Boarding Process

[alwayssnowman]

Hi,

Just wondering who can board earlier than others? I did see there are some people led by the AMTK employee that go to the track even before the NYP board shows the track is for that train.

Thanks.

 

[jackal]

If you tip a Red Cap, you can usually board the train before they announce general boarding. Red Caps are there to help people who need assistance (typically folks who have a disability, families with lots of luggage, etc.), but for a nice enough tip, I'm sure they'll take anybody! :lol:

 

[chuljin]

If you tip a Red Cap, you can usually board the train before they announce general boarding. Red Caps are there to help people who need assistance (typically folks who have a disability, families with lots of luggage, etc.), but for a nice enough tip, I'm sure they'll take anybody! :lol:

Must be rather nice. LAX: scrum/stampede. Fortunately for me there's the predictability of 785 on 9B.

 

[the_traveler]

LAX: scrum/stampede. Fortunately for me there's the predictability of 785 on 9B.

Or KIN: Southbound - Track 1 (over bridge), Northbound - Track 2 (station side)

 

[Walt]

Just wondering who can board earlier than others?

Mobility disabled. Parents with small children. Elderly. Acela Lounge.

 

[JayPea]

When I traveled from Portland to Spokane, at Portland, those within a group of two or more boarded before those who were traveling single. And in places like Seattle and Chicago, sleeping car passengers boarded first.

 

[sky12065]

If you tip a Red Cap, you can usually board the train before they announce general boarding. Red Caps are there to help people who need assistance (typically folks who have a disability, families with lots of luggage, etc.), but for a nice enough tip, I'm sure they'll take anybody! :lol:

You've brought back an unpleasant memory that I was happy to have forgotten. I was in the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge a number of years back when the handicapped were called for the red cap service. While moving to the outside of the lounge abled bodied individuals rushed past me and grabbed all the red caps available before I could get to one. I was left for some time standing with my cane and near collapsed by the time I could get help. Needless to say, I was livid on the inside for how rude people can be while I managed to remain polite on the outside. Oh well, such is life!

EDIT: I should also state that on my last trip, early July this year, things went much differently both going and coming. There was no problem what-so-ever but... both this time there seemed to be less people in the lounge.

 

[Acela150]

I was in the Clubacela in NYP last friday and did not get first boarding. We had to go down to the platform with everyone else

 

[AlanB]

I was in the Clubacela in NYP last friday and did not get first boarding. We had to go down to the platform with everyone else

Yup, NY is the one CA/Metro Lounge that doesn't get priority boarding. Usually however they do announce the track before the announcement is made to those in the main hall. So if you don't dilly dally, you can usually be near the head of the line at the gate.

 

[Chris J.]

I was in the Clubacela in NYP last friday and did not get first boarding. We had to go down to the platform with everyone else

Yup, NY is the one CA/Metro Lounge that doesn't get priority boarding. Usually however they do announce the track before the announcement is made to those in the main hall. So if you don't dilly dally, you can usually be near the head of the line at the gate.

Of course it helps if you know where you're going .. or are at least travelling with following someone who does

 

[Walt]

Yup, NY is the one CA/Metro Lounge that doesn't get priority boarding.

That is true, and I think because the NYP lounge is not physically situated to allow direct access to the platforms. In Philly, there are the elevators to the platforms, and in Washington, there is a "back door" to the platforms.

 

[Walt]

You've brought back an unpleasant memory that I was happy to have forgotten. I was in the Chicago Metropolitan Lounge a number of years back when the handicapped were called for the red cap service. While moving to the outside of the lounge abled bodied individuals rushed past me and grabbed all the red caps available before I could get to one. I was left for some time standing with my cane and near collapsed by the time I could get help. Needless to say, I was livid on the inside for how rude people can be while I managed to remain polite on the outside. Oh well, such is life!

Reminds me of the time I flew when my kid was 3 years old. They called for pre-boarding of the handicapped and of parents with small children. This one "able bodied" guy got in line. The airline's boarding gate person was a black, rather large, woman. She went up to him, and right in his face declared "I don't see any small children with you! Get out of my line right now!". I grinned from ear to ear.

 

[tj722]

I wish Amtrak had some kind of unified boarding process on the high volume NEC stations (e.g., WAS, NYP, BOS)... The huge line that forms in WAS before boarding is ridiculous! Last week in WAS they boarded the following groups separately: biz class, seniors, families with small children (although people greatly stretched the definition of small), and after all that, the gate agent announced "anyone with special needs". And finally, general boarding, in which the "line" just deteriorated into a mob scene/scrum kind of situation. The only real "policing" from the gate agent was with the biz class boarding; a few violators ended up in a "Penalty box" near the gate.

I also wish that they boarded Select/Select+ Members first.

 

[Walt]

I was down in Washington just a few weeks ago, and I have to agree.

I will have to admit I am a bit spoiled. I have never had to deal with such a "mob scene" before, having usually traveled as a sleeping car passenger, and out of stations other than WAS.

I wonder if we both had the same gate attendant? IMHO, it is his attitude that more of the problem. If he expects the worst, he probably drives the crowd to their worst. He certainly doesn't seem to control the crowd well, and I think he doesn't want to, or cares to, control them.

 

[AlanB]

Yup, NY is the one CA/Metro Lounge that doesn't get priority boarding.

That is true, and I think because the NYP lounge is not physically situated to allow direct access to the platforms. In Philly, there are the elevators to the platforms, and in Washington, there is a "back door" to the platforms.

The lounge in Boston is not physically situated so as to allow direct access to the platforms either, yet they manage to do it. If there are enough people in the lounge for a train, the attendant will usually walk the group down and past the gate. If there are only a few people, they'll usually tell you to show your FC ticket to the gate attendant who will then let you pass without waiting in line. Mind you there was a period of time when Boston wouldn't allow any pre-boarding, maybe three or four years ago, and that lasted about a year and a half or so.

So it is possible to do it. Granted Boston's lounge isn't nearly as busy as NYP's, but then NYP also used to do it at least for sleeping class passengers. They never did it with Metroliner service, but if you were in a sleeper, they would just have you follow the redcaps down to the track level. Not quite sure why they stopped that practice, but nonetheless they did.