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genny049
Guest
Can you buy a day pass to use metropolitan lounge in Chicago Union station if your coach? We used to be able to use legacy but I heard they closed that.We have 8 hrs between trains.
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anita garrison
Guest
CrazyTrain
Train Attendant
Thanks for asking this genny! I've been a member for a while now, but fell to lurking since my last trip. I am traveling to Chicago again next month via train, but this time didn't have the funds to purchase a room, so I'm going coach. It's just me and the thought of having to drag my luggage around with me for hours while I wait for the return train (leaving at 8:05 PM) is not something that appeals to me. I called Amtrak to purchase the ticket and asked the agent if the room where luggage is kept is only for sleeper car travelers because I knew the lounge is for them. She said that the room is only for those in the sleeper cars and informed me that there are lockers around the station where I could leave my luggage. So I searched and some sites indicated the lockers were shut down for safety reasons and some sites indicated there are only a very limited number. I'd rather spend the $25 and hang out in the lounge for the afternoon than have to drag my luggage all over creation.
Chicago Union Station does not have lockers anymore. I haven't seen them since 2011, or thereabouts.
$25 is definitely worth access to the lounge, especially if you have several hours to kill.
bratkinson
Conductor
You might want to give the checked baggage person a try.
While in Atlanta last week, I saw a handwritten sign indicating the station agent would hold/check bags for $10/day, which is rather high, in my opinion.
While in Atlanta last week, I saw a handwritten sign indicating the station agent would hold/check bags for $10/day, which is rather high, in my opinion.
Yes, this has been the case for at least a few years. Bear in mind that it is $10 PER BAG. Less than the Metropolitan Lounge though if you only have 1 bag to check. The toilets in the Metropolitan Lounge are much better and cleaner than the ones for the hoi polloi though. I would use the word "pristine" to describe the toilet I used in the ML in August.
In addition, the ML offers showers, tv, wi-fi, and snacks at various times of the day. If you have a good deal of time to ill, and the weather is not on your side for exploring (not that we ever see that in Chicago) the ML starts to look pretty good...You can leave and come back, it's not a one shot entry.....
seat38a
Engineer
I took a short trip to Chicago last weekend and took advantage of checking out the Met Lounge so I'd know what to expect next summer on my trip to Glacier. The lady at the desk was kind enough to give me and my family a tour of the place. The two showers are on the main floor and were extremely clean. The first floor lounge was more crowded with lots of TVs, so a bit noisier. Upstairs is a quieter lounge, only one TV, and area where you can get snacks I think she said the food comes out around 12:30 PM ? but didn't catch whether that's included or extra costs. Since I'll be in sleeper, it's included but I'd say it's probably worth the $25 if you have a long layover. Maybe not if you have 5 in the family!
dogbert617
OBS Chief
Yes if you're riding in coach, you definitely can pay for all day access to the Metropolitan Lounge. I'm not sure what the fee is to pay to access the lounge, since I've never tried to pay to access that lounge when riding coach. I did check it out briefly after riding sleeper on the Empire Builder back from Glacier National Park in Montana to Chicago(the staff WAS awesome in letting me go inside to look and sit for a while, even though I wasn't going beyond Chicago and transferring to another train), and it's extremely nice. And yes to answer your question, you can leave your bag(s) there and do a short walk outside of Union Station and back, if you want to.
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