NEC Regional Biz Class Reduction in On-Board Services

[rmgreenesq]

Greetings all:

Long time no post. I'm just back from a business trip from Boston to Norfolk, VA. I rode #95 south, #66 north and the thruway busses under the water. Both of these trains are Regional trains, and I rode in Business Class. When my ticket was lifted on the ride down, the conductor told me that there was a change of policy coming. Regional business class passengers would be permitted only one free drink, and not unlimited drinks. Seems that Amtrak is trying to save some money, and is devaluing the perks of business class. If the legroom in Amfleet I coachs were not so small, I'd think long hand hard about paying the upcharge for Biz class on the regional.

Rick

 

[MrFSS]

Greetings all:
Long time no post. I'm just back from a business trip from Boston to Norfolk, VA. I rode #95 south, #66 north and the thruway busses under the water. Both of these trains are Regional trains, and I rode in Business Class. When my ticket was lifted on the ride down, the conductor told me that there was a change of policy coming. Regional business class passengers would be permitted only one free drink, and not unlimited drinks. Seems that Amtrak is trying to save some money, and is devaluing the perks of business class. If the legroom in Amfleet I coachs were not so small, I'd think long hand hard about paying the upcharge for Biz class on the regional.

Rick

Rick - the mid-west BC trains only give one drink per trip.

 

[AlanB]

Greetings all:
Long time no post. I'm just back from a business trip from Boston to Norfolk, VA. I rode #95 south, #66 north and the thruway busses under the water. Both of these trains are Regional trains, and I rode in Business Class. When my ticket was lifted on the ride down, the conductor told me that there was a change of policy coming. Regional business class passengers would be permitted only one free drink, and not unlimited drinks. Seems that Amtrak is trying to save some money, and is devaluing the perks of business class. If the legroom in Amfleet I coachs were not so small, I'd think long hand hard about paying the upcharge for Biz class on the regional.

Rick

Rick - the mid-west BC trains only give one drink per trip.

Yes, that has technically always been the rule here in the east too, only one can per customer. However since Amtrak has no easy way to control the inventory, many attendants were willing to give out more. Also some did it because the cans are so small.

 

[caravanman]

I heard that this was a health initiative combined with an effort to cut down on greenhouse gasses?

Ed B)

 

[rmgreenesq]

Yes, that has technically always been the rule here in the east too, only one can per customer. However since Amtrak has no easy way to control the inventory, many attendants were willing to give out more. Also some did it because the cans are so small.

Interesting..... I was always given as many as I wanted. To save me the walk though three cars, one attendant would give me a cup of ice and two 8 oz. cans of diet pepsi.

Rick

 

[PRR 60]

I heard that this was a health initiative combined with an effort to cut down on greenhouse gasses?Ed B)

That's a good one!

 

[the_traveler]

to cut down on greenhouse gasses

What kind of drinks are they giving out? :lol:

 

[Acela150]

Amtrak Regional Passengers have always been offered one free pepsi product on all trains. If you ride Acela Express First Class you can have an unlimited amount of pepsi products to drink.

Acela150

 

[had8ley]

IIRC, the Empire trains only offered one drink between Albany and NYP before they pulled off the cafe car attendant. You could drown on the amount of free drinks on the Downeaster but that's another ball park.

 

[AlanB]

Amtrak Regional Passengers have always been offered one free pepsi product on all trains.

The rule has always been to offer only one free soda, however many attendants don't enforce that rule and on a busy train it's almost impossible for an attendant to remember that he/she already did give you a free soda. So on many runs I've had more than one free soda given to me.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

An 8oz soda costs Amtrak what, maybe 50 cents? Whereas the business class upgrade fee starts at $12 for trips so short one might take commuter rail instead (like Boston to Providence) and goes up to $44 on the NEC for trips from Boston to Virginia. I'm not seeing where limiting the quantity of drinks would save Amtrak money if it leads to any significant drop in the number of filled business class seats.

Also, if they're only offering soda, that's a perk that doesn't attract me at all; if they wanted to offer a selection of juices as an alternative to soda (preferably including not-from-concentrate orange juice), I'd find that more attractive.

 

[AlanB]

An 8oz soda costs Amtrak what, maybe 50 cents? Whereas the business class upgrade fee starts at $12 for trips so short one might take commuter rail instead (like Boston to Providence) and goes up to $44 on the NEC for trips from Boston to Virginia. I'm not seeing where limiting the quantity of drinks would save Amtrak money if it leads to any significant drop in the number of filled business class seats.

Well they used to offer a 10oz soda several years ago, so I guess that they realized some savings from that change. Only problem is that no one makes a smaller can than 8oz, so the only thing left now would be to figure out a way to control giving out more than one can. I also wouldn't be surprised if theft isn't one of the reasons for the change that the OP heard about. That's why Amtrak stopped giving out free sodas in the sleeping cars, theft.

However, I rather doubt that any change will drastically drop sales in BC. On Empire Service trains that run only between NYP and ALB, Amtrak doesn't even open the cafe car, yet BC still tends to sell out on many runs.

Also, if they're only offering soda, that's a perk that doesn't attract me at all; if they wanted to offer a selection of juices as an alternative to soda (preferably including not-from-concentrate orange juice), I'd find that more attractive.

One can also get coffee, tea, and select juices as one's choice of the free beverage for riding in BC.

 

[had8ley]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[frj1983]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Theft????

I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

 

[AlanB]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Theft????

I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

The theft wasn't by coach passengers, it was by the crew I'm sorry to say. They were either taking them home for personel use, or perhaps even selling them for profit. But there were times that you'd find an attendant who claimed he was out of soda, even though on two occasions I later spotted a case of it sitting in his room.

 

[frj1983]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Theft????

I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

The theft wasn't by coach passengers, it was by the crew I'm sorry to say. They were either taking them home for personel use, or perhaps even selling them for profit. But there were times that you'd find an attendant who claimed he was out of soda, even though on two occasions I later spotted a case of it sitting in his room.

Thanks Alan,

That makes more sense to me then...I was going to say something about that "possibility" in my missive, but then didn't want to impune any Amtrak Staffers. I'm sorry to hear about that too!

 

[had8ley]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Theft????

I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

Never mentioned the coach pax; it was a combination of the sleeper occupants and the crews.

 

[AlanB]

Theft????
I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

The theft wasn't by coach passengers, it was by the crew I'm sorry to say. They were either taking them home for personel use, or perhaps even selling them for profit. But there were times that you'd find an attendant who claimed he was out of soda, even though on two occasions I later spotted a case of it sitting in his room.

Thanks Alan,

That makes more sense to me then...I was going to say something about that "possibility" in my missive, but then didn't want to impune any Amtrak Staffers. I'm sorry to hear about that too!

And it was really only a select few, like always. Most crew members handled things quite responsibly.

 

[iron mountain]

On the Lincoln Service BC across Illinois, only one complimentary drink was offered. On the Pennsylvanian BC it was all that you wanted of coffee, juice, or soda. This was as of last November. A few years ago on the Missouri service you were given a chit if you were riding in BC. The chit was worth x amount of money and the attendant would deduct an amount of the item(s) you received until your chit was used up. That system seems to make more sense, in that there is a paper trail following inventory.

 

[VentureForth]

My experience on the Palmetto and the Carolinian was that it was unlimited, provided the cafe car was open and the attendant was attending.

Really, free unlimited beverages (especially tea and coffee) is a tremendous perk with so little overhead that I can't imagine anything improving by limiting such. Even the soda has a greater cost - a 1/2 case of Pepsi is readily available for $3.99 - high retail. Wholesale costs can bring it down to 10 cents a can.

Instead of limiting premium services, they need to make the differentiation more noticable. Acela FC needs to be much nicer than Acela BC. Acela BC should be the same as Regional BC (with the premium accounting for the speed and seating, but service should be the same). Regional BC should be identical to long distance BC across the system. ALL BC should be a step above coach. Most of all, pricing and service should be consistent across the system. A burger is a burger whether in Russia or LA. BC should be BC whether on the NEC or on LD routes.

 

[had8ley]

Before SDS and diner-lite came around I suggested, to very deaf ears, that a good way to avoid the obvious theft of sodas from the sleepers, and also free the burden of stashing the soda stocks from the sleeping car attendants, was to give each pax a coupon for two free drinks redeemable in the lounge car. The rationale being many sleeping car pax on single level trains never went past the diner to the lounge car. If you had a person who could afford an expensive bedroom then you had someone who would probably pick up some chips, snacks or souvenirs while redeeming their "free" soft drink voucher. I thought it was a clever marketing tool to enhance revenue; apparently no one at Amtrak agreed. Never even got a reply to that suggestion; might have required a study that required some manager to ride and that would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Theft????

I have a hard time buying that! How many people in coach would even realize that there were cans of soda pop available and how many were able to make it back/forward to the Sleepers without getting caught? Let alone waste their time to try and grab a couple of cans of soda pop. Something about this whole thing doesn't add up!

Just where do you see coach pax in my post ???

 

[VentureForth]

I think he just made that assumption. I think the comment about the thefts being from the crew cleared it up. Otherwise there would be no one else to steal the stash. I've seen coach pax come through a sleeper and snag a freebie juice or coffee - usually when there was an added coach at the wrong end of the consist, resulting in coach pax walking through the sleepers to get to the diner or lounge.

Not a real big deal - primarily because this sort of arrangement isn't common, but I've observed the problem.

 

[caravanman]

There is no doubt the catering side of the long distance trains has it's share of problems with equipment failures, etc. However, I am mightily suspicious of some events that happen on the last leg of journeys, leaving the crew unable to provide that last hot meal..and leaving a lot of food that managment could be unaware was not eaten..

Ed B)