First trip on Pacific Surfliner - some questions

[havanap44]

Hi folks,

My wife and I are taking a short trip on the Pacific Surfliner leaving from LAX Union Station in the next couple of weeks. This will be our first train trip and I have a few newb questions.

1. We're going to check our bags since the Pacific Surfliner has smaller carry-on luggage space. Do you check bags at the ticket counter like on an airplane flight or do you drop it off trackside before boarding. When you get to your destination, do they have a baggage carousel similar to the airport or do you pick it up trainside?

2. We upgraded to Business Class to have more leg room. How do you know which train car is the Business Class car?

3. Do we just take the seats we want (first come, first served) when we get to the right car?

4. I know the Pacific Surfliner is a double-deck train. Is it better to sit on the upper or lower deck?

Any other suggestions from those that travel on the Pacific Surfliner would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

havanap44

 

[Spokker]

1. If you are leaving from Los Angeles Union Station, Amtrak has separate lines for Northbound and Southbound train passengers to check baggage. Here is the line on a particularly busy day.



At your destination, you will most likely pick it up trackside. If you return to Union Station, there is a separate room for picking up baggage. You can also ask these guys in the red caps any questions you have:

They primarily handle baggage and assist disabled riders at Union Station.

2. The business class car is next to the locomotive.

3. Business class is reserved seating. The rest of the train is unreserved and first-come first-served.

4. If you are able to climb stairs, you will be required to sit on the upper level. Lower level seating is for disabled passengers and the elderly.

 

[rrdude]

Hi folks,

My wife and I are taking a short trip on the Pacific Surfliner leaving from LAX Union Station in the next couple of weeks. This will be our first train trip and I have a few newb questions.

1. We're going to check our bags since the Pacific Surfliner has smaller carry-on luggage space. Do you check bags at the ticket counter like on an airplane flight or do you drop it off trackside before boarding. When you get to your destination, do they have a baggage carousel similar to the airport or do you pick it up trainside?

2. We upgraded to Business Class to have more leg room. How do you know which train car is the Business Class car?

3. Do we just take the seats we want (first come, first served) when we get to the right car?

4. I know the Pacific Surfliner is a double-deck train. Is it better to sit on the upper or lower deck?

Any other suggestions from those that travel on the Pacific Surfliner would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

havanap44

I've just been on the Surfliner's daily since Saturday, and the OP answered your questions A-OK. If you like, you can have the redcaps give you a ride to your BC, it's nice if you have luggage, and also want to get a "jump" on the crowd.

Look for "Whooz Dome Car" on some of the Surfliner's. I lucked out the first trip from LAX south last week, and even thou paid for BC, once I saw Whooz' Dome, I never even set foot in the BC car, except to board.

 

[the_traveler]

Hi folks,

My wife and I are taking a short trip on the Pacific Surfliner leaving from LAX Union Station in the next couple of weeks. This will be our first train trip and I have a few newb questions.

1. We're going to check our bags since the Pacific Surfliner has smaller carry-on luggage space. Do you check bags at the ticket counter like on an airplane flight or do you drop it off trackside before boarding. When you get to your destination, do they have a baggage carousel similar to the airport or do you pick it up trainside?

2. We upgraded to Business Class to have more leg room. How do you know which train car is the Business Class car?

3. Do we just take the seats we want (first come, first served) when we get to the right car?

4. I know the Pacific Surfliner is a double-deck train. Is it better to sit on the upper or lower deck?

Any other suggestions from those that travel on the Pacific Surfliner would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

havanap44

Welcome to the forum!

Spokker answered your questions correctly. However, the answer to #3 requires some clarification. The Surfliner is unreserved for coach, but reserved for business class (BC). This just means that in coach, they sell tickets for use on any Surfliner. Thus if more people take your train than there are seats available, you may find that you may have to stand!

However, since BC is reserved, they only sell a certain number of BC seats for that train - the number of seats in the BC car!

Thus, you will have a seat!

However, unlike airlines, "reserved" does not mean that you reserve a specific seat (such as #21). It means you have space on that train. In both coach and BC, you can take any available seat!

Also, on the Surfliner, there is NOT more leg room than in coach (I believe).

One more recommendation. Sit on the right side (when facing the locomotive) going southbound and left side going northbound. Part of the trip will be along the coastline - sometimes within feet of the Pacific!

Another recommendation is to join Amtrak Guest Rewards (AGR)! It is similar to an Airline frequent flyer program. Once you join, you get a signup bonus and it earns you (depending on your trip) rewards for as little as 1,000 points!

This can get you a free trip in CA - such as San Diego to northern CA! (With this one trip, you will have almost enough for a reward!

)

I would be glad to refer you to AGR. Just send me a PM (Private Message) with your email addresses. (I recommend that you both have separate accounts - as only that person can earn points for his/her own ticket - and each account must have their own email address.)

 

[Spokker]

Thanks for the clarification. The San Joaquin route is similar to Surfliner business class in that it is reserved, but that you may choose where you sit.

People don't normally stand on the Surfliner in coach anyway. It only happened to me once amidst hundreds and hundreds of trips. Not a big deal.

 

[sportbiker]

A couple of comments: the Flickr photo isn't a line to check baggage, it's the line of people at the "departure gate" waiting for the boarding announcement.

Secondly, I believe that when checking baggage at LAUS you do it at the ticket window.

 

[uptheirons29]

Hiya....I dont ride the Surfliner that much, but am familiar enough with it and I enjoy riding it for day trips from home, usually northward to Santa Barbara or if I'm that lazy....L.A . lol. To answer your questions:

1. We're going to check our bags since the Pacific Surfliner has smaller carry-on luggage space. Do you check bags at the ticket counter like on an airplane flight or do you drop it off trackside before boarding. When you get to your destination, do they have a baggage carousel similar to the airport or do you pick it up trainside?

Usually you will pick up your baggage trackside at your destination, since the line serves mostly smaller stations, with L.A and San Diego being the truly big ones. You will check your bags in Los Angeles at the counter, and the Red Cap guys will help you with those. Tip them a small amount for the service also.

2. We upgraded to Business Class to have more leg room. How do you know which train car is the Business Class car?

The Business Class car will be the one closest to the locomotive, as mentioned. It will say "Pacific Business Class" on its side, unless by a small chance you got one of those older single level train cars usually used more on the East Coast. I've had that particular type of Business Class car in a Surfliner ride back from Santa Barbara to L.A once....wasn't as comfy as the newer 2 level Pacific Surfliner cars, but it's good nonetheless. Plus I got to met the starting goalie for the UCLA Women's soccer team at the time and her teammate. Very cool.

3. Do we just take the seats we want (first come, first served) when we get to the right car?

Yup. Business Class is reserved, but that just means that you will be guaranteed to have a seat in the train and in that particular car, with no set seat number or anything. You pick whichever seat is open at the time you board, settle in, give your ticket to the conductor who will in turn give you a small slip of paper denoting your destination station in 3 letter abbreviation to be placed above your seat, and you're set. You'll also be offered your beverage and complimentary snack at that time too.

4. I know the Pacific Surfliner is a double-deck train. Is it better to sit on the upper or lower deck?

As mentioned, the lower level is usually set aside for the disabled or elderly people who have difficulty walking up the stairs to the second level. You'll definitely want to be in the upper level to enjoy the view more.

Enjoy your first train trip, and please do let us know how it turns out

 

[hello]

Our experience on the Pacific Surfliner was unfortunate ... I'm glad that you are LEAVING from Union Station. We had made the mistake of catching it in Anaheim, to connect to the Coast Starlight at Union Station. The business class car was packed ... no where to sit, as everyone had all of their "other" bags over all of the seats. The attendant finally yelled at 4 different people to move their items so that we could sit ... nowhere near each other, but we were glad to be sitting! No offer of drink or newspaper was ever made ... and the car was FILTHY ... not Amtrak's fault ... as we could see what pastries had been handed out earlier, as they were all over the floor. I truly felt sorry for the people that boarded after our stop, as the riders became more and more belligerent as the attendant insisted that people move their things. It was a VERY uncomfortable ride.

 

[Spokker]

A couple of comments: the Flickr photo isn't a line to check baggage, it's the line of people at the "departure gate" waiting for the boarding announcement.

Ah, I didn't know that. I thought they were standing there because they had big bags that needed to be checked. I have never stood in that line before boarding a Surfliner train.

 

[hmy1]

People don't normally stand on the Surfliner in coach anyway. It only happened to me once amidst hundreds and hundreds of trips. Not a big deal.

You obviously don't ride the Surfliner's busiest trains, such as 785 on just about any Friday.

 

[sportbiker]

Ah, I didn't know that. I thought they were standing there because they had big bags that needed to be checked. I have never stood in that line before boarding a Surfliner train.

The line is how regular riders find out who's not. :giggle:

 

[MJL]

Am I gonna be the first one this tim? :lol:

Send me a private message (PM) with you and your wife's emails, and I will send you a referral to Amtrak Guest Rewards, the frequent rider program. After you sign up and ride, we will all get extra points than without the referral! :wub:

 

[the_traveler]

Am I gonna be the first one this tim? :lol:

See my post (#4) above! I already beat you to it!

(Nobody beats the_traveler!

)

 

[havanap44]

Thanks for all the nice and informative responses. Everyone has been very helpful. We plan to get therer early so we can figure it all out. I don't like the thought of lining up to wait to board though. Reminds me of Southwest airlines and the mad dash to get there first before all the good seats are gone. As for AGP, I already signed my wife and I up with accounts. Sorry. I didn't know about the referrals. I'll definitely report back on how our trip goes.

 

[the_traveler]

We plan to get therer early so we can figure it all out. I don't like the thought of lining up to wait to board though. Reminds me of Southwest airlines and the mad dash to get there first before all the good seats are gone.

Actually, you do not even need to line up. (I really don't know why they make you do so.

) The tunnel from the train station to the tracks goes right thru to the bus station on the other end of the hall! So people are always using it.

I myself just go down the tunnel until I see the sign where the Surfliner (in your case) will be. IIRC, it is usually around track 11. (I think there should be a big sign saying "Surfliner"!) Then I wait for "the crowd" to start coming, and go up the ramp!

Thus, I'm at the "head of the line" without waiting in "the line"!

 

[LA Resident]

We plan to get therer early so we can figure it all out. I don't like the thought of lining up to wait to board though. Reminds me of Southwest airlines and the mad dash to get there first before all the good seats are gone.

Actually, you do not even need to line up. (I really don't know why they make you do so.

) The tunnel from the train station to the tracks goes right thru to the bus station on the other end of the hall! So people are always using it.

I myself just go down the tunnel until I see the sign where the Surfliner (in your case) will be. IIRC, it is usually around track 11. (I think there should be a big sign saying "Surfliner"!) Then I wait for "the crowd" to start coming, and go up the ramp!

Thus, I'm at the "head of the line" without waiting in "the line"!

If you are a weekly user of the Surfliner, you don't wait at the bottom of the tunnel exit to the platform. You go right up the platform and sit down next to the train until the doors open. There are always at least two dozen people on the platform waiting, before the official announcement is made in the station for first boarding. People needed red-cap assistance are ferried to the platform ahead of the first announcement as well.

And while it isn't always track 11, with the frequency of the trains, there is almost always a Surfliner in the station waiting to go. The only screw-up can come when there are northbound and southbound trains in LAX at the same time!

I realize of course that this situation of people waiting politely on the platform would never go over in NY, Phil, Bos or DC because people on the West Coast are just so much more laid-back! :wacko:

 

[Spokker]

For newer riders, there is a danger of getting on the wrong train if you go up to the platforms. Check the head sign in every car to see which direction it's going in. Trains are not always on the same tracks every day.

 

[AlanB]

I realize of course that this situation of people waiting politely on the platform would never go over in NY, Phil, Bos or DC because people on the West Coast are just so much more laid-back! :wacko:

In NY it wouldn't work, not because people aren't laid back, but simply because the train wouldn't be sitting there. Even the dispatchers often don't know what track a train is going to be arriving on, until 15 to 20 minutes before it actually arrives.

I've even had a redcap take me down to the track once only to find out once we were on the track that PSCC had to change the track. So we all had to go back upstairs and then back down to the new track, where about 5 minutes later our train pulled in.

So the bottom line is that you could probably get away with waiting for a train on the platform at Penn, but it might not be the train you actually want.

 

[the_traveler]

I realize of course that this situation of people waiting politely on the platform would never go over in NY, Phil, Bos or DC because people on the West Coast are just so much more laid-back! :wacko:

Actually, there are passengers waiting on the platform at PHL. If it's a Regional or AE (with no need for a locomotive switch), the train only stops at PHL for a few minutes. Thus there is no choice but to have passengers waiting on the platform before the train arrives!

 

[havanap44]

For newer riders, there is a danger of getting on the wrong train if you go up to the platforms. Check the head sign in every car to see which direction it's going in. Trains are not always on the same tracks every day.

Is the train number posted somewhere on the outside of the train? I could just see myself getting on the wrong one. :unsure:

 

[Spokker]

Is the train number posted somewhere on the outside of the train? I could just see myself getting on the wrong one. :unsure:

When the first boarding call is made, there is a sign placed in the tunnel showing which track the next Surfliner departure is on.

Within each car is also a head sign that shows which direction the train is going, San Diego, Goleta or San Luis Obispo.

When all else fails, ask a conductor, but even this isn't a sure-thing. Conductors have told me to go to the wrong train before, but this only happened there was a major delay.

 

[LA Resident]

For newer riders, there is a danger of getting on the wrong train if you go up to the platforms. Check the head sign in every car to see which direction it's going in. Trains are not always on the same tracks every day.

Is the train number posted somewhere on the outside of the train? I could just see myself getting on the wrong one. :unsure:

Don't worry about these things so much. I've never been on a Surfliner yet--and I think I've ridden several hundred of them by now--where the conductor hasn't made two announcements, one about 10 minutes before departure, another about 3 minutes before, about what direction the train is headed and for everyone to double-check their tickets.

Most of the time there is only one Surfliner boarding at a time.

You'll be fine. Enjoy the ride!