Special announcement from Amtrak this weekend?
- Thread starter Cal
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I think I found the answer. 
chrsjrcj
OBS Chief
I’m back to thinking it’ll be Cyber Monday sale.
I don’t remember there being any build up to the traditional dining announcement for Western LDT.
I don’t remember there being any build up to the traditional dining announcement for Western LDT.
However, after seeing the huge positive reaction maybe they decided to build it up for the introduction to all trains.
Prediction: The ultimate announcement will underwhelm.
this better not be it...
Danib62
Service Attendant
It is and I’m just here for the reactions.
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That be it
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
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And it happens virtually every year. So basically ho..hum. 
So someone decided to puff up a routine announcement with some social hype. I propose we all pelt him with his choice of brownies or blondies.
Doesn't the Track Friday sale usually include routes outside the Northeast Corridor/VA/Maine? Either way it's a bad sale.
Endless high fructose corn syrup!
The only friends I have is the money in my pocket.
The more money I have, the more friends I have.
The less money I have, the less friends I have.
And really. Valid for travel Jan 4 through Apr 30th. Like I know today when my friend and I want to go to NYC in March.
Zzzzzz......
Zzzzzz......
TylerP42
Conductor
A lot of hype for something that happens almost yearly! lol
Mystic River Dragon
Engineer
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This is it? Really? This is beyond insulting to longtime Amtrak travelers.
Amtrak must realize that, with such a buildup, we were expecting something important—most likely, return of traditional dining in the east.
Instead, it’s just a BOGO deal like you can get in any cheap store.
I am feeling less and less like taking Amtrak anywhere anymore, between their high prices and cavalier attitude.
If some of you think I’m overreacting, think of it like this: suppose your favorite bookstore advertised and hyped a book sale—and when you got there (first in line and excited), you found all they had was one tattered used paperback for sale. Would you go back and spend your money there? Of course not.
Has Amtrak’s marketing department been told to antagonize and turn away longtime customers as they go after new ones? Or are they just dumb as dirt?
At least they are honest enough to refer to the deal as “an experience,” not “a good experience”!
Amtrak must realize that, with such a buildup, we were expecting something important—most likely, return of traditional dining in the east.
Instead, it’s just a BOGO deal like you can get in any cheap store.
I am feeling less and less like taking Amtrak anywhere anymore, between their high prices and cavalier attitude.
If some of you think I’m overreacting, think of it like this: suppose your favorite bookstore advertised and hyped a book sale—and when you got there (first in line and excited), you found all they had was one tattered used paperback for sale. Would you go back and spend your money there? Of course not.
Has Amtrak’s marketing department been told to antagonize and turn away longtime customers as they go after new ones? Or are they just dumb as dirt?
At least they are honest enough to refer to the deal as “an experience,” not “a good experience”!
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Quite underwhelming! I don't see any clarification if this is only for a one way trip or if it can be used for a round trip.
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I mean no disrespect to anyone who had higher hopes, but I think people read way too much into the photos that were chosen for this social media posting. They do a BOGO sale every year this time of year - that was my automatic assumption when I saw the teaser. There has been absolutely no information coming out to indicate anything related to dining cars in the east / if that was what the announcement was we’d all know by now because RPA would have been told and it would have been released to employees and there’d be rumors galore and with the staffing situation I can’t imagine that’s even remotely close to the front burner at Amtrak right now - we will be lucky to maintain status quo through the winter….so while I don’t want to be rude….. not quite sure why anyone is that surprised. Perhaps a poor choice of photos when you consider the sensitivity of the food and beverage situation to many railfans but the social media department isn’t necessarily going to be that attuned to what makes the railfans tick. They wanted to try to push the sale and they picked some pretty photos.
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We wouldn't be Amtrak riders if we weren't optimists. Why else would we ride a train not knowing what day, much less hour, it will get to its destination?
Mystic River Dragon
Engineer
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You are not being rude at all.
And you make good points. I do feel that if the social media department is professional, they should be aware of what is important to those who take the trains the most, and the pictures they choose should be pertinent to the topic.
(I had the same problem throughout my editing career—the arts/graphics people were always trying to throw in pictures that had nothing to do with the report, and when I asked why they chose pictures that had nothing to do with the topic, they said because “they were eye catching.”
)I guess I will have to treat Amtrak’s press releases and teasers the same way I now treat actual Amtrak travel: expect only the bare minimum and be pleasantly surprised when it is anything better.
And I bet that regular AU posters are a miniscule and insignificant part of the market. They send out a few hundred thousand emails and some folks bite. Not like it cost them anything.
