I’m in Miami Beach for a couple weeks to escape the Michigan winter, and wanted to go up to Fort Lauderdale for the NHL All-Star Beach Festival. As such, I decided to take Brightline, something I had long wanted to do - have been intrigued by it being the only privately-operated passenger train (excluding contracted operations) in the US save for tourist railroads. I decided to book a premium fare as it gave me a chance to check out the premium lounge, and also came with Uber rides to and from the station within 5 miles (which included where I was staying in Miami Beach and where I was going in Fort Lauderdale) included.
Anyway, the trip didn’t quite start out as expected - I went outside to wait for my Uber, and didn't get any kind of message confirming that it was on its way. Waited a while, and still nothing. As the expected arrival time passed, I called Brightline, which gave me a number to call Uber, which eventually hung up on me and told me they’d call me back when an agent was available. After a while, I realized I was going to miss my train if I didn’t do something else, so I ended up getting my own Uber - which got me to the station, but with only a few minutes to spare. So I didn’t have time to check out the Premium Lounge.
I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t make it to the platform in time since Brightline has security, though the security ended up being far less than you see at the average sporting event, let alone an airport (in fact, the NHL All-Star Beach Festival had more security to enter). Really just a small metal detector you walk right through and don’t even need to empty your pockets. Even though Brightline is not yet running to Orlando, there seemed to be pretty good patronage for the Miami to West Palm Beach run, Made it to the platform and to my single seat in the premium coach with plenty of time to spare. One curious thing I noticed - signs for Tri-Rail, even though their service to this station has yet to start. While I did miss out on the Premium Lounge, our car attendant came around almost immediately and offered a selection of drinks and snacks, and I got coffee and orange juice, which was nice to get quickly after missing out on the lounge.
The ride to Fort Lauderdale was quite smooth, and it was nice being in a single seat. That’s one of the main appeals of business class and comparable services for me, and it was nice being able to pre-select it (on Amtrak it’s luck of the draw). The car obviously seemed somewhat similar to the Amtrak Venture I rode on the Wolverine (as it is based on the same platform), though seemed a bit nicer (and we have yet to see Venture business class cars in service on Amtrak). I did notice that we passed by the new stop at Aventura (which this train skipped), and went right by the Fort Lauderdale Airport though there was no stop there. As we approached Fort Lauderdale, I got a call and a text saying my Uber from the Fort Lauderdale station was dispatched, and my Uber app also alerted me of this. I recalled that I had gotten a similar call/text for the Fort Lauderdale ride last night when booking, but not the Miami one - so I’m guessing my ride there was never booked due to a glitch. At least now I knew what to look for when doing this. After arriving at the station on time, the Uber arrived almost instantly, and took me out to the beach.
On the way back, I ended up doing things a bit differently. Premium was sold out on the next train, so I just bought a regular “smart” ticket and called my own Uber to the station (didn’t feel like messing with Broward County Transit after being out in the sun for a while). Got there with about 20min before the train, and ended up complaining to customer service about the nonexistent Uber pickup. They gave me a credit for Brightline, which I’m hoping to use on a trip next week to West Palm Beach. Went up towards the platforms and saw they had a completely self-serve store that you tap your card/Apple Pay to enter, grab snacks, and go. Thought that was neat, though it took multiple attempts and help from some one to get the gate to open to grab a water. After that, I made my way to the platform - while I waited, I created an account on the Brightline app As I was told that is necessary to receive my credit. Though soon enough we boarded the train to Miami.
As I was in the normal coach this time, I did have a seatmate, though the regular seating seemed nice as well. Someone did leave their unfinished snacks on the tray table, though I found someone to clean it up (there wasn’t an obvious trash receptacle nearby). On this train we did stop at Aventura, unlike the last one. The ride to Miami was pretty smooth, and we arrived on time. Lots of people got off the train (the number of which was somewhat surprising, given the limited current route). While my “smart” ticket didn't include an Uber, it did include a free shuttle to Miami Beach that is supposed to depart 10 minutes after each train (though weirdly this is only from the train - not to the train). The key word is “supposed to” though - the shuttle didn’t show up until 30 minutes after the train arrival, and then said they were waiting until 6:10 to depart. I ended up going to customer service to complain, and also ask why I didn’t see the credit for my nonexistent Uber on the app yet - turns out the skipped 5pm trip was due to traffic, and the credit would take a few business days to show up. Guess I have to cross my fingers it shows up by the time I take it to West Palm Beach next week.
Anyway, not wanting to wait 40 minutes, I ended up getting an Uber back to Miami Beach. In the end, I’d probably be paying the some or less to take an Uber from Fort Lauderdale Beach to Miami Beach. Or if I had known how unreliable the Uber/shuttle would be, I could have just taken local transit. The trains and stations were definitely nice and on time (something that isn’t always the case with Amtrak), though they still have some work to do on the Uber/shuttle service. I do loo forward to coming back and riding the route to/from Orlando when that opens - if it’s as popular as it is now, I figure it will be that much more popular when you can take it to Orlando.
Anyway, the trip didn’t quite start out as expected - I went outside to wait for my Uber, and didn't get any kind of message confirming that it was on its way. Waited a while, and still nothing. As the expected arrival time passed, I called Brightline, which gave me a number to call Uber, which eventually hung up on me and told me they’d call me back when an agent was available. After a while, I realized I was going to miss my train if I didn’t do something else, so I ended up getting my own Uber - which got me to the station, but with only a few minutes to spare. So I didn’t have time to check out the Premium Lounge.
I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t make it to the platform in time since Brightline has security, though the security ended up being far less than you see at the average sporting event, let alone an airport (in fact, the NHL All-Star Beach Festival had more security to enter). Really just a small metal detector you walk right through and don’t even need to empty your pockets. Even though Brightline is not yet running to Orlando, there seemed to be pretty good patronage for the Miami to West Palm Beach run, Made it to the platform and to my single seat in the premium coach with plenty of time to spare. One curious thing I noticed - signs for Tri-Rail, even though their service to this station has yet to start. While I did miss out on the Premium Lounge, our car attendant came around almost immediately and offered a selection of drinks and snacks, and I got coffee and orange juice, which was nice to get quickly after missing out on the lounge.
The ride to Fort Lauderdale was quite smooth, and it was nice being in a single seat. That’s one of the main appeals of business class and comparable services for me, and it was nice being able to pre-select it (on Amtrak it’s luck of the draw). The car obviously seemed somewhat similar to the Amtrak Venture I rode on the Wolverine (as it is based on the same platform), though seemed a bit nicer (and we have yet to see Venture business class cars in service on Amtrak). I did notice that we passed by the new stop at Aventura (which this train skipped), and went right by the Fort Lauderdale Airport though there was no stop there. As we approached Fort Lauderdale, I got a call and a text saying my Uber from the Fort Lauderdale station was dispatched, and my Uber app also alerted me of this. I recalled that I had gotten a similar call/text for the Fort Lauderdale ride last night when booking, but not the Miami one - so I’m guessing my ride there was never booked due to a glitch. At least now I knew what to look for when doing this. After arriving at the station on time, the Uber arrived almost instantly, and took me out to the beach.
On the way back, I ended up doing things a bit differently. Premium was sold out on the next train, so I just bought a regular “smart” ticket and called my own Uber to the station (didn’t feel like messing with Broward County Transit after being out in the sun for a while). Got there with about 20min before the train, and ended up complaining to customer service about the nonexistent Uber pickup. They gave me a credit for Brightline, which I’m hoping to use on a trip next week to West Palm Beach. Went up towards the platforms and saw they had a completely self-serve store that you tap your card/Apple Pay to enter, grab snacks, and go. Thought that was neat, though it took multiple attempts and help from some one to get the gate to open to grab a water. After that, I made my way to the platform - while I waited, I created an account on the Brightline app As I was told that is necessary to receive my credit. Though soon enough we boarded the train to Miami.
As I was in the normal coach this time, I did have a seatmate, though the regular seating seemed nice as well. Someone did leave their unfinished snacks on the tray table, though I found someone to clean it up (there wasn’t an obvious trash receptacle nearby). On this train we did stop at Aventura, unlike the last one. The ride to Miami was pretty smooth, and we arrived on time. Lots of people got off the train (the number of which was somewhat surprising, given the limited current route). While my “smart” ticket didn't include an Uber, it did include a free shuttle to Miami Beach that is supposed to depart 10 minutes after each train (though weirdly this is only from the train - not to the train). The key word is “supposed to” though - the shuttle didn’t show up until 30 minutes after the train arrival, and then said they were waiting until 6:10 to depart. I ended up going to customer service to complain, and also ask why I didn’t see the credit for my nonexistent Uber on the app yet - turns out the skipped 5pm trip was due to traffic, and the credit would take a few business days to show up. Guess I have to cross my fingers it shows up by the time I take it to West Palm Beach next week.
Anyway, not wanting to wait 40 minutes, I ended up getting an Uber back to Miami Beach. In the end, I’d probably be paying the some or less to take an Uber from Fort Lauderdale Beach to Miami Beach. Or if I had known how unreliable the Uber/shuttle would be, I could have just taken local transit. The trains and stations were definitely nice and on time (something that isn’t always the case with Amtrak), though they still have some work to do on the Uber/shuttle service. I do loo forward to coming back and riding the route to/from Orlando when that opens - if it’s as popular as it is now, I figure it will be that much more popular when you can take it to Orlando.
