Does this not get into any sort of Union Rules problem? I'm not familiar with Amtrak's union rules, but where I have worked before, it's completely not OK for a person who is in a "non-tipped" position to work in a "tipped" position. That being said, I had a Sleeper attendant on the Silvers once who was regularly a coach attendant, but picked up sleeper job from the extra board.
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Shortline
Conductor
Both are "tipped" positions. Just very few people tip the coach attendant. SCA and CA are the same craft, just different duties depending on which assignment.
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G
Guest
Guest
There was a story in my paper a while ago. A minister tipped only 5% and made a BIG public point over it. The point being that his church asks its members to pledge 5% of their total income to the church, and that no mere person deserves a bigger percentage than what's given to God.
IMHO, this minister should not have chosen to put this onto any wait staff. They work, just like this minister works, and deserves fair compensation for that labor. And I am sure that 5% of one's total income is still far more than 15% of a restaurant check. And, I bet more of the money "given unto God" ends up in this minister's pockets, than in God's own pockets (go white robes even have pockets?).
Wow. That's a complete revisionist tale of a bad tip story. The Bible (and this can be argued by everyone and anyone until the end of all times) is most commonly interpreted to read that the first tenth be tithed (given) to God, and that anything else is an offering. The money given to God is technically given to the Church which uses those funds for their ministry. OK - I really don't want to go into religion here, as this could go South real quick. I only mentioned it to get to the point of the previous post. Our customary tip is generally 15%. Obviously, this varies wildly between type of service received to quality of service received to generocity of person serviced.
This particular pastor was rather upset with the server for some reason or another and thought she would make a point by writing on her receipt that God gets 10%, so why [allegedly because her service was poor] get any more? I've heard the same arguments for tax rates, etc. Was it in poor taste? Absolutely. I also get quite miffed at, and find in poor taste, receipts that have printed on them the "guidelines" for tipping with 15%, 18% and 20% dollar amounts so you can tip "appropriately".
greatcats
Engineer
I am happy to leave a good top for good service. Usually I pay restaurant bills these days by credit card, where I fill in the tip or perhaps leave it in cash. But I find it really annoying when I give a $20 bill for say a $12 meal and the server asks, " Do you need change? ". Do you really think I am leaving $8? This happened recently in Flagstaff and rather than make a scene, I left the young man a note complimenting him on his efficient and personable service, but that his question annoyed me and I will decide how much to leave. A friend of mine says when this occurs he automatically deducts $1.
There was a story in my paper a while ago. A minister tipped only 5% and made a BIG public point over it. The point being that his church asks its members to pledge 5% of their total income to the church, and that no mere person deserves a bigger percentage than what's given to God.
IMHO, this minister should not have chosen to put this onto any wait staff. They work, just like this minister works, and deserves fair compensation for that labor. And I am sure that 5% of one's total income is still far more than 15% of a restaurant check
If the Minister gives a poor sermon do yo you not put anything in the collection plate?h34r:
Shortline
Conductor
Well, nothing to report about our dorm trip, service was great, pat took care of us, and made the trip from coach to see us more than I usually see a regular SCA. She wanted to drop our beds a but earlier than we liked, but it worked out, she told us to use the room across as a day room, and ours as a night room. Win-win. Few rooms were sold in the dorm, and the other two who were occupied stayed sealed up in them almost the whole trip, so it was definitely quiet. There was coffee water and juice acailable, but had to ho to the revenue sleeper for ice. this dorm was unusual, in that there was only 1 lav upstairs an it was locked, guess there was a water leak yeaterday morning. also had a slightly different layout downstairs. it was obviously an older car, but everything worked, Pat took great care of us, the diner worked like it should, and we essentially had 2 roometes to ourselves. All in all, probably one of my better trips on the Eagle!
rickycourtney
Conductor
The roomettes in a normal sleeping car are numbered 1-14.Back to TrannsDoroms... if I book a roomette on Amtrak's website, is there a way to see if I'll be stuck in a TransDorm roomette? (or... if I want a TransDorm roomette... see if one is available) I realize I can call Amtrak on the phone, but it's 2013 and I can't understand why Amtrak doesn't let people see this on their website before purchase)
The roomettes Amtrak sells in a transition sleeping car (the "TransDorm") are numbered 17-24.
I also don't understand why Amtrak doesn't let passengers just choose which room they want (like the airlines)... or at least input their preferences for an upper or lower roomette.
rickycourtney
Conductor
I have a question for you AU'ers who've recently travelled on a transition sleeping car... do they still have a curtain or saloon door that separates the revenue roomettes from the roomettes used by the crew?
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Shortline
Conductor
Every time I've been on one, there has been a curtain, usually open sometimes closed. Sometimes there is also a sign "crew only no passengers beyond this point", sometimes there isn't. Each time, it's been just forward of the coffee/water area and upstairs lav. That may change, on longer trains with more crew, not sure.
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T
TheCorbens
Guest
what percentage of people actually leave a tip for the the sleeping car attendants?
many people, myself included, were not aware of the tipping requirement... I didn't know about it until I started visiting this forum recently. I've been riding Amtrak since I was a kid back in the 70's.
many people, myself included, were not aware of the tipping requirement... I didn't know about it until I started visiting this forum recently. I've been riding Amtrak since I was a kid back in the 70's.
calwatch
Lead Service Attendant
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Sometimes on the final approach the SCA will mention "tips are appreciated" in the closing spiel... Rion on the CONO did that, but I know that other travelers find that slightly offensive (the same with the circling of the "comped" value of the meal for sleeping car passengers for tip calculation purposes, which apparently is actually required under the Blue Book). But otherwise it is mentioned in the handouts, but not directly or indirectly in any other way. In business and first class, for example, on an airplane, no one tips, but on a cruise ship, tips are prominently mentioned in the calculation of the price, if not directly included ("price excluding tax and gratiuities"). Like most everything in America it is consistently inconsistent.
D T Nelson
Lead Service Attendant
Regarding the transdorm, I was in it once, on the Empire Builder. I liked it fine. The SCA was the SCA for the sleeper car next door; since that SCA was the great Gul, I had the best, most attentive service I have ever had on Amtrak. I don't know where I would have gotten coffee or juice because I don't drink them, not coffee that's been cooking for hours in an urn, anyway. There was no curtain separating revenue passengers from workers, but there was a sign hanging from the ceiling indicating "Employees only past this point" -- that's not a direct quote but it was something to that effect.
Regarding tipping, I took my first sleeper trip on the Santa Fe, pre-Amtrak, and my father explained that it was customary to tip the porter at the end of the trip. He showed me the approved method, which I use to this day, which was to fold a bill in half in the palm of your hand, and shake hands with the porter as you detrained. The bill would unobtrusively switch hands during the handshake. Of course, the porter did a lot more for us than an SCA does -- he shined our shoes overnight, for example.
Regarding tipping, I took my first sleeper trip on the Santa Fe, pre-Amtrak, and my father explained that it was customary to tip the porter at the end of the trip. He showed me the approved method, which I use to this day, which was to fold a bill in half in the palm of your hand, and shake hands with the porter as you detrained. The bill would unobtrusively switch hands during the handshake. Of course, the porter did a lot more for us than an SCA does -- he shined our shoes overnight, for example.
L
Liz
Guest
This is our 3rd CZ overnight trip... Second time headed east from Colorado. We are room 17 apparently in a Transdorm room. Is it a smoother ride than in the back sleeper area? Can coach passengers walk in? Does it smell of Diesel? Trying to keep open mind about it but wasn't expecting to find they (Amtrak) did this. Any other hints or observations you've had traveling in Transdorm car? Tks!
NW cannonball
Conductor
FormerOBS
Conductor
Rode many a mile as an employee in a trans dorm, but never with passengers because I worked a train that required a staff large enough to fill the car.
Room 17 is close to the end of the car, so the ride may be a bit rough. However, east of Denver the tracks are relatively straight, compared with the tracks through the mountains, so you shouldn't have an unreasonable amount of lateral motion.
There should be no issue with fumes because the engines' exhaust goes up from the engines. The only door facing the engines will probably be the low door at the B end of the car. All air intakes, plus the side doors, are at a fairly low level so the exhaust should just go over the top & shouldn't be noticed. If the trans dorm runs with the A (high door) forward, it will most likely be at or near the rear of the train, so the engines will be some distance from you.
Regarding the comments about tipping, D T Nelson had it right (above). First-time riders often don't tip because they simply don't know that it's traditional to do so. Amtrak takes a dim view of anything that could be construed as soliciting tips, and people have been reprimanded for it. I'm not personally aware of anybody being taken out of service or brought up on charges for soliciting tips, but it could happen. Whenever passengers would ask me about the tipping policy, I would tell them that according to Amtrak's policy, tipping is entirely up to the passenger. There is no official position on whether to tip, or how much. One of the things that make Coach Attendant positions unpopular with a lot of people, is the fact that tips from coach passengers are few and far between, no matter how much the Attendant does to welcome passengers aboard, help with luggage, keep the restrooms clean, notify passengers of their upcoming stop, etc. Many's the time when I felt pretty discouraged, but the possibility of tips kept me going.
And by the way, I shined many a shoe when I worked the old Heritage sleepers. The more modern cars don't have shoe lockers, so that practice ended with their arrival. After we got Superliners, I kept my shoe shine kit with me for a year or two, but nobody ever asked me for a shoe shine, so I eliminated that from my travel bag. I think the lockers were eliminated because many folks didn't know there was a second locker door that the attendant used to take out the shoes, so passengers would use the locker to store valuables (wallet, watch, etc.). There was a sign saying valuables shouldn't be put in there, but who reads signs? I heard anecdotes about unauthorized people removing valuables (That's a polite term for stealing). Most folks won't want somebody else's shoes; but a nice gold watch is a different matter. Back then, a rookie mistake was to remove all the shoes from the lockers at the same time, shine them all, and then forget which shoes should be returned to which room. I always did them one pair at a time.
Enjoy your trip on the CZ, Liz.
Tom
Tom
Room 17 is close to the end of the car, so the ride may be a bit rough. However, east of Denver the tracks are relatively straight, compared with the tracks through the mountains, so you shouldn't have an unreasonable amount of lateral motion.
There should be no issue with fumes because the engines' exhaust goes up from the engines. The only door facing the engines will probably be the low door at the B end of the car. All air intakes, plus the side doors, are at a fairly low level so the exhaust should just go over the top & shouldn't be noticed. If the trans dorm runs with the A (high door) forward, it will most likely be at or near the rear of the train, so the engines will be some distance from you.
Regarding the comments about tipping, D T Nelson had it right (above). First-time riders often don't tip because they simply don't know that it's traditional to do so. Amtrak takes a dim view of anything that could be construed as soliciting tips, and people have been reprimanded for it. I'm not personally aware of anybody being taken out of service or brought up on charges for soliciting tips, but it could happen. Whenever passengers would ask me about the tipping policy, I would tell them that according to Amtrak's policy, tipping is entirely up to the passenger. There is no official position on whether to tip, or how much. One of the things that make Coach Attendant positions unpopular with a lot of people, is the fact that tips from coach passengers are few and far between, no matter how much the Attendant does to welcome passengers aboard, help with luggage, keep the restrooms clean, notify passengers of their upcoming stop, etc. Many's the time when I felt pretty discouraged, but the possibility of tips kept me going.
And by the way, I shined many a shoe when I worked the old Heritage sleepers. The more modern cars don't have shoe lockers, so that practice ended with their arrival. After we got Superliners, I kept my shoe shine kit with me for a year or two, but nobody ever asked me for a shoe shine, so I eliminated that from my travel bag. I think the lockers were eliminated because many folks didn't know there was a second locker door that the attendant used to take out the shoes, so passengers would use the locker to store valuables (wallet, watch, etc.). There was a sign saying valuables shouldn't be put in there, but who reads signs? I heard anecdotes about unauthorized people removing valuables (That's a polite term for stealing). Most folks won't want somebody else's shoes; but a nice gold watch is a different matter. Back then, a rookie mistake was to remove all the shoes from the lockers at the same time, shine them all, and then forget which shoes should be returned to which room. I always did them one pair at a time.
Enjoy your trip on the CZ, Liz.
Tom
Tom
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