Crescent Business Class - Equipment
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crescent-zephyr
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Not even that! It's just bottled water, coffee, and juice correct? Maybe a hot tea if the LSA is in a good mood?
No, if it's like other BC, you can get whatever non-alcoholic drinks are on offer. I'm riding Business class on the Palmetto right now, and I got a coffee this morning, and a ginger ale (full size can) for lunch.List price on the drinks is $2 (for coffee) and $2.25 (for soda.) The attendant prints a receipt and you sign for it, but you don't have to pay anything. I suspect this is for some sort of internal accounting.
Acela150
Super Buff
I shouldn't have to sign for a can of soda. Just my two cents.
crescent-zephyr
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"If it's like other Business Class"
Don't get me started.
If it's like Acela you get nothing.
If it's like Cascades you get a coupon off anything in the lounge.
My fingers will get tired of typing all the differences.... You get the idea.
My understanding was water, coffee, juice, and possibly hot tea.
Don't get me started.
If it's like Acela you get nothing.
If it's like Cascades you get a coupon off anything in the lounge.
My fingers will get tired of typing all the differences.... You get the idea.
My understanding was water, coffee, juice, and possibly hot tea.
Thirdrail7
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They want to make sure it is going to an actual passenger.
h34r:
justinslot
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So as usual when you search with Google the most relevant information about any particular Amtrak topic is...a thread in this forum.
Has anyone been on Crescent business class lately? I am doing Philly to Atlanta in September and saw the business class option. I never travel coach overnight, but for an early AM arrival like this maybe it wouldn't be so bad to nap in my clothes...provided business class has some kind of interesting perks. But it sounds like the seats aren't any better than coach?
Has anyone been on Crescent business class lately? I am doing Philly to Atlanta in September and saw the business class option. I never travel coach overnight, but for an early AM arrival like this maybe it wouldn't be so bad to nap in my clothes...provided business class has some kind of interesting perks. But it sounds like the seats aren't any better than coach?
Now that I'm reading through this thread too, I'm curious about something. Is it possible to look up ridership for BC? If it's still only a few people here and there, it might be worthwhile for a long-haul trip. Kinda like paying for a little more privacy I guess.
I am on 19/20 pretty often this summer as a Trails and Rails volunteer. I have never heard of more then a half dozen or so folks in BC, so the main advantage is you've got the entire car pretty much to yourself and there is no traffic through the car.
Tennessee Traveler
Conductor
And looking at YouTube videos it appears the BC coach is located between crew sleeper car and sleepers thus there would be little if any people other than crew walking through.
There is no crew sleeper on 19/20. The BC coach is between the bag and the first sleeper.
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The Crescent BC car may very well be just an Amfleet II coach car, but as long as there are few people in it, I wouldn't be as worried about disturbing anybody behind me should I decide to recline my seat....................
On my Crescent trip NYP-ATL last year, it was indeed an AM2 between the sleepers and the bag. I asked the SCA about through traffic, and he told me they had tried the car at the back, and had way less problems with the BC passengers walking through the sleeper than coach passengers moving in when it was on the back. He said since it was usually pretty empty, it had not presented a problem. At least on my roundtrip, I was not disturbed at all, of course, if the car was heavily sold and passengers traveled back and forth from the cafe or diner that may have been different. It also gave me a nice "change of pace" place to sit for part of the trip.....
AmarilloByMornin
Train Attendant
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That's a surprise to me. My only BC ride so far was on the Surfliner last month and they treated us well. One of the offered free beverages was wine, also soft drinks and the coffee pot was up front. They also served a package of munchies (cookies, chips, something else I don't remember). BC was full and the attendants were super nice. I had hoped all BC was like that.
That's one of the things that comes up here all the time. The term B/C has no consistent meaning across services. Amenities and service level are different from service to service, some state supported services are generous, some less so. Example: Empire Service in NY gives you the split cars with 2+1 seating that most people like. Comp soft drinks and coffee. Sometimes. If it's a train between NY and Albany only, the cafe is not manned. B/C gets lounge use in CHI, not WAS or NYP...and we could go on.......
Acela150
Super Buff
Well just as an FYI Business Class on Acela is coach. So there is no reason for those passengers to get anything. The upgrade on Acela is First Class which is much more generous then Biz Class. Meals, Booze, Lounge Access, etc.
Biz Class on the Surfliner's has always been top notch. That is due to Caltrans funding the service.
But as mentioned Amtrak's main problem is simple with Biz Class. Their is no standard across the system. None whatsoever. Personally I hope that with Richard Anderson in charge that changes. Since he did some good work at Delta I'm hoping some of this comes to Amtrak.
Ryan
Court Jester
As you alluded to, the problem with that is getting the states onboard and aligned with one another to provide the same level of service.
Or at least close.... There will always be some differences because of equipment and location and special circumstances.... like the DownEaster ... but there is no reason not to try and lessen the differences where possible, and spell them out more clearly... I don't expect club Acela access with B/C in NYP, that would not be practical, but it would be nice if everyone coming from another part of the country (like through Chicago) knew that all along....
Acela150
Super Buff
Agreed Ryan. IMO California sets a Gold Standard for what's included in a BC ticket.
Which leads to the question of IF Amtrak does finally get to the point where they decide to standardize BC systemwide, what gets included, and what doesn't? Which in hindsight could lead to another issue. Let's say that Amtrak decides that on every train in BC Passengers receive Complimentary Non-Alcholic drinks, Digital Newspapers, Pillows on the long haul trains, Priority Boarding at Major Stations, $3 off coupon for the cafe, and whatever else you would think would be fair, then those that ride California service may complain that their not getting wine, and a snack pack.
This is something that could go either way. You'd make some passengers happy and some disappointed. But at the same time IMO and many others this is something that has had to happen for years. My personal feelings say that with Richard Anderson in charge that could happen. Especially since he took Delta to the top. Time will tell.
crescent-zephyr
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But it is marketed as Business Class. If you bought a business class seat on Delta and were told "oh on this flight that's really just coach" I don't think it would fly (pun intended.)
I agree it is in reality coach... Which is exactly my point. It's marketed and sold as "business class" when you get no perks that are usually associated with business class seats.
