SANSR
Train Attendant
Well stated.
Coach Car Attendant
- Thread starter KmH
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I've found that providing my CCA when traveling LD on the CZ with his/her own miniature portrait of Andrew Jackson has always gotten me an excellent coach seat with the one adjacent to me occupied only when the coach was absolutely 100% full -- which so far has never happened.
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KmH
Engineer
I would guess CCA's don't see many green, miniature President portraits in the form of a gratuity.
A coach pax that offers a CCA a gratuity in advance of an anticipated service should stand out in a CCA's mind when the CCA is making decisions regarding seat assignments.
By comparison, a SCA tending as many as 21 Superliner LD sleeper berths can pretty much expect something like a minimum of $10 per day/per occupied sleeper berth in gratuities.
The Lounge Car attendant can also expect a pretty regular stream of gratuities.
I wonder if gratuities are pooled in the Dining car to be split among the LSA, cook staff, and wait staff?
A coach pax that offers a CCA a gratuity in advance of an anticipated service should stand out in a CCA's mind when the CCA is making decisions regarding seat assignments.
By comparison, a SCA tending as many as 21 Superliner LD sleeper berths can pretty much expect something like a minimum of $10 per day/per occupied sleeper berth in gratuities.
The Lounge Car attendant can also expect a pretty regular stream of gratuities.
I wonder if gratuities are pooled in the Dining car to be split among the LSA, cook staff, and wait staff?
Most Diner crews pool tips,the smart servers include the chef!
There are a few that don't and it"s been my experience that the Diners that follow this policy aren't good places to dine!
There are a few that don't and it"s been my experience that the Diners that follow this policy aren't good places to dine!
Devil's Advocate
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A gratuity in advance is tantamount to a bribe in my view. If Amtrak want's to charge more for a seat selection that's fine and I'd probably pay for it, but in my view coach attendants shouldn't be abusing their position in this manner. Otherwise we might as well condone bribes to the SCA for allowing a passenger to move into a larger compartment.
Money left on the diner table usually goes to everyone in the car. Since it is exceedingly rare that everyone in the dining car is performing similar work, let alone being professional about it, I sometimes avoid inadvertently rewarding everyone in order to personally tip the one or two people who are forced to carry the rest.
I've had to resort to targeted in-person tipping in other areas as well, such as when a lazy SCA secretly outsourced my requests to the coach attendant in the adjoining car. Amtrak is full of people who seem to have nothing but disdain for their jobs.
--ETA--
In my view bribing Amtrak employees is at best a stopgap measure that risks promoting selective and arbitrary service for the rest of us. That being said there is no legitimate method for requesting a specific seat or for buying two seats in order to sit alone. As a result I'm at a loss for recommending an alternative. It just seems like there should be a better way to handle this.
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KmH
Engineer
OK. :hi:
I am planning to bribe the coach attendant as a way to increase my chances of a getting a good coach seat and to increase my chances of not having the second seat occupied by a stranger during my trip.
I am planning to bribe the coach attendant as a way to increase my chances of a getting a good coach seat and to increase my chances of not having the second seat occupied by a stranger during my trip.
rrdude
Engineer
It surely can't hurt to "advance tip" the TA-C (Train Attendant-Coach) a Lincoln or so. After all, if they do NOTHING, what are you our? Five bucks? Big whoop. Live and learn. But when I worked as an LSA, and Waiter, those that tipped early and generously were ABSOLUTELY rewarded with service "above an beyond". I had a an LSA on the CZ two years ago who would see (or hear me coming down the steps) and had my beer ready, open, and waiting for me. Trust me, he went home with about $20 bucks that trip. EXCELLENT service, AND he kept the SSL upper level pretty clean, and even brought me a couple of beers upstairs!
Worked on training trip as a TA-C. "Hated it". Applied for LSA class as soon as I could. Not fond of TA-S either, I'd rather bust-ass for a set period of time, and then get my down-time. But to each their own, that was just me.
Would you show me anywhere I was complaining? Or that I thought my post was of a serious enough nature to merit a complaint?
I simply stated a fact. No more, no less. It did not merit a suggestion to complain to Customer Relations.
Trainmans daughter
OBS Chief
I bribed, er "tipped in advance" a coach attendent once. But it wasn't meant as a bribe, but rather as a plan to make the people behind me shut up. When we got on in Oxnard, Roman greeted us (an all the other passengers) like family. He checked on everyone after the train left the station to be sure we were comfortable. He made some announcements which were both professional and funny regarding our responsibility to keep our car clean as if "it is our home away from home while we are traveling together". Then two couples got on in Santa Barbara and started pushing Roman around, insisting on sitting in an area he had reserved for a large group getting on further down the track. He was so polite and they were so rude.
So I pulled a $20 bill out of my purse and handed it to him saying, "I realize that coach attendents don't get the appreciation that sleeping car attendents get, but you are the most amazing coach attendent we have ever had. You take such good care of your passengers and your car. Thank you!" I said this loud enough to be heard by the rude people. I guess it worked, because later I heard them discussing what a nice man Roman was, and what a great job he was doing!
Meanwhile, I had the best coach ride ever! Roman made sure we had dinner reservations, he overlooked the wine he saw me pouring from my lunch cooler, when it got late he told me where an empty seat was where I could stretch out and sleep, and generally showed appreciation for the tip. Probably not so much for the $ as how it tended to shut up the rude people.
D
dennis sproul
Guest
During my years of working for Amtrak in the Engineering department I would ride LD trains on vacation or business. I took it on myself to tidy up the restroom when I used it because it was apparent no one else in the company's employment was going to. I'm not talking about a thorough scrub-down but just 2 minutes of work.
It used to really p### me off. It's really a shame because Amtrak's Car Cleaners at the terminals do a really good job getting the equipment ready for the road. They never get enough credit (or tips)!
It used to really p### me off. It's really a shame because Amtrak's Car Cleaners at the terminals do a really good job getting the equipment ready for the road. They never get enough credit (or tips)!
Devil's Advocate
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Did you ever see a large group directed toward those reserved seats? In my experience the "big group boarding later" explanation is little more than generic boilerplate that probably has little if anything to do with the actual manifest. On multiple occasions I've watched those "reserved" seats sit completely empty day and night until the very last station.
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Trainmans daughter
OBS Chief
We spent lots of time in the SSL, so I didn't actually see one large group board and fill these seats, but when we went back to our seats, the car was pretty full.
KmH
Engineer
OMG! It sounds like TA-C bribery is rampant.
IMO a Jackson is overkill, a Lincoln insufficient, so I will opt to use a Hamilton.
IMO a Jackson is overkill, a Lincoln insufficient, so I will opt to use a Hamilton.
VentureForth
Engineer
I can't believe we can't tip the reservationsists or AGR or the locomotive engineer or Joe Boardman...
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