you in as well?

Are you sure that Continental members can get into the Washington lounge?

And I think the AMEX thing ended years ago. I have such a card, and Acela Lounges isn't listed as a perk.

 

[RailFanLNK]

How do you go about "purchasing" a day pass? I had a fellow AU'er give me a pass that permitted me and my girlfriends teenaged daughter into the CUS Metropolitan Lounge yesterday. Gosh...it makes all the difference in the world. I'm usually not all that much into "sophistication" or "class snottiness" but it was just so much more comfortable and quiet than the main lobby waiting area. If you ask me if I want to spend a Husker game in a corporate box or a seat in the rain, I will take a seat in the rain anytime. But the First Class Lounges are a nice respite from the busy and bustling/crowded and loud train stations.

 

[Upstate]

How do you go about "purchasing" a day pass? I had a fellow AU'er give me a pass that permitted me and my girlfriends teenaged daughter into the CUS Metropolitan Lounge yesterday. Gosh...it makes all the difference in the world. I'm usually not all that much into "sophistication" or "class snottiness" but it was just so much more comfortable and quiet than the main lobby waiting area. If you ask me if I want to spend a Husker game in a corporate box or a seat in the rain, I will take a seat in the rain anytime. But the First Class Lounges are a nice respite from the busy and bustling/crowded and loud train stations.

You can buy a them for 5000 AGR pts for 5 passes. If you don't have the points then you can buy them for $137.50 for 5000 pts.

Sometimes they pop up on ebay as well.

 

[jackal]

and AGR Select+, Continental Presidents Club members as well
Does AMEX Platinum get you in as well?

Are you sure that Continental members can get into the Washington lounge?

I thought there was full reciprocity between CO PC and AGR S+/CA--CO PC members can get in any CA, and S+/CA members can get in any PC.

AlanB may be able to clarify, as I get the impression he uses the lounges of both companies quite often...

And I think the AMEX thing ended years ago. I have such a card, and Acela Lounges isn't listed as a perk.

I'll concur with you on that.

 

[AlanB]

Yes, Amex Platinum access to Club Acela is no more. Amex ended that relationship at least 3, maybe 4 years ago.

Now it's either special coupon, Continental President's club, or AGR Select Plus card, assuming that one is not riding in sleeper class or First class.

@Cmthru, sadly you are out luck unless you can find one of those day passes. Business Class, as noted by others, does not gain you entry. In all the years there has only been one exception to that rule, and that was for the overnight train #66/67, where business would get you into the DC lounge or the Boston lounge if you were boarding there. I'm not sure if even that perk is still available.

 

[cmthru]

This is some discussion I seem to have started. My wait in WAS will be maybe 2 hours. I was thinking that if I could use the Club facilities it would save me the trouble of dragging stuff around.

 

[p&sr]

I was thinking that if I could use the Club facilities it would save me the trouble of dragging stuff around.

Well, you still have choices. For checked luggage, you could check it in advance and then be free of it. For carry-on, you could (for a fee) have Amtrak hold onto it for you in the Station, as others have mentioned. Even if you have to lug everything around with you, there's still time to see and enjoy much of the Station (including the Great Hall). Just walk a little slower...

 

[cmthru]

I live close to DC and I am very familiar with Washington Union Station. Been there many times even in the good old days when one could wander the platforms and not raise an eyebrow. In fact when I lived in DC many years ago I was friends with the stationmaster (can't remember his name). He gave me a pass that allowed me to go anywhere in the station and I could ride free as far as Philadelphia. When the station was rebuilt in the late '80s I had access to the trash dump. From there I fished out a few old train name boards that were hung at the gates. I knew everyone at the ticket office they had on K Street. My rail photos once decorated their walls. But that was long ago.

 

[Aegrotatio]

I live close to DC and I am very familiar with Washington Union Station. Been there many times even in the good old days when one could wander the platforms and not raise an eyebrow. In fact when I lived in DC many years ago I was friends with the stationmaster (can't remember his name). He gave me a pass that allowed me to go anywhere in the station and I could ride free as far as Philadelphia. When the station was rebuilt in the late '80s I had access to the trash dump. From there I fished out a few old train name boards that were hung at the gates. I knew everyone at the ticket office they had on K Street. My rail photos once decorated their walls. But that was long ago.

Do you have any pictures of the destruction done by the parks department when they took the abandoned Union Station, opened the floor, and created a tourist exhibit? I have been looking for these for years. I remember I may have visited this exhibit in the 1980s. It is notable for destroying the floor and having to be abandoned after the roof was found to be near imminent collapse. The Amtrak depot was in a temporary buildling built nearby.

 

[cmthru]

I have no personal photos of that disaster. But I certainly remember it. It opened in 1976 and closed in 1978 because no one went there. The Park Service called it the National Visitor Center. Everyone else called it The Pit. The escalators and visual displays never worked as planned. In the rear was a glorified bus station pretending to be a rail station. After it closed the remainder of the station was sealed off except for the rail station. I remember having to use wooden walk ways to get to the trains. It was a terrible disgrace to what was a beautiful building. There is a book available on the history of Union Station. In there you will find a couple of photos of the pit.