Regional Business Class Seat Assignments Rolling Out 10/14/19

[MARC Rider]

I would not be surprised to see the Quiet cars on both Acela and Regional assigned as well, with a price premium, of course.

I'm not sure why Quiet cars would have a seat premium. The only time I see them fill up faster than the other cars is for trains leaving Washington, where the quiet car is the last coach on the train, and thus closest to the gate. Before they switched to the back, the quiet cars were at the front of the train and I used to ride them because they are the last to be filled up.

It seems to me that for every person who wants a quiet car experience, there are 10 people who want to be able to yak on their cellphones. Just my experience.

 

[Bex]

I'm not sure why Quiet cars would have a seat premium. The only time I see them fill up faster than the other cars is for trains leaving Washington, where the quiet car is the last coach on the train, and thus closest to the gate. Before they switched to the back, the quiet cars were at the front of the train and I used to ride them because they are the last to be filled up.

It seems to me that for every person who wants a quiet car experience, there are 10 people who want to be able to yak on their cellphones. Just my experience.

I don't know that it's 10 to 1 and there is only one QC. Sure I ride during busy times, but the QC is always full, and this is southbound from NY where people load from the middle. I also watch as people get on at intermediate stops and can't get a seat on it. Northbound I get on in Baltimore and don't even bother because the chances of getting a seat there are slim, so I ride in the first car, which is emptiest and so quietest of the regular cars (I loathe that they made the change to putting the QC at the back, but that's a topic for another day). I ride every week, ten months a year.

That said, I'd be glad to not pay a premium, but I really would enjoy some way of ensuring it's full of people who purposefully want to be there rather than the "I sat here by mistake and will proceed to yap to my neighbor in what I consider a low voice after being informed I'm in the QC" crowd.

 

[daybeers]

It will be very interesting to see how this goes. I hope it does, of course! I'm confused as to why passengers can't choose their seat (as with Acela FC) instead of it being automatically assigned. I would imagine nearly every passenger would want a different seat from the one they were automatically assigned, depending on how the algorithm works, ex. loading window seats first or row by row.

 

[bratkinson]

It will be very interesting to see how this goes. I hope it does, of course! I'm confused as to why passengers can't choose their seat (as with Acela FC) instead of it being automatically assigned. I would imagine nearly every passenger would want a different seat from the one they were automatically assigned, depending on how the algorithm works, ex. loading window seats first or row by row.

When I rode the Brightline about a month ago, I bought the ticket at one of the kiosks right at the front door. It automatically assigned my seat approximately in the middle of the car. As I was in their Select class, I was put in a single seat (it's 2 and 1 seating in Select). When I bought my ticket to return to WPB that afternoon, I paid careful attention to the ticketing screen and there was an easily-missed button to 'select a seat'. I did that and guess what? I selected the same seat I had come down on about mid-car. Obviously, Brightline implemented a fairly sophisticated automatic seat assignment algorithm that starts in the middle of the car and appears to leave an empty row between passengers on the same side until it gets 50% full.

Hopefully, Amtrak has/will use a similar assignment algorithm. But I'll put my money on row 1 seat A, row 1 seat D, then row 2 Seat A, etc. is what it comes out to be.

 

[PRR 60]

But I'll put my money on row 1 seat A, row 1 seat D, then row 2 Seat A, etc. is what it comes out to be.

Despite not having middle seats, Amtrak seats are lettered like 3x3 narrow-body aircraft - A(window), C(aisle), D(aisle), F(window). My experience in the corridor is that aisle seats are the first to be selected.

 

[jis]

Despite not having middle seats, Amtrak seats are lettered like 3x3 narrow-body aircraft - A(window), C(aisle), D(aisle), F(window). My experience in the corridor is that aisle seats are the first to be selected.

I suppose a feature that has survived from the old TWA heritage. [emoji57]

 

[bratkinson]

Hopefully, Amtrak has/will use a similar assignment algorithm. But I'll put my money on row 1 seat A, row 1 seat D, then row 2 Seat A, etc. is what it comes out to be.

Well, they got me...I just booked my annual AGR redemption joyride for the end of April and was assigned seat 1A in business class on train #141 and seat 2A on train #148 10 days later. It looks like they automatically book all the 'A' seats 1-16 then perhaps all the 'F' seats (or are they 'D') along the windows 1-16.

Of course, contrary to the information printed at the bottom of my ticket, seats can NOT be changed online at the Amtrak site nor on my Android cell phone. Neither can even FIND my reservation!

And last, but not least, there is NO official Amtrak seating diagram for any of the 3 'varieties' of BC cars on the NEC on their web site. So to the first to book get nearest the toilets? And which end is the front of the train? 'Full' BC cars on the NEC face either direction!

With my luck, I'll be seated next to a family with unruly kids or a someone built like a Sumo wrestler!

 

[Acela150]

And last, but not least, there is NO official Amtrak seating diagram for any of the 3 'varieties' of BC cars on the NEC on their web site. So to the first to book get nearest the toilets? And which end is the front of the train? 'Full' BC cars on the NEC face either direction!

Glad someone finally agrees with me on the orientation of the car!

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Well, I guess I will be saving money now because I will just go coach, where, if I must board in NJ, I will have to take whatever I can get between NYP and PHL but will have the luxury of changing to somewhere I like after the crowds get off at one of those stations.

If they allowed you to change your seat after booking in BC, and if the consists were all the same, that would be great. But here it looks like paying more money for less (or no) choice.

 

[Acela150]

Welp, I just got an email from Amtrak officially announcing the BC seats will be assigned.

 

[bratkinson]

Welp, I just got an email from Amtrak officially announcing the BC seats will be assigned.

I got one myself. A lot of good it does if one can't change seats and doesn't have a clue where in the car the seats are.

For what it's worth, I sent Amtrak an email this afternoon after discovering I can't change the seats online nor is there a seating diagram. I also mentioned the lack of consistency of orientation of the BC car referring to my email in January re: inconsistent Acela First Class positioning.

 

[Acela150]

I got one myself. A lot of good it does if one can't change seats and doesn't have a clue where in the car the seats are.

For what it's worth, I sent Amtrak an email this afternoon after discovering I can't change the seats online nor is there a seating diagram. I also mentioned the lack of consistency of orientation of the BC car referring to my email in January re: inconsistent Acela First Class positioning.

I personally believe that the FC car positioning has been consistent. Each train FROM Boston FC on the head end. TO Boston the Rear. A few of the NY Acela's are a toss up though.

But Regionals it's even worse. You don't know until you get on the train!

 

[Anderson]

IIRC Regionals have, as a rule, put the BC car on the back. That's been close to standard in VA, at least. Now, which way the car is "pointed" is very much more of a game.

I also got an email from AGR...bluntly, it felt like whomever was writing it was getting a hard-on about the seat assignments.

I'd like to fart in the general direction of whomever came up with this. The implementation (with no visible seatmaps at time of booking) has been utterly asinine; whomever planned this should be sacked...probably along with almost all of the rest of HQ these days, to be fair.

 

[Acela150]

Now, which way the car is "pointed" is very much more of a game.

Facepalm.....

That's what were complaining about! NOT the location of the car.

 

[Acela150]

Ok folks! A tip of the cap to Braktinson for this. In a PM he mentioned to me that the weekly RPA emails had a seating diagram for BC. The diagram is now on Amtrak.com! See the link below which includes Acela FC and Regional BC.

https://www.amtrak.com/onboard/onbo.../seating-accommodations/assigned-seating.html