TripAdvisor Comments

[JayMadison]

So I was reading a few trip adviser reviews of various amtrak routes and I'm amazed how wide a swing they have from awesome to terrible. Some of it is that people are choosing to write reviews, but I'm curious how people can have such different experiences with the train. I found the following trends, let me know if you agree

- Don't take the train if your super worried about being on time (ie better for a vacation, plan lots of time around connections etc)

- Having a sleeper is MUCH better than riding in coach (mostly due to having private space and not having an annoying person right next to you)

- The quality of the staff seems to make a huge difference (oddly I saw a lot more rants on staff being rude, I suspect like most customer service folks it depends on your attitude and how big a jerk you are being at the time)

- People seem to have really high expectations of train food (which I don't quite get given the limitations involved)

 

[VentureForth]

Folks have high expecations in the Diner because that's what the legacy railroads conditioned passengers to and what luxury "dinner trains" share with the media.

As for the reviews, I've been a tripadvisor.com reviewer since about the time they came into existence. My experience is that folks typically write one-ball or five-ball reviews. I typically try to stay between two and four. I leave the 1's and 5's for exceedingly deserving reviews.

Reviews are totally subjective to expectations. I have seen 1's for top notch resorts because a reservation was flawed. I've seen 5's for places I wouldn't send my pet.

I haven't read the reviews for Amtrak yet. That'll be fun.

 

[MrFSS]

And, the points you make are just about how everyone sees things here at AU. Read the Trip Reports Section of the forum, but just in more detail. Read many of the threads here in this section and see that they will mirror TripReports.com, too.

 

[Rail Freak]

Good Points but I like sleepers because you can lay down to sleep & you have access to a shower!!!

 

[Ryan]

- Don't take the train if your super worried about being on time (ie better for a vacation, plan lots of time around connections etc)

Maybe. Depends on the route and the time of year.

- Having a sleeper is MUCH better than riding in coach (mostly due to having private space and not having an annoying person right next to you)

Agreed.

- The quality of the staff seems to make a huge difference (oddly I saw a lot more rants on staff being rude, I suspect like most customer service folks it depends on your attitude and how big a jerk you are being at the time)

Agree, especially the last part.

- People seem to have really high expectations of train food (which I don't quite get given the limitations involved)

I don't get it either, and I don't think that it has much to do with what VentureForth had to say. Outside of people over the age of 60 and railfans, nobody much knows or cares about what the quality of the food on the legacies was.

 

[the_traveler]

I tend to agree with the reviewers. But just remember that many write reviews or letters to complain or to tell the bad. I bet most of the calls and/or letters of complaints, and few of praise.

Most people compare trains to planes only. Unless they can get there yesterday, they say it's slow.

Why should I be on a train for 3 nights coast to coast when I can fly there in a few hours? :huh:

And comparing crews is like comparing airport employees. I'm not saying they are, but they could say O'Hare is better than JFK or National. The difference is they're with airport employees for a few hours but with the same train crew for a day or two.
I would not take most of them too seriously. As the saying goes, it's like comparing apples to oranges!

 

[rrdude]

I think you'll get a much more realistic view and realistic trip report on Trip Advisor, at least from the non-railfan perspective, then you will from Amtrak Unlimited.

As such, I generally agree with the OP comments...

The lower your expectations are, the better likelyhood you will have of being pleasantly surprised..... I know, sad that it has to be that way.... Prolly not the marketing campaign that Amtrak's Mktg Dept wants to promote......

 

[The Whistler]

Trip Advisor is a user generated website. Critics, and professional writers do not post there. We've met happy, jovial and pleasant people on the train that enjoyed the trip as we do and we've occasionally met grumpy, complaining, miserable people that seemed to hate it. Point is that opinions dominate Trip Advisor and you never know what you will read. However, if you go with the majority of reviews, you can get an honest evaluation of any attraction, restaurant or mode of transportation.

 

[cirdan]

I have written several Amtrak reviews on Tripadvisor. I have tried to be objective and not let being a railfan cloud my views.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Despite the negative bias I find people's opinions more enlightening. And you can always filter the review with your own template.

For instance I generally like to stay in older hotels. Like turn of the 20th century. I filter the reviews with that knowledge. If the main complaint I hear is "small rooms" I'm good. It's an old hotel- of course it has small rooms!

 

[andersone]

I participate at TA as well. Other than Southern Shoals the level of actual train knowledge here is far superior. But I have great respect for the opinions there and greatly improved my travel experience,,, found amazing places due to TA ,,, like Willa Mae's in NO - the two together make traveling a lot simpler than just leafing through Fodor's,..... in tandem AU & TA are a pretty dynamic duo (edited due to phone issues) and i am glad to be part of both communities,,,,

 

[cirdan]

Despite the negative bias I find people's opinions more enlightening. And you can always filter the review with your own template.

For instance I generally like to stay in older hotels. Like turn of the 20th century. I filter the reviews with that knowledge. If the main complaint I hear is "small rooms" I'm good. It's an old hotel- of course it has small rooms!

+1

 

[me_little_me]

Sounds like the TripAdvisor reviews hit the spot and describe Amtrak perfectly.

Huge variation in service and attitude among staff. Much more than other transportation companies, chain dining companies and lodging companies. There is little consistency of on-board service so reviews reflect that inconsistency.

Huge variation in reliability as transportation. Other than the NEC, train arrival variation is high especially if one looks at intermediate stops instead of end-to-end since it doesn't much matter to a patron whether the train is late or on-time at a stop beyond when they get on or off.

IMHO, the only bright spot is the consistency of Agents. Both at stations and on the phone, I have never had a bad experience.

 

[JayMadison]

Thanks for all the awesome feedback, I tend agree that TA is very helpful from a 'avoiding the things that caused other people grief' perspective. They were really helpful when I was up in boston for a few days last year. I'll check out the trip posts tho, I didn't know there was such a thing