I answered the questions honestly by saying that I'm a middle-aged white man with a high income who lives on the west coast. I guess that's all they wanted to know. Whatever. I would have liked the points, though.
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Long distance survey
- Thread starter pennyk
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Yes, the email address in which you received the survey. The email was specific to you. As long as that email matches your AGR email you should be fine.
I don't think it's cynical. One can always decline to complete the survey. Based on my professional experience, these types of surveys are legitimate within the scope of their declared policies (which is another question).Valid points, and I have to agree.
However, the cynic within me always questions the necessity of hiring outside firms to conduct āstudiesā or surveys. And always look at these as possible enrichment opportunities for someoneās ābrother-in-lawā. Sorry to be so cynicalā¦
Still, I always wonder who wants to know what and why, and how much money they're making from my response (or lack of a response). Analytics and so forth. There's no such thing as privacy, and there's a very fine line between cynicism and paranoia.
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The survey came to my regular email and I waited a day or so to do it when using laptop computer. I didn't see anything about reward points but am both an Amtrak credit card user and a longtime Amtrak rewards program member. I always liked the PRR having 6 types of sleeping car rooms although no sections (upper & lower berths) after about the mid-1950s.
Siegmund
Lead Service Attendant
I seem to remember there being fairly extensive focus groups done when the Viewliner prototypes were built (as well as some type of market research that said the traditional 10-to-5 or 10-to-6 mix of roomettes to bedrooms was wrong.) Of course I don't know how they recruited them - maybe it was all friends and family of Beech Grove employees.
Valid points, and I have to agree.
However, the cynic within me always questions the necessity of hiring outside firms to conduct āstudiesā or surveys. And always look at these as possible enrichment opportunities for someoneās ābrother-in-lawā. Sorry to be so cynicalā¦
Very very few places have the inhouse know-how to build a good survey. Lots of people try; almost all of them wind up spending a whole lot of staff time and getting a questionable amount of data from them.
In my day job as a statistician I've had to try to salvage something useful from a few real whoppers. (And I do not design surveys myself -- I know just enough to be dangerous, and can point out the worst flaws in someone's proposed survey, but refer them to a real survey expert for further help.)
Mind you, if you're going to do a lot of them, hiring your own market research experts is a good idea --- as a rule of thumb if you need more than 1 FTE of some service you should be hiring not contracting.
---
As for this survey... I've been checking my spam all month and haven't gotten it!
CHImdw1522
Train Attendant
I received the survey last night and filled it out immediately.
I was asked to base my responses on my last trip of 250+ miles- which was by myself in each direction by plane one-way from Chicago O'Hare to LaGuardia, with the return on the Lakeshore Limited.
Interestingly, the survey never asked about the timeliness or need for speed. For instance, on some trips I need to get there quickly and with a choice of departure and arrival times = legacy air carrier. At other times, I can choose a leisurely trip with a limited schedule = train from NYP to Chi.
In addition, within the last year or so, I have taken the train in one direction between Chicago and Los Angles, Chicago and San Francisco, and Chicago and Seattle. I would answer very differently if I had answered with one of these trips in mind.
Could the survey be set up to get the answers Amtrak wants?
I was asked to base my responses on my last trip of 250+ miles- which was by myself in each direction by plane one-way from Chicago O'Hare to LaGuardia, with the return on the Lakeshore Limited.
Interestingly, the survey never asked about the timeliness or need for speed. For instance, on some trips I need to get there quickly and with a choice of departure and arrival times = legacy air carrier. At other times, I can choose a leisurely trip with a limited schedule = train from NYP to Chi.
In addition, within the last year or so, I have taken the train in one direction between Chicago and Los Angles, Chicago and San Francisco, and Chicago and Seattle. I would answer very differently if I had answered with one of these trips in mind.
Could the survey be set up to get the answers Amtrak wants?
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
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I think the survey already cover too many aspects and I am dubious about what they will get out of it. At least if they make reasonable choices on the Sleeper hard product, leaving all else aside for the moment, that would in and of itself be a win IMHO.
I think they tried to do too many things at one time with the 16 sets of options. As I said before, there were way too many factors to weigh - frequency, cost, random amenities - and so I ignored a bunch of those factors. Frankly, the presence of a work space vs a panorama car vs a bar car doesn't impact my decision to take most trains - the presence of a space is more important (though a kid's car could be a net negative if it's basically a kids-only space). With something like that, you really only want to test a limited number of variables (with multiple values for said variables). They were testing something like seven variables (OTP, frequency, accommodation mix, shared space, WiFi, and price were the "main" ones; restroom/shower facilities seem to have also been tested a bit, while food options were only "paired" with accommodation typed [1]). Testing the eight train accommodations made sense, but "three train options plus four others" was a bit much.
Were I designing that survey, here's what I'd have tested in those slots:
-Accommodation type (see note below)
-Price
-Food service levels (namely, testing whether including "full" meals at a higher price point in coach/lie-flat space would work or making food options for-pay at the Slumbercoach/Roomette/Bedroom level would work).
-Competition options (see note below)
That's four variables, but that's more manageable.
Train frequency, OTP, type of shared space, etc. should have been asked about in separate questions, though I'd assume the presence of some sort of shared space. One thing I might slip in is testing the utility of a dedicated space (e.g. exclusive bar-lounge for the luxury spaces) would work.
I would also have adjusted the accommodation mixes (and alternatives) in line with respondent preferences - for a customer who absolutely will not fly, they wasted a third of the space on the survey with non-starter options. Ditto one who will not take the bus (*waves*) or who can't/won't drive the distance in question. Using a few earlier questions to weight out what else was going to be offered for some of the options. Dropping back to one airline option/adding first class air as an option, excluding the bus, or excluding the car on some sets and offering four train options would all make sense, as would adjusting the number of times a given option was included (weighing this by the number of travelers in the "expected" party would make sense - testing the Prestige space and the Luxury-for-4 options a combined eight times across the surveys for a solo traveler was probably a bit much.
Edit: Doing this as a two-stage or three-stage study would probably also make sense, so as to more specifically work out some options.
[1] Coach/lie-flat only got a food trolley/cafe car. Slumbercoach/roomette/bedrooms got "meals in dining car". The "luxury" options got "all inclusive w/room service" (or some more-or-less meaningless variation in phrasing).
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Received a "reminder" email yesterday afternoon (though I found no first email -- maybe a purchase last week bumped me into the cohort). Filled it out yesterday evening.
Had some questions about most recent LD trip and others about what I would prefer in a hypothetical future trip. Also had a "we may want to ask you more/different questions; are you interested?" query at the end. I assume they will be doing another round of follow up.
Had some questions about most recent LD trip and others about what I would prefer in a hypothetical future trip. Also had a "we may want to ask you more/different questions; are you interested?" query at the end. I assume they will be doing another round of follow up.
As Mark Twain ( among many others) said: "There are Three Types of Lies: Lies,Damn Lies and Statistics."
In my expierience, most Surveys and Studies are either totally Worthless ( see Amtrak, they have Drawers Full of them) or are designed to tell the Client exactly what they want to know! YMMV
In my expierience, most Surveys and Studies are either totally Worthless ( see Amtrak, they have Drawers Full of them) or are designed to tell the Client exactly what they want to know! YMMV
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Exactly. We subscribe to a service with expertise in that field and reliable support when needed. It's not worth the cost of doing that in-house for a service we only use a few times a month.
The LD survey that was sent out was far cry from trying to gather info about creating a āluxury type productā akin to the VIA Prestige Sleeper class. Honestly - I felt it was geared to price elasticity. For example - at what price would you switch to a coach or business class seat and not take a sleeper for an overnight journey, even if just a roomette, bedroom, or bedroom suite was offered. More about price points than trying to do ANYTHING creative in this survey. A couple of questions did try to dig into amenities - onboard Wine Tastings, etc. ANYTHING offered onboard is a great amenity. That should be a given, but not sure why no one in the rail hospitality business hasnāt figured that out, for a trip 250+ (or multiple nights).ā¦ā¦.
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
I might get dinged by someone for mentioning this, but I think part of the problem at Amtrak is that it is primarily a Rail Operations outfit with Hospitality, seemingly begrudgingly tagged on for several decades. There is hardly anyone from the Hospitality Business anywhere to be seen in Amtrak management chain until very recently. Ironically it was during Boardman's era that the last of the Hospitality focused folks were drummed out. The Pacific Parlour Car was their last hurrah.
When you have a Hospitality business and Rail Operations business seamlessly tied together, led by a Hospitality guy, you get something like Brightline.
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We never did receive this survey, even though we are both enrolled in the Guest Rewards program and have made a number of long-distance trips of 250+ miles over the years. (And yes, we did check our spam folder to see if showed up there.) Being seniors, perhaps we didnāt fall into the demographic group this survey was trying to reach.
We are curious to know what the āimportant changesā to its long-distance service Amtrak is contemplating. Certainly, the āamenities and offeringsā that rail passengers usually want should already be well known to management, beginning with such basics as clean restrooms in coach, the availability traditional menu items to all who want and can afford them, and the assurance that bedroom and roomette reservations that were made and paid for months earlier will be honored.
Had we received this survey, we would have suggested that long-distance train service be based on the demand for accommodations. If there is demand for X number of bedrooms or roomettes or coach seats on a particular train on a particular date, then enough extra sleepers and coaches should be added to the consist of that train on that particular date to meet that demand. (We, of course, are already aware of the many reasons why this common sense idea canāt be implemented.)
After spending untold thousands of dollars on this survey, do you think that long-distance Amtrak train service will improve, remain the same, or encourage potential riders to seek other forms of transportation?
Eric & Pat
We are curious to know what the āimportant changesā to its long-distance service Amtrak is contemplating. Certainly, the āamenities and offeringsā that rail passengers usually want should already be well known to management, beginning with such basics as clean restrooms in coach, the availability traditional menu items to all who want and can afford them, and the assurance that bedroom and roomette reservations that were made and paid for months earlier will be honored.
Had we received this survey, we would have suggested that long-distance train service be based on the demand for accommodations. If there is demand for X number of bedrooms or roomettes or coach seats on a particular train on a particular date, then enough extra sleepers and coaches should be added to the consist of that train on that particular date to meet that demand. (We, of course, are already aware of the many reasons why this common sense idea canāt be implemented.)
After spending untold thousands of dollars on this survey, do you think that long-distance Amtrak train service will improve, remain the same, or encourage potential riders to seek other forms of transportation?
Eric & Pat
