Recent content by TheCrescent

Sure, people’s experiences and needs vary. For me, before providing services that I don’t want, the SCA should say, when stopping by at the beginning of the trip, “Do you need help with your bed/dinner/wake-up call/getting off?” I could say no, be left alone and be happy. You could say yes...

Amtrak’s approach: plenty of nasty employees combined with a system that emphasizes lots of contact between employees and passengers likely compounds customer dissatisfaction. For example: 1. If I could order dinner online, then I wouldn’t have to deal with employee attitude when the Amtrak...

Then Amtrak needs to actually block the passageway between the first class car and the rest of the train or put up a sign saying “Employees Only”. NJ Transit does so by having a metal bar cross the passageway between cars at waist level. Amtrak puts signs on baggage and baggage-dorm car...

I witnessed both incidents, both within a few feet from me.

Rudeness doesn’t excuse rudeness. I may be wrong, but I think that the passenger who asked for a Sam Adams boarded well after the Amtrak employee had passed his row taking orders. The Amtrak employee was taking orders at the other end of the car and walked by when the passenger asked for a Sam...

I saw two passengers on the Acela Express who got lectured by an employee, although the passengers were perfectly polite: One boarded the first class car by entering through the kitchen area from another car. The Amtrak employee stopped her, told her that she wasn’t allowed to enter that way...

Amtrak already received more rooms by receiving Viewliner II sleeping cars and baggage/dorm cars. Yet prices have gone up significantly, at least on the Crescent. Past experience doesn’t indicate that more rooms will result in lower prices, but maybe a change in management could result in...

I took the survey and it seemed to indicate more types of rooms, but all at high prices. No thanks. I love American Airlines and its nice employees and good customer service and will pick it over Amtrak anytime. If Brightline ran night trains, I’d take it.

I received it. Lie-flat seats, solo rooms and a range of luxury rooms. And cars with work spaces, gyms, etc. And high prices. It all sounds nice until you realize that the nasty on-board employees will be handling it. Now they hang out in the cafe car and yell at passengers who try to sit...

I have a $270 Amtrak eVoucher, am Select Plus and will not take Amtrak again. Is there any lawful way to give the voucher to charity? If not, I’ll just let it expire. Thanks.

Airlines don’t have a “head of onboard customer-facing staff” on planes, at least in the US on domestic flights, yet airlines seem to provide much more consistent customer service than Amtrak does. I know that plenty of people don’t like airlines. But airlines don’t have the range of service...

The Crescent also often has higher fares between the Northeast and the Carolinas than fares between the same Northeastern cities and Atlanta. I’d like to think that Amtrak monitors the competition and charges based on comparable competitor prices but I doubt it.

Yes, I haven’t flown transatlantic since taking US Airways but I’ve heard similar reports. In any event, as we both agree, airlines are generally smoother in terms of employees in customer-facing roles.

Didn’t Amtrak rename them “first class lounges”, at least on the Crescent?

What happens to Amtrak employees who customers complain about (by contacting Amtrak by email or letter after the trip)? For example, if Steve4031 wrote Amtrak to complain about the sleeping car attendant that he described, what would Amtrak do the employee, if anything? I’ve flown probably...