1st Class Lounge Question

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jannie

Train Attendant
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Messages
94
In Chicago -- I know I can wait in the Lounge before my train leaves in the evening with showing my train ticket which shows I have a sleeper.

Question: Sounds like the Empire Builder is sometimes :) late getting into Chicago --- my connection isn't until the next morning will I be allowed (or should I expect to be) to hang out in the Metropolian Lounge while I wait. I'd like to be able to doze (sleep) until the next morning train to home. (Thought it might be quieter than trying to doze in the general waiting room).
 
Actually, I would start looking for a hotel close-(There is a Holiday Inn Express within walking distance I usually use) because, if I'm not mistaken, the station closes overnight, both the Metropolitan lounge, as well as the general waiting area, and you won't be able to wait there until the next day. I could be wrong, but am almost positive they close completely for several hours each night.

Edit-Just looked-They close between Midnight, and 5:30 AM. Shows the "lounge" (I assume the Met Lounge) is only open 7:45 AM to 9:30 PM. I would suggest a hotel.....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have arrived into Chicago on the Builder around 4am more times than I would have liked. The Metropolitan Lounge has never been open at that time. Only Passenger Services and the ticket counter have been staffed to issue and pay vouchers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The metropolitan lounge is open during the day, but closes overnight. In fact the entire station is also normally closed overnight also. If for some reason the EB arrives at (say) 3 am you may be allowed to stay in the station. However if it arrives at 6 pm, you'll have to leave the station at closing time.
 
The other Posters beat me to the Station Info so let me recommend the Hostel International on Congress for an Overnight stay! Wonderful Place with Breakfast included for around $35, lots of us stay there! Google it up and check it out!
 
If the Builder arrives late enough (~3:30 or 4am-ish), there is a good chance they will open up the Metropolitan Lounge for those who have early connections. Happened to me in December. One caveat: they were still guaranteeing connections at that time. Now that they are not guaranteeing same-day from the EB, they may have changed other things (like the availability of the lounge) as well.
 
Wow -- that really helps -- plus annoys. I tried to get a connection the same day the train is suppose to arrive at 3 p.m something and my "real" connection leaves around 6 p.m. That would be Great -- I tried to do that on the internet, can't, then went as phone person they no long allow them to do that. So it's early the next morning. She did tell me that if the Empire Builder arrives on time I can try to get on my desired train at the time that would make more sense 6pm. Judging by others being "on time" doesn't happen too often.
 
I give it a 5% chance that you arrive in time for that 6 pm train. More than likely, the train will arrive late.
 
Those are not very good odds :) Since I don't know if I will be somewhat late, very late or the remote chance on time I really don't want to make hotel reservations that are confirmed.

a. I imagine that it'd still be ok to leave a suitcase and carry on "stuff" in the lockers after I arrive in Chicago and before we find a hotel? Don't want to drag all that stuff to the hotel.

b. I could make reservations for 6 pm. from Chicago to my home destination as a separate ticket, but since it wasn't made as one group Seattle to my home town - I suppose Amtrak wouldn't have to find we a place to stay overnight if they were late. Oh, well, just a thought :)
 
The last 5 days it has averaged 11 hours late. Best time was 4 hrs late and worst was almost 20 hours late.
 
oregon pioneer said:
If the Builder arrives late enough (~3:30 or 4am-ish), there is a good chance they will open up the Metropolitan Lounge for those who have early connections. Happened to me in December. One caveat: they were still guaranteeing connections at that time. Now that they are not guaranteeing same-day from the EB, they may have changed other things (like the availability of the lounge) as well.
Click to expand...
That brings me to a related question I've been meaning to ask. Assuming that you have a guaranteed connection (such as the current EB-LSL in Chicago), and the train breaks that connection by several hours, arriving at 3-4 am, will they still give you a hotel room, or do they just open the lounge?

I'm just curious as to whether Amtrak has a "cutoff" point, at which they will no longer offer a hotel.
 
Where can I find out the recent on time or late info on the meteor?
 
I'm surprised no one hit this earlier!!!

If you miss your connection, Amtrak will put you up in a hotel at their cost.. Not yours!! :) You will then be put on the next days train..

The lounge closes after the boarding of 48/448.
 
Acela150 said:
I'm surprised no one hit this earlier!!!

If you miss your connection, Amtrak will put you up in a hotel at their cost.. Not yours!! :) You will then be put on the next days train..

The lounge closes after the boarding of 48/448.
Click to expand...
she doesn't have a guaranteed connection which is why she had to buy two separate reservations.
 
jannie said:
Wow -- that really helps -- plus annoys. I tried to get a connection the same day the train is suppose to arrive at 3 p.m something and my "real" connection leaves around 6 p.m. That would be Great -- I tried to do that on the internet, can't, then went as phone person they no long allow them to do that. So it's early the next morning. She did tell me that if the Empire Builder arrives on time I can try to get on my desired train at the time that would make more sense 6pm. Judging by others being "on time" doesn't happen too often.
Click to expand...
She said it isn't guaranteed, per the phone agent.

Jannie, you should be able to leave your stuff in the lockers, but I can't remember how much they charge per hour. I'd highly recommend taking a cab to a nearby hotel.

If you're looking to save some money, you can take the Blue Line out to O'Hare and stay at a hotel near the airport. Many of them have free, 24-hour shuttles. Midway is a bit closer, on the Orange Line, and also has some nearby hotels with shuttles.

Also, try the app "Hotel Tonight". You can get some really good deals on hotels near Union Station. I've seen some hotels as low as $65 (normally $200), depending on the date. Hotwire might have some good deals too. When you filter your search on Hotwire, the areas closest to the station are "Theatre District", "River North", and "Magnificent Mile".
 
Yes, when I tried to make the reservation from Seattle to small town - Amtrak website kept saying check the Station name or something like that like it didn't exist. Ok, thinking the website is just crazy. I phoned agent she said they couldn't make a reservation on the 6 p.m. train (there is a 2 hour window from when EB is "suppose" to arrive & I leave). My next option was the next morning train from Chicago to home. ok fine. She said if it arrived on time I could ask ticket agent if I could get on the desired evening train. She checked about lateness said EB was on time a few days prior and 10 or 15 hours late other.

I really feel Amtrak should be required to allow a person to stay in the station if the train brings you in late if you have a connection (even made by passenger) for early the next day - instead of pushing us out at midnight to try to find a hotel. As it is now we are up in the air as to making reservations at a hotel, that we may or may not use. I've already checked 2 hotels downtown & they are booked for the date. And, I really don't want to cab to a hotel at 3 am and leave at 6 to catch a 7 a.m train. That seems silly.

This is a situation that never occurred to me. I'll check out some other hotel ideas.
 
Most hotels have a cancellation policy that allows you to cancel a reservation as late as 6 pm on the night of the reservation! If you're on the EB and the train is running 5 hours late, you can pretty much assume you may get in like at 8-10 pm. If the train is running on time, you may make that same day connection. If the train is running 12 hours late, you can assume it may be a 3-5 am arrival. (All these are checking in MN or WI.)

If one of the later 2, you can call up on your cell phone/use your computer or laptop from the train to cancel the reservation before the cutoff time. If you don't have one, I'm sure if you ask other passengers that you see who have one if you can use their's to cancel your hotel, they most likely will say yes. (I know I have let others use mine.)
 
Thanks for everyone's help.. I made reservations with a hotel downtown. I looked at the status for past times of the Empire Builder and it seems really varied. An 1hr & 20 minutes late (which would fine) 4 hours late not as good, but at least I have a place to stay and now know that the station closes; 10 hours late I really wouldn't need a place. I can only picture arriving at 11:30 p.m thinking we could stay at Union Station to wait for the morning train and instead being put out at midnight to find a hotel at that time of night.. Really glad I found out ahead of time!! Thanks
 
jannie said:
My next option was the next morning train from Chicago to home. ok fine. She said if it arrived on time I could ask ticket agent if I could get on the desired evening train.
Click to expand...
I'm a little confused by this - is this something Amtrak normally allows? Since the connection from the EB to the CL has been "broken", and Amtrak is forcing people to take the LSL or a train the next day, will Amtrak allow you to get on the CL if train #8 happens to be miraculously on time?
 
I don't know all the phone agent said was to check with the ticket agent to see if I could switch to get on at the 6p.m. time rather than wait until my ticket time of 7a.m if I got into the station "on time". :) I'm not thinking that's not a real consideration.
 
D.P. Roberts said:
jannie said:
My next option was the next morning train from Chicago to home. ok fine. She said if it arrived on time I could ask ticket agent if I could get on the desired evening train.
Click to expand...
I'm a little confused by this - is this something Amtrak normally allows? Since the connection from the EB to the CL has been "broken", and Amtrak is forcing people to take the LSL or a train the next day, will Amtrak allow you to get on the CL if train #8 happens to be miraculously on time?
Click to expand...
As long as there's room, I should imagine so. Amtrak won't let us book the 4:00 Blue Water since the SWC gets in at 3:00, but I've often switched us from the 6:00 Wolverine to the 4:00 Blue Water when we arrive early/on-time. I either do it through the app or go to the ticket counter at CUS.

Unless I'm missing something?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top