Chicago Metropolitan Lounge

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Sauve850 said:
I agree with having no cell phones in a dining car. The policy of no food in the lounge is a fair one and no complaints from me about the rules.
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I don't.

If parents are traveling without their kids, I'm sure they want to be available by phone at all times. Ditto goes for those of us with sick parents.
 
Tennessee Traveler said:
I have not paid $800 for a CZ roomette ever and I ride frequently. Typically, I pay around $400 using Amsnag and most has been $600+ in peak July/August season. I'm thankful for just having the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago, most cities I board at don't have such nice facilities so I don't complain about rules or "honor" luggage storage.
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I didn't either. But that was the fare when I needed to travel a few weeks ago... I chose Southwest instead.
 
I still disagree with cell phones but understand your view. Most everything in life can wait. You are having breakfast for 30 minutes turn it to vibrate. If you must take the call leave the car and go back to your room or seat.
 
Sauve850 said:
I still disagree with cell phones but understand your view. Most everything in life can wait. You are having breakfast for 30 minutes turn it to vibrate. If you must take the call leave the car and go back to your room or seat.
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I definitely agree with this part. While I am in favor of allowing cell phones in the dining car, I am not in favor of rude behavior.
 
Common courtesy would call for one to take the call back in their room, but there are going to be those individuals who don't know what common courtesy is.

About food in the lounge, I can't recall ever seeing a mess left behind by anyone. There is a person in the lounge cleaning up, but I have always only seen him/her sweeping up the floor and dusting. Unless there is ample seating in the food court, which there rarely is, I see no harm in allowing food in the lounge. When there is ample seating in the food court, the chairs and tables are so dirty that one cannot sit there.
 
Some thoughts on this. The old lounge had tables in the back where people would often bring food. Unfortunately, I have seen many inconsiderate people make and leave a mess for others, and in a crowded space, that inconvenienced people who had no place to sit or do work because the tables were unavailable. With the enlarged space, would it be impractical to have a table area (perhaps with an easier to clean flooring) area where food was allowed, with the rest of the space off limits?
 
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I have seen mouse traps in two of the Acela lounges where outside food is actively prohibited. That shows to me that food scraps (garbage) is a serious problem. You can clean up well after eating in the lounge, but your garbage remains to be disposed of.
 
Are you saying that people do not dispose of their garbage by putting it into a trashcan? Maybe they're used to airline lounges, where there is an attendant that circulates and picks up after people??
 
Well, in practice I observed that the "no outside food" rule was not enforced upstairs if people were discreet.

I think it's actually due to the fact that Amtrak is serving food in the lounge at the moment -- FDA rules mean you're generally not allowed to have outside food in the same area where people are serving food. I don't think Amtrak cares, I think they just want to avoid trouble with the FDA. Upstairs is technically not the same room, so Amtrak probably wouldn't get in trouble for outside food there.
 
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Palmetto said:
Are you saying that people do not dispose of their garbage by putting it into a trashcan? Maybe they're used to airline lounges, where there is an attendant that circulates and picks up after people??
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No, the act of eating the provided snacks provides a source of food for the rodents. The outside food adds to the problem even if the patron uses the trashcans. The crumbs brushed off many laps disappears into the stuffed chairs and rugs.
 
Amtrak management needs to, but never will, diagram the flow process for all types of boarding in the station. What are the trigger points in the boarding process, who has responsibility for what aspect of the boarding, the actual time required to board each group based also on number of cars, what types of communications are being used and by whom, etc. If management spent a few hours with a large white board and a package of colored post-it notes, the process could easily be defined as it is today, RED circles where there is an obvious breakdown in the process, then it is easy to see how to change the process. BUT then a process has to be written down for everyone involved and a senior manager to sign off then have it implemented. Management would monitor the process for 10 days or so, then tweak the process for better efficiency. First Amtrak management has to be interested in quality, customer satisfaction, efficiency, bottom line cost reduction, etc. rather than don't rock the boat, it worked 20 years ago, so continue to use the same process.
 
Eric S said:
Everydaymatters said:
At Chicagounionstation.com, in the concourse map, it shows First Class Gate Under Construction. Not sure how old this map is, but if it's relatively new, maybe there is hope.
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Interesting. That's the old Metropolitan Lounge. Not sure how to interpret that though.
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that's what I thought too. Last I thought I heard was the the old Metropolitan Lounge was going to become part of the main gate lounge area and that whole area was going to get redone. Could be wrong though.
 
That was my understanding as well. Could still be the case and the "1st Class Gate" is essentially meaningless or left over from the Metro Lounge.
 
Having a First Class Gate so far from the ML and away from the majority of boarding except the EB, doesn't seem to make sense, but what logic does Amtrak use in its decisions. Do any of the decision making managers interface with the passengers or even ride like one of the passengers to get the real feel.
 
We arrived on a three-hour-late Southwest Chief at 6PM for transfer to a 6:40PM Capitol Limited. The redcap took us and another woman to the Lounge where he dropped her off to a long line waiting to get in then turned around and boarded us to the CL before anyone in the lounge had left. We were first on board but last to get dining reservations and never had a chance to step into the lounge. Some of those people on line were on both our trains so I imagine they got to the dragon ladies and were told to go to their train.
 
I admit it has been a number of years since I've visited Chicago, I prefer St Louis - sure miss TWA! Perhaps I've not encountered Ms Nasty yet.
 
I recently took the CL. Entering the lounge I was asked if this was first time in new lounge. I said yes and was given full information from?? Susie I think. Place was well laid out and not overcrowded. We were called to board. Walked down a hall took a right then a left to whatever gate. Showed my ticket to an Amtrak employee and off to my sleeper. No crowds no lines. We were first to board. Smooth process. Had my dinner res taken when I entered the lounge at 4pm I believe.
 
Got here today on the CL, friendly greeting, used the shower, waiting until the CZ boards to see how that procedure goes. Will most likely try to get Red Cap service, did that in WUS and was on board quickly.
 

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