Assigned seating or not??

[Breeze]

Ok so my tickets arrived today by Fedex and I got reserved coach... now I have another question about my seats. Ok I looked but didn't see any assigned seats, now I was going to look again, but thought to ask you guys. Are there assigned seating on a train or do you pick your own seats?

Since in my post about coach seats, a week or so ago, there was talk of swaying..what was the best place to sit again, in regards to the swaying?

Thanks

 

[Anthony]

If you board at a larger station they will often assign you a seat at the door as you board the train. At the smaller stops the conductor is likely to say "find an open seat".

 

[AlanB]

There is however no seat assigned on your tickets. Amtrak seats passengers in different cars based upon their destination. This makes it easier for the attendents to make sure people get off at the right stops.

It also means that someone who's getting off the train in the middle of the night at say, Newton Kansas (the train stops here at 3:06 AM) doesn't have to wake you up while they are getting off the train. Everyone around you should also be heading Chicago or other points in Illinois.

 

[Anthony]

Funny you should mention Newton Kansas. Every time I board the #4 at LAX, they put the Kansas night stops in the car I'm in, and there's always someone going to Newton near my seat... that, or Garden City. A note: they put people going all the way to Chicago in the first coach which has the smoking lounge downstairs. After just a few hours, the top level begins to stink of cigarette smoke thanks to poor ventilation or a broken door downstairs. If you are sensitive to that, and are placed upstairs from the smoking lounge, you might request to be seated in a different car.

Which train are you taking?

 

[AlanB]

If memory serves, Breeze will be on #4 to Chicago and then 448 to Boston.

 

[boyce]

breeze,

Just get on the train! Everything will be ok. Don't over-analyze things. Just do it. Assigned seats mean nothing because people get off and leave an empty seat and other people move there (just tell the attendant). I just returned from my first cross- country trip and I posted all kinds of questions here that I found could only be answered to my satisfaction by actually riding the train. Dont worry so much, Amtrack wants you to be confortable.

 

[boyce]

Oh...and be sure to give us a report on your trip.

 

[EBS]

When I rode the Three Rivers to Chicago two years ago, the coach attendant had a very simple system for assigning seats. Since there were only two open coaches she directed Chicago-bound passengers to one car and"shorts" to the other and handed them a seat check with a hand-written number as they boarded the train.

 

[Breeze]

Ok thanks everyone

Boyce I am going