Chicago Metropolitan Lounge

[wwchi]

That is correct - general boarding from the great hall. Priority boarding (BC/elderly/families with small children) in the cattle pen. And it was a zoo there a few days ago. Always is though in the summer when kids are out of school.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Actually, I was thinking that a long line for once would be a good thing--the more people in line, the more people I could ask, for example, "Is this the line for the Cardinal?" and if most of them said "Yes," I would be sure I was getting on the right train.

I know it sounds silly, but I would want to plan ahead how I would leave to make sure I got on the train. I get nervous even at a small unstaffed station like Fredericksburg, VA, because they never announce til the last minute which side the train will be on, and it can vary, and then you have to scurry through a tunnel to get to the train if it's on the other side and I spend the whole time waiting on the platform hoping that I guessed right.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

As an able bodied 74 year old, I have not used red caps in Chicago(only used in LAX as this was best way to and from the ML to the trains) but believe I'll try the red cap service when I travel on the CZ in October. I'll be arriving in Chicago by air two days earlier so can come to Union Station mid morning to wait for the 2 pm CZ.

 

[PaulM]

That is correct - general boarding from the great hall. Priority boarding (BC/elderly/families with small children) in the cattle pen. And it was a zoo there a few days ago. Always is though in the summer when kids are out of school.

Not completely true. I was there yesterday and I did see people lining up in the Great Hall next to signs labeled position A and position B. But it was definitely not the case for train 383.

I was in the metropolitan lounge when I got the called for 383. I went out the same way from the ML that I had done several days earlier for the Capitol Limited. But this time an employee was at a tape blocking the way. I told her that I was coming from the ML. She asked me if I was BC. I said no, just elderly; and she sent me around to the cattle pen. BC, elderly, and families had already been called and were sitting in that area between the waiting room and concourse; and a long line of "general" passengers had formed.

Also, what looked like general passengers were lining up for the Hoosier. In short, I have no idea what is going on. What I've learned from many, many trips through CUS is that experience only goes so far. Next time something will have changed; and you won't know whether it is a policy change or simply one employee's whim.

By the way, according to the new jargon, I think "priority" refer to the Legacy lounge, whereas BC/elderly/families with small children is "assisted". Or maybe not :angry: Way back when the new legacy lounge was the topic of the day, I asked the rhetorical question, what does "priority" mean. In other words, would the system be coordinated well enough that priority passengers would actually board before getting trampled by the crowd from one of the other 3 areas: ML, great hall, and cattle pen?

Another point of interest. Boarding the CL (6:40 departure), the Metra commuter rush was pretty much over; but boarding 383 (5:55 departure) was definitely a scrum. But I think that is simply the nature of the beast, geometry in action. If you don't feel comfortable in crowds, red cap is the way to go.

Also, heading from the ML to the concourse, you have to make a decision, take the ramp or the steps. So if you are going by wheel chair, walker, or bicycle, take the ramp to the left.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

MRD, I would think you can ask the front desk at the ML to arrange a Red Cap for you. You'll just have to meet the Red Cap at the door, rather than s/he coming into the lounge to get you.

 

[zephyr17]

MRD, I would think you can ask the front desk at the ML to arrange a Red Cap for you. You'll just have to meet the Red Cap at the door, rather than s/he coming into the lounge to get you.

You know, my experience in Chicago is that they always announced that anyone needing Red Cap assistance should come to the front desk, as part of the pre-boarding announcement for a given train. I don't recall Red Caps ever really going into the lounge proper past the entrance area.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

MRD, I would think you can ask the front desk at the ML to arrange a Red Cap for you. You'll just have to meet the Red Cap at the door, rather than s/he coming into the lounge to get you.

You know, my experience in Chicago is that they always announced that anyone needing Red Cap assistance should come to the front desk, as part of the pre-boarding announcement for a given train. I don't recall Red Caps ever really going into the lounge proper past the entrance area.

My few times there, I to do not recall them going any further than the front desk area.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Thanks, AmtrakBlue and zephr17. It's going to be a while before I get there, anyway, so I will probably hear about the experiences of many here on AU first, and maybe the Lounge will have settled into some kind of order in a month or two. Won't a bunch of people be going through there on the way to the Gathering? (That should put everything in perfect order! )

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Thanks, AmtrakBlue and zephr17. It's going to be a while before I get there, anyway, so I will probably hear about the experiences of many here on AU first, and maybe the Lounge will have settled into some kind of order in a month or two. Won't a bunch of people be going through there on the way to the Gathering? (That should put everything in perfect order! )

A bunch just went through there yesterday and today on their way to another "gathering". So things should be in order by October.

 

[SarahZ]

Is the Great Hall used for all general boarding now or just when the cattle pen is overflowing? In my experience, most of the Michigan trains line up in the Great Hall when it's crowded but use the cattle pen on less busy days.

I'm just curious. I'd much rather wait in the Great Hall than the cattle pen anyway.

It appears the BC pax in the cattle pen are put into the "on deck circle" and then loaded onto the train before the BC pax from the Metropolitan Lounge are "escorted", so I may just skip the lounge if I arrive at Union within an hour of the train departing. This happened even when I used the old Metropolitan Lounge.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

I'm in the lounge right now waiting on my connection to the CL. It's 5:00 pm, and the upstairs part of the lounge is still open.

It's very cold in here.

The drink machine - including the flavor dispensers - is still working.

There were two little bags of veggie crisps on the table when we arrived, but they're gone now.

They now have a selection of magazines on many of the end tables, which is new from the last time we were here.

Just like last time, they marked our ticket with a highlighter when we checked in. After leaving the lounge to walk around for a while, I just had to flash my ticket at the counter agents to get back in, rather than waiting in line. The only frustrating part was that I made eye contact with one of the desk agents & showed her my ticket, and she nodded me through - and then the other agent looked up and hollered at me to stop. I showed her my ticket and told her that the other agent had already looked at it. It seems to me that if they're going to have two people at the desk, the one closer to the door should be in charge of letting people in, and the other can answer questions.

I expect boarding to be a bit of a mess like last time - they already warned us that we'll be lining up in the hallway - but overall I'll still take this lounge over the old one any day.

 

[wwchi]

sounds to me like if they warned you you'll be lining up in the hallway like they want to try something different that might work better? Or did they do that last time too?

 

[Manny T]

I took Hoosier State business class out of the ML last Friday. Upon entering I asked the attendant at the desk if there would be priority pre-boarding. She pointed to a hallway to her right, my left, and said when she called the train number we should proceed down this hall "to the track." While I was in the ML waiting I heard a number of announcements, such as "Passengers on Hiawatha train no. ___ please proceed to Track number ____." It seemed to me they were being told to exit the ML lounge on their own, find the track, and perhaps the gate agent would preboard them. I saw no line-ups in the ML during my stay.

I watched the departure screens. As soon as Hoosier State boarding was posted--it said South C--I proceeded on my own out of the ML to the area of the waiting room (cattle pen) designated South C, not waiting for any ML announcement or line. Upon arriving, I told the attendant at the tape that I was BC for the Hoosier State. She directed me to the exit door and I proceeded to the track, where I boarded the Hoosier State by myself. Right or wrong, this seemed to work. YMMV.

 

[Lonestar648]

Appears that communication from the Conductor to ML is delayed so that BC and Sleeper passengers are being guided out as the flow of Coach passengers has begun to Board. In the old ML it always seemed like the staff took forever to get pre-boarding organized and finally guided out to the train. If I was doing the quality review, I would want to know the average number of minutes the train is in the station before departure, how long after arrival the Conductor gives the ok for pre-boarding, how long does the ML take between receiving the call for Pre-Boarding and guiding the passengers to their train. By doing this type of flow chart management can note the opportunities to improve Customer Service and Customer Satisfaction. At my company were measured constantly on controllable defects in our area of responsibility. Acceptable was 1 defect per 6,000,000 opportunities. Not sure Amtrak is even achieving 1 in 10,000, but this only happens when either management doesn't care or operates with its head in the sand.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

We were told we would pre-board train 30 at 6:10 pm, 30 minutes before scheduled departure. At 6:10 we were told to make our way to the exit hallway by the restrooms. We were upstairs, but didn't dawdle, and by the time we got downstairs everyone who might have been in the hallway was gone. We made our way down to track 26 (they had announced the departure track). As we got down to the doorway to the track we were hesitantly stopped by an Amtrak employee.

"Do you have a ticket?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Okay," she said - without actually checking our ticket or anything. We exited out to the ramp unescorted.

There were a few trains boarding at the same time, so I couldn't tell whether coach for train 30 had been allowed to board yet. I definitely did see some coach pax shortly after we got onboard our car (they tried to enter our car, and the attendant had to re-direct them back down to coach).

So, it appears to me that they have (at least temporarily) abandoned any kindergarten walk, escorted boarding, or anything. Considering that so many other passengers in the same boarding area are also unescorted, I thought it worked pretty well - better than any "escort" or kindergarten walk ever did.

 

[Palmetto]

MRD, I would think you can ask the front desk at the ML to arrange a Red Cap for you. You'll just have to meet the Red Cap at the door, rather than s/he coming into the lounge to get you.

Why? Redcaps enter the Acela Lounge in NYP, and they call out your name.

 

[rtabern]

BTW, the tick mark on my ticket was pink. Then I lost it and used the eticket in my iPhone Wallet next time. Fortunately they did not try to mark it

That brings up an excellent point. If you need the yellow or pink ✔ mark to priority board... What are they doing for eticket folks?

You think keeping the lounge passes would have been a better idea.

 

[Everydaymatters]

There has to be an ulterior motive for "them" to allow this chaotic situation to exist. Do you suppose "they" want to re-teach pax to use the open platform method? Such as that used on Metra, Metro, and all of the other light rail systems?

 

[D.P. Roberts]

There has to be an ulterior motive for "them" to allow this chaotic situation to exist. Do you suppose "they" want to re-teach pax to use the open platform method? Such as that used on Metra, Metro, and all of the other light rail systems?

My opinion was that they've been under the impression that most sleeper / business pax want to be escorted out to the platforms, but they're having a hard time figuring out how to do that, so they're experimenting with "not doing anything at all" to see how that works.

 

[jis]

BTW, the tick mark on my ticket was pink. Then I lost it and used the eticket in my iPhone Wallet next time. Fortunately they did not try to mark it

That brings up an excellent point. If you need the yellow or pink ✔ mark to priority board... What are they doing for eticket folks?
You think keeping the lounge passes would have been a better idea.

Isn't it much simpler and less bureaucratic to simply say that Sleeper, Select +, Select E and BC gets priority at the gate and be done with it? Why is it necessary for the lounge to get involved for those? The gate dragons can take care of that, no?

 

[NorthShore]

Rather than expecting passengers to intermingle with Metra passengers in the halls, why not make effective use of the passageway between the ticket counter and the pen/old ML? Simply make the call for priority boarding, then direct passengers "straight this way to the sign" (which will be placed there.) There they turn either right or left (depending if they're going out the north or south end) and meet a station employee at the automatic door, who can check their ticket and direct (or walk) them to the correct track.

 

[PaulM]

Isn't it much simpler and less bureaucratic to simply say that Sleeper, Select +, Select E and BC gets priority at the gate and be done with it? Why is it necessary for the lounge to get involved for those? The gate dragons can take care of that, no?

I've never felt the need to be escorted; and your idea would require fewer personnel.

But there is still the issue of knowing when to leave the ML. Too early and you stand in a much less comfortable place clogging the concourse, not to mention getting yelled at. Too late and you no longer have priority.

My comment also goes for the legacy lounge. I'd be pretty angry if I paid the fee and the announcement for my train did not allow me time to get the extra distance before the other classes began boarding.

 

[wwchi]

I guess it comes down to them needing to do all priority boarding about 10-15 minutes earlier than they currently do it.

They could get the notification from the conductors that they are ready and then walk ML passengers to the gate (or not, but at least have the gate agents expecting them).

Same with Legacy.

Once Priority passengers have boarded they can do General boarding at the same time they always have, so that leaves enough time to get them all on the train for an on-time departure.

Seems that they are trying to do the Priority boarding just a few minutes before General boarding and given the walk from both the ML and Legacy Lounge, that's just not enough time.

But that then puts it on the conductors and cafe attendants to be ready earlier. Doable, I think, assuming there is not any delay in getting the train in the station.

 

[neroden]

We made our way down to track 26 (they had announced the departure track).

Announcing and posting departure tracks == good.

 

[SarahZ]

We made our way down to track 26 (they had announced the departure track).

Announcing and posting departure tracks == good.

The track numbers have always been on the Departure boards in the station, right next to the Gate assignment.

I couldn't find one of my own pictures, which I could have sworn I took a few months ago to help people new to Chicago Union Station.

Anyway, here's one from the interwebs: