Tips for dealing with LSAs

[Glacier Park]

Good Information to have. We are planning another Empire Builder trip and taking our grandson along. A bedroom will work and all should get meals.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[momof5]

It's a good thing that I took my purse with me(although I take it for a tip)...had to pay for one of the meals at breakfast. I don't know from one meal to the next if it's going to be for 2 or 3.

 

[Ryan]

Quite frankly, that's ridiculous that you're asked to pay for the third. The rules clearly state that you're entitled to it. If you don't get satisfaction while on your trip, please make sure that you contact Amtrak after the trip and make them aware of the training shortcomings of their employees. It may be as futile as spitting on a roaring fire, but it's the only thing that we can do as passengers to try and make things right.

 

[jb64]

Quite frankly, that's ridiculous that you're asked to pay for the third. The rules clearly state that you're entitled to it. If you don't get satisfaction while on your trip, please make sure that you contact Amtrak after the trip and make them aware of the training shortcomings of their employees. It may be as futile as spitting on a roaring fire, but it's the only thing that we can do as passengers to try and make things right.

Especially since the rules seem to change from meal to meal. That makes it beyond ridiculous. I had the same issue last summer on the CZ when the LSA insisted we weren't entitled to meals for everyone ticketed in a bedroom (2 adults and 2 kids). I called customer service upon my return and got a former ticket agent who agreed with the LSA so I got zilch for my trouble.

 

[Old MM]

Suggestion: If there are 3 traveling, don't even think of trying to cram into a Roomette unless 2 of the 3 are very little kids. On our recent EB trip, we had a BR part of the way, and 2 Roomettes part way (going westbound). My daughter, who is 9, and I shared one, and son (14)BR vs had the other to himself. It's cheaper than the BR and no worries about the meals PLUS we had extra storage in the second roomette and didn't have to use the luggage racks at all.

 

[Steve4031]

Suggestion: If there are 3 traveling, don't even think of trying to cram into a Roomette unless 2 of the 3 are very little kids. On our recent EB trip, we had a BR part of the way, and 2 Roomettes part way (going westbound). My daughter, who is 9, and I shared one, and son (14)BR vs had the other to himself. It's cheaper than the BR and no worries about the meals PLUS we had extra storage in the second roomette and didn't have to use the luggage racks at all.

Did you post a trip report? We would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

 

[guest employee]

Considering the cost of meals, if Amtrak provides free meals for four people but there is only one bedroom supplement payment, it is no wonder they are in a financial mess.

Let's be honest here, this is a pretty rare condition in the grand scheme of things, or did you not notice what we're talking about? If Amtrak wants to generate more revenue maybe they should make it easier for coach passengers to buy revenue meals in the diner by filling more of the tables and/or extending the dining car hours and/or packing more meals on board and/or restocking them more often.

Having even half the tables occupied at one time in the standard Superliner dining car is pretty much "at capacity", even if there are 3 or 4 people downstairs, and 3 or 4 working tables. Anyone who's ever worked in a full service restaurant knows that on average, it takes AT LEAST the same square footage for a properly run kitchen as the square footage of the service area. Given the added issue that it's nearly impossible to fully restock a diner en route, it would require an entire additional car to serve just as the kitchen to try to fill every single table throughout every single meal. Just pray that Congress doesn't force Amtrak to go the McDonalds route. They already tried Subway in New York state, and that experiment lasted a few days. Full service dining requires square footage, staffing, and money.

 

[rrdude]

Considering the cost of meals, if Amtrak provides free meals for four people but there is only one bedroom supplement payment, it is no wonder they are in a financial mess.

Let's be honest here, this is a pretty rare condition in the grand scheme of things, or did you not notice what we're talking about? If Amtrak wants to generate more revenue maybe they should make it easier for coach passengers to buy revenue meals in the diner by filling more of the tables and/or extending the dining car hours and/or packing more meals on board and/or restocking them more often.

Having even half the tables occupied at one time in the standard Superliner dining car is pretty much "at capacity", even if there are 3 or 4 people downstairs, and 3 or 4 working tables. Anyone who's ever worked in a full service restaurant knows that on average, it takes AT LEAST the same square footage for a properly run kitchen as the square footage of the service area. Given the added issue that it's nearly impossible to fully restock a diner en route, it would require an entire additional car to serve just as the kitchen to try to fill every single table throughout every single meal. Just pray that Congress doesn't force Amtrak to go the McDonalds route. They already tried Subway in New York state, and that experiment lasted a few days. Full service dining requires square footage, staffing, and money.

I disagree. Those Superliners were designed and built well before the ill-fated "Modified Meal Service". I KNOW ('cause I worked them) that there can be a butt in every seat, and that there is plenty of space in the kitchen for storage. The reason many of the tables are unoccupied at any given time is labor, or lack thereof. Not enuff servers and/or kitchen staff to work a SRO diner crowd.

 

[AlanB]

Considering the cost of meals, if Amtrak provides free meals for four people but there is only one bedroom supplement payment, it is no wonder they are in a financial mess.

Let's be honest here, this is a pretty rare condition in the grand scheme of things, or did you not notice what we're talking about? If Amtrak wants to generate more revenue maybe they should make it easier for coach passengers to buy revenue meals in the diner by filling more of the tables and/or extending the dining car hours and/or packing more meals on board and/or restocking them more often.

Having even half the tables occupied at one time in the standard Superliner dining car is pretty much "at capacity", even if there are 3 or 4 people downstairs, and 3 or 4 working tables. Anyone who's ever worked in a full service restaurant knows that on average, it takes AT LEAST the same square footage for a properly run kitchen as the square footage of the service area. Given the added issue that it's nearly impossible to fully restock a diner en route, it would require an entire additional car to serve just as the kitchen to try to fill every single table throughout every single meal. Just pray that Congress doesn't force Amtrak to go the McDonalds route. They already tried Subway in New York state, and that experiment lasted a few days. Full service dining requires square footage, staffing, and money.

I disagree. Those Superliners were designed and built well before the ill-fated "Modified Meal Service". I KNOW ('cause I worked them) that there can be a butt in every seat, and that there is plenty of space in the kitchen for storage. The reason many of the tables are unoccupied at any given time is labor, or lack thereof. Not enuff servers and/or kitchen staff to work a SRO diner crowd.

Jerry,

While I've never worked a Superliner Dining car, or any Amtrak car for that matter, I have to agree with you that they can fill every seat and then some. And I can easily prove it by pointing to the Auto Train, where not only do they fill up every table at every seating (and they still use the old en-mass seating from years ago), but they also fill up half of the cafe car and serve those passengers from the kitchen in the dining car.

The crew locks the doors open between the diner and the cafe and they just carry the food between the two cars as needed. I'm not positive just how many people are downstairs, I've heard both a count of 3 and a count of 4. But regardless that kitchen serves the 72 seated at the normal tables in the dining car, as well as an additional 40 I believe seated at the tables at one end of the cafe car.

And I've seen this many times on a full Auto Train, where they have a 5:00, 6:30, & 8:00 PM seating and serve some 120+ meals at each seating.

Could they do that if the cars were crewed under SDS rules? NO! But the AT still operates under the full service staffing rules, and then some since they actually have more SA's for the diner than any other Amtrak train, and they can do it!