Amtrak Acela good and bad

[guest]

I just returned from riding trains in Canada and the US. While I have ridden the regular Acela coach several times and found it comfortable, I used AGR points to upgrade to first class on a NY-DC routing this trip after reading many postings here that raved about the fc service, food and amenities.

I must say I was quite disappointed. Yes the seats are marginally more comfortable than those in Acela coach but not by much. And no leg rests or foot rests that you find in many BC cars and on the Adirondack. The tray tables are the ridiculous contraptions I've seen on the Pacific Surfliners. On this particular trip, mine had a noticeable tilt to it, which meant cups and trays slid from side to side, until I put a newspaper on the tray as a makeshift place mat. The food was pedestrian at best and the two car attendants amateurish in their service standards: plopping food down, then disappearing for lengthy periods when it would have been nice to see them coming down the aisles asking if customers wanted refills on drinks, etc.

The scrum atmosphere in the Club Acela Lounge certainly didn't add to a sense of first-class ambience, either. At least two-dozen passengers crowded near the entrance door, primed to run to the gate sign as soon as the number flashed on the monitor behind the club attendant's desk. Perhaps the frenetic mob in the club and at the gate are normal for New York but I would have been better off waiting in the area for the unwashed coach masses--NEC and Acela--and then making my way to the escalator at that point. It appeared to me that several frequent riders of Acela paid extra to redcaps roaming through the Club Acela to place their bags at seats ahead of time to secure a particular window or aisle.

The extra money required to ride Acela first class is in no way well-spent, IMHO.

Especially when I compare Acela First Class to the Via Rail Business Class I took from Toronto to Montreal. Civilized boarding procedures from the Via Rail Panorama Lounge to the train. Constant attention to service, both for drinks and meals, by the bc car attendants. Nicer silverware, nicer appetizers, nicer meals and nicer china. Constant offers of refills. And here's something you would never, ever see on Amtrak: a customer across the aisle from me found her reading light overhead was burnt out. No problem, said the attendant, who proceeded to get a new bulb and replace it!! I'd give $1000 to see that EVER happen on ANY Amtrak train!!

BTW On the Adirondack from Montreal to New York, the coaches for those going all the way to NYC were the long-distance cars, with foot and leg rests. Perhaps this is a change from past procedure as several on this forum said that those cars are usually ahead of the snack car and used for passengers from intermediate stations. Or maybe I just got lucky? In any event, given that US immigration spent an extra 90 minutes doing their functions, and given that the engine had to be replaced--with one ferried up by the northbound Adirondack and dropped off at our "meet" in upstate New York--I was certainly happy for a comfortable seat on a nearly 13-hour ride.

 

[Tumbleweed]

And here's something you would never, ever see on Amtrak: a customer across the aisle from me found her reading light overhead was burnt out. No problem, said the attendant, who proceeded to get a new bulb and replace it!! I'd give $1000 to see that EVER happen on ANY Amtrak train!!

Where do you apply for a position of overhead reading light bulb changer-outer?

 

[AlanB]

Constant attention to service, both for drinks and meals, by the bc car attendants.

Wish I could say that same about my trip a few years ago in BC on VIA.

I was not at all happy with the attention that one attendant decided to provide. When I boarded I placed my bags in the luggage rack right by the door; he rudely told me that since my suitcase and computer bag were small that they needed to go in the overheads. So I took them both down to my seat, got the suitcase in the overhead. But the backpack didn't fit, so I went and put it back in the rack.

Two minutes later he marches down the aisle and rudely tells me "I told you to put this in the overhead." I responded, "it doesn't fit." Whereupon he proceeds to go back to the rack, grabs my bag and marches back down the aisle carrying my personal possessions without my permission and shoves my computer bag into the overhead. I didn't realize until the next day that he broke a flashlight in the front compartment when he did that. I also didn't notice that he'd knocked a nearly full bottle of water out of the side pocket, so I left that behind in the bin.

I just loved that service!

He's lucky that he didn't break my laptop or I'd have really been pissed and VIA would have heard about that!

 

[guest]

And here's something you would never, ever see on Amtrak: a customer across the aisle from me found her reading light overhead was burnt out. No problem, said the attendant, who proceeded to get a new bulb and replace it!! I'd give $1000 to see that EVER happen on ANY Amtrak train!!

Where do you apply for a position of overhead reading light bulb changer-outer?

You didn't mean to, I'm sure, but you unwittingly pointed out a big difference between the in-many-ways-hidebound Amtrak and operations like Via Rail and most private concerns. On Via Rail, there is no position of light changer; it's part of the cross-training that the attendants undergo to make customer service as good as it can be. No doubt on Amtrak there are union rules prohibiting anyone but a light-changer/maintenance person to change a bulb, so if, for example, you get a burned-out bulb as you start you trip on the SWL out of Chicago, chances are it will be burned out all the way to LA.

So maybe you should apply for the light-bulb changer position on Amtrak!

 

[gatelouse]

Constant attention to service, both for drinks and meals, by the bc car attendants.

Wish I could say that same about my trip a few years ago in BC on VIA.

I was not at all happy with the attention that one attendant decided to provide. When I boarded I placed my bags in the luggage rack right by the door; he rudely told me that since my suitcase and computer bag were small that they needed to go in the overheads. So I took them both down to my seat, got the suitcase in the overhead. But the backpack didn't fit, so I went and put it back in the rack.

Two minutes later he marches down the aisle and rudely tells me "I told you to put this in the overhead." I responded, "it doesn't fit." Whereupon he proceeds to go back to the rack, grabs my bag and marches back down the aisle carrying my personal possessions without my permission and shoves my computer bag into the overhead. I didn't realize until the next day that he broke a flashlight in the front compartment when he did that. I also didn't notice that he'd knocked a nearly full bottle of water out of the side pocket, so I left that behind in the bin.

I just loved that service!

He's lucky that he didn't break my laptop or I'd have really been pissed and VIA would have heard about that!

Wha, is VIA hiring ex-AC flight attendants?

 

[amamba]

There are absolutely foot rests in the FC cars on acela.

 

[guest]

There are absolutely foot rests in the FC cars on acela.

Not in the FC car I was riding.

 

[AlanB]

There are absolutely foot rests in the FC cars on acela.

Not in the FC car I was riding.

Unless it was broken off, foot rests are standard on both BC & FC seats on Acela. It looks a lot different however from the standard Amtrak foot rests. It's more like a little shelf that folds up against the back of the seat in front of you. Now, if you were sitting in one of the seats that faces other seats or the accessible seat, then there is no foot rest because there is no seat back in front of you.

 

[jis]

Actually in Coach or Business Class on trains my preference is to not have to deal with any attendant. IMHO they are mostly superfluous waste of money and more often than not just get in the way of my convenience than enhance it. Someone just providing food at seat is a different matter, but they should stay out of my way otherwise. I don;t really care to be coddled and pampered when I am just trying to get work done or watch the contryside go by outside.

Even on planes in Business or First Class, my preference is for FAs to stay away from me other than for delivering meals at meal time.

 

[amamba]

There are absolutely foot rests in the FC cars on acela.

Not in the FC car I was riding.

Do you know the car number? How bizarre. As Alan mentioned, the footrests are standard in all acela BC & FC cars. They are ONLY available though, if you have a seat in front of you, as the foot rests fold down from the seat in front of you. So if you are sitting at one of the groups of four with a table in the middle, or the single seats facing each other with a table in the middle, there should be foot rests.

I have never ridden via so I can't compare FC acela to via service, but I have generally been pleased with the food selections on FC acela. What would you prefer in terms of cuisine and what were you expecting? I find the acela food choices to be much better than the fare served on the LD routes, but that might just be a personal preference.

I have had service that ranged from amazing to quite terrible from the FC attendants, so I am sorry that you had a bad crew on your day. Unfortunately the service IS spotty on that route. Some crews are indifferent and some are surly, while some crews are very good. For the level of service expected and the price, all crews should be exceptional.

 

[gatelouse]

The OP noted the lack of leg rests as well as footrests. Yes, the footrests are set up differently, but it's correct that there are no legrests as on the Amfleet II. Acela F actually has less legroom than the Amfleet II, but the seats are wider.

amamba is spot-on--it's the variability in service quality that is the real problem. As with almost every other Amtrak train, you have a fair number of standouts, many good to acceptable attendants, and a few that can break the experience.

I do think that the meals are pretty consistent and superior to airline F, approaching what you might get in international business class.

Compared to domestic airline travel, Acela F is an affordable and superior experience...if they could be a bit more consistent with service and courtesy.

 

[acelafan]

I just returned from riding trains in Canada and the US. While I have ridden the regular Acela coach several times and found it comfortable, I used AGR points to upgrade to first class on a NY-DC routing this trip after reading many postings here that raved about the fc service, food and amenities.

I must say I was quite disappointed. Yes the seats are marginally more comfortable than those in Acela coach but not by much. And no leg rests or foot rests that you find in many BC cars and on the Adirondack. The tray tables are the ridiculous contraptions I've seen on the Pacific Surfliners. On this particular trip, mine had a noticeable tilt to it, which meant cups and trays slid from side to side, until I put a newspaper on the tray as a makeshift place mat. The food was pedestrian at best and the two car attendants amateurish in their service standards: plopping food down, then disappearing for lengthy periods when it would have been nice to see them coming down the aisles asking if customers wanted refills on drinks, etc.

The scrum atmosphere in the Club Acela Lounge certainly didn't add to a sense of first-class ambience, either. At least two-dozen passengers crowded near the entrance door, primed to run to the gate sign as soon as the number flashed on the monitor behind the club attendant's desk. Perhaps the frenetic mob in the club and at the gate are normal for New York but I would have been better off waiting in the area for the unwashed coach masses--NEC and Acela--and then making my way to the escalator at that point. It appeared to me that several frequent riders of Acela paid extra to redcaps roaming through the Club Acela to place their bags at seats ahead of time to secure a particular window or aisle.

The extra money required to ride Acela first class is in no way well-spent, IMHO.

Especially when I compare Acela First Class to the Via Rail Business Class I took from Toronto to Montreal. Civilized boarding procedures from the Via Rail Panorama Lounge to the train. Constant attention to service, both for drinks and meals, by the bc car attendants. Nicer silverware, nicer appetizers, nicer meals and nicer china. Constant offers of refills. And here's something you would never, ever see on Amtrak: a customer across the aisle from me found her reading light overhead was burnt out. No problem, said the attendant, who proceeded to get a new bulb and replace it!! I'd give $1000 to see that EVER happen on ANY Amtrak train!!

BTW On the Adirondack from Montreal to New York, the coaches for those going all the way to NYC were the long-distance cars, with foot and leg rests. Perhaps this is a change from past procedure as several on this forum said that those cars are usually ahead of the snack car and used for passengers from intermediate stations. Or maybe I just got lucky? In any event, given that US immigration spent an extra 90 minutes doing their functions, and given that the engine had to be replaced--with one ferried up by the northbound Adirondack and dropped off at our "meet" in upstate New York--I was certainly happy for a comfortable seat on a nearly 13-hour ride.

You know, I took Acela about 8 weeks ago as an AGR redemption award WAS-BOS. LOVED the single seats with my own window and the very attentive and professional attendants. But I was disappointed with the menu selection. The menu *itself* was excellent but several of the breakfast items were not available because "the commissary didn't deliver the items to the train". Regardless of the reason I think it's poor customer service when people are paying a premium to ride in first class and then they can't have the smores pancakes or omelet. It's also a pet peeve of mine when that happens to me in a restaurant, but I was sooooooo looking forward to those famous pancakes.

 

[guest]

Really? You don't like the Acela silverware?? I think it's very nice...stays shiny, very sturdy, better than any other train or plane I've been on...and I have quite a few pieces of it, too!! (hint, hint...$$)