Free Meals for Coach on One Train?

[dlagrua]

Having traveled on a number of routes, the Amtrak policy is that sleeper passengers get meals included with their fares while coach pasengers (if they wish food) must pay for their meals. This policy is applied universally to every Amtrak route except the Autotrain. Does anyone know why Amtrak decided that coach passengers recieve free food on the Autotrain?

 

[Trogdor]

It makes sense given that everybody is traveling end-to-end and will be on the train through two meal periods. Therefore, everybody is going to have to eat anyway.

Once that's the case, it becomes easier to build it into the fare and eliminate all of the paperwork, which saves the OBS time so they can actually serve the passengers. It's much quicker to turn the tables (which they must do very efficiently in order to serve everybody on the train) if you don't have to deal with all the BS associated with collecting money.

It doesn't work on any other train because passengers are all traveling different distances and durations, not to mention the demographic on most other LD trains in coach is such that many more people are likely to brown-bag it even if they are traveling longer.

 

[Guest]

Having traveled on a number of routes, the Amtrak policy is that sleeper passengers get meals included with their fares while coach pasengers (if they wish food) must pay for their meals. This policy is applied universally to every Amtrak route except the Autotrain. Does anyone know why Amtrak decided that coach passengers recieve free food on the Autotrain?

Coach passengers don't get "free food". It's included in the price of their ticket.

 

[Shanghai]

There is no such thing as a Free Lunch!!

 

[battalion51]

Auto Train is unique from the rest of the system in almost every way possible. From a nearly dedicated fleet of cars and motors to an on board staff that operates independently from other trains, Auto Train is anything but normal. The ability to build in the cost of meals to the ticket not only provides an extra amenity for passengers, but also makes it easy to predict how many passengers will be served. If they went a la carte there's no telling from one trip to the next how many people will dine in the car, and consequently what the optimum level of on board food is or staffing levels. That is a non-issue in the current system. I think most would agree that Auto Train operates in its own sphere. Are there elements that could be implemented elsewhere? Absolutely. Unfortunately the dining structure isn't one of them.

 

[PRR 60]

The free meals (and wine) for coach passengers on the Auto Train is a legacy carried over from the pre-Amtrak Auto Train. I don't know if the continuation was a contractual requirement of Amtrak's purchase of the operation, or was simply Amtrak not wanting to degrade the prior private operation and alienate what was a loyal cliental.

 

[dlagrua]

On one hand we hear that dining cars lose money so the solution seems to be to provide a meal for everyone on board whether they want to eat or not. Perhaps next year when the budget is looked at, congress will reduce this to passengers getting a lunch box and a soft drink like they used to give on trans-continental flights.

 

[jphjaxfl]

As has been mentioned, the uniqueness of Autotrain makes the inclusion of meals in the cost of a coach class ticket very sensible. Since Autotrain is one of the more profitable operations, downgrading the coach class meal service would be very foolish. Since Amtrak knows how many people will be traveling, it is much easier to stock the food. Most passengers are expecting meals so have an appetite.

 

[Acela150]

I think another thing to add is that your paying extra for your car to tag along with you. But to me that's convenience. But if your a coach passenger paying what I would call an accommodation fee I think it's fair game for Amtrak to give Complementary meals.

 

[Shanghai]

Steve, the meals are not complimentary. They are included in the rail fare.

I think it is a good procedure. It controls the dining on the train and reduces

the people who bring food onto the train and clog up the lounge tables.

 

[Trogdor]

Complimentary vs. included in the fare is a distinction without a difference.

 

[Shanghai]

Would it then be a real Free Lunch?

 

[Anderson]

To the customer, it often doesn't matter. It can matter, however, in how the revenues are recognized and costs are accounted for. Yes, the money more or less ends up in the same place, but the routing can matter, and the amounts might well end up being different. For example, if there /is/ an adjustment to the fare, the revenue might be shifted to the diner outright and any food order tickets would simply be for inventory. Likewise, a "complementary meal" might end up coming from the "passenger inconvenience" account or elsewhere (if due to a lengthy delay, for example).

So, let me give a few examples:

-A passenger's meal is included in the fare. They board and are on the train just during dinner. For this, of their fare, $25 is allocated straight to the diner. The diner uses its tickets both to check inventory and to check this rate at the end of the accounting period for adjustment.

-A passenger's meal is complementary. They are on the train for dinner. A meal ticket goes in, and the sleeper is "billed" for the cost of their meal should they have dinner (which, in this case, they do), and this is settled up later.

-A passenger's meal is complementary. They were on the train for dinner, and then they were late getting to their destination, so they were also on board for breakfast. Or, in the case of the Auto Train, they were held up by a major derailment and so lunch is served. Dinner is billed to the sleeper. Breakfast, if they were supposed to be on for it, is billed to the sleeper. Lunch, however, is billed to a passenger inconvenience account as a non-standard meal for them.

 

[Acela150]

Steve, the meals are not complimentary. They are included in the rail fare.

I think it is a good procedure. It controls the dining on the train and reduces

the people who bring food onto the train and clog up the lounge tables.

My opinion is that the meals are complimentary, "on the house", free, what ever you wanna cook up. But as always we are all entitled to our opinions. But we can put it this way and I think we can agree on this simple term. On the AT coach passengers eat in the dining car, and don't receive a bill. I think that sounds like something we can all agree on.

 

[AlanB]

On the AT coach passengers eat in the dining car, and don't receive a bill.

Well sometimes they do receive a Bill; as their waiter! :lol:

 

[Acela150]

On the AT coach passengers eat in the dining car, and don't receive a bill.

Well sometimes they do receive a Bill; as their waiter! :lol:

Haha!! :lol:

 

[Nathanael]

One of the characteristics of the Auto Train is an enormous number of coach passengers. So many that it really would help Amtrak if people did NOT bring large coolers of food on the train. So many that Amtrak not only has one diner for sleeper passengers and one diner for coach passengers, but also an extra table car for coach passengers to handle all the demand.

Given that everyone on the Auto Train ought to be eating (given how much time passes on the train) included meals definitely have advantages for Amtrak.

....I do wonder if some other trains would benefit from a Table Car, particularly the overcrowded diner on the Empire Builder. The current plan is to have something PPC-like for the Empire Builder instead.

 

[AlanB]

....I do wonder if some other trains would benefit from a Table Car, particularly the overcrowded diner on the Empire Builder. The current plan is to have something PPC-like for the Empire Builder instead.

Part of the reason that a table car isn't considered for the EB is the fact that they want to provide full meal service on the Portland section west of the split at Spokane. A CCC would give them that flexibility. A table car would do nothing to help that issue.