Coast Starlight Business Class

[081552]

I'm riding in #11 from SLO to LAX in business class. There are twelve seats in the lower level of a Superliner coach with a Business Class sign on the door. You get free water, a little more quite, $6 food voucher, and free wifi (?). 

I give Amtrak credit for at least trying something new on this train. They're going to have to put some money into the car to create a more upscale experience to make it worth the extra fare.

BTW, the crew has been great today on a crowded summer train.

 

 

[CMStPnP]

And Generally the traveling public catches on fairly quick if Business Class is just a scam to get more money or generally you are getting an improved seat and level of service.    I remember when Amtrak used to offer the fares between Milwaukee and Chicago via an Amfleet AmClub Car.     At least they had better upholstered seats, with leg rests, free newspaper and some guy that would bring a drink to your seat.    Long since discontinued on the Chicago to Milwaukee Corridor.

I don't believe that Amtrak has a consistent system wide standard for Business class, it seems they are just letting each Business Unit experiment on their own.   This is also a mistake, IMO.    There should be at least a baseline standard of service across the system.....let the BU's experiment with add-ons to the standard.

What would I expect for business class fare?

1. Better seating than coach.

2. No kids policy or at least a quiet rule.

3. Plugs for laptops and to recharge mobile phones.

4. Wi-Fi access.

5. Touch screen access to movies and other on board entertainment as well as a tie-in to ordering food delivered to your seat via a runner from the Cafe Car or Dining Car.

With items 1-5 I think most people would go for the higher fare and say the increased attributes were worth the increased fare.

[Railvt]

The primary benefit of Business Class on the COAST STARLIGHT was supposed to be open access to the Pacific Parlour Car. Was this delivered? Was the Parlour Car not in service? In the past an extra Superliner Lounge/Cafe was generally run if the ex-Santa fe Hi-Level Lounge "Parlour" cars were out of service.

 

Carl Fowler

[081552]

Yes and yes. Again, the crew was great on a very busy train (4 sleepers). I got on in SLO around 4 p.m. so  I missed the wine tasting in the PPC.

[blue streak 1]

081552

Yes and yes. Again, the crew was great on a very busy train (4 sleepers). I got on in SLO around 4 p.m. so  I missed the wine tasting in the PPC.

 

4 sleepers makes one wonder what the actual sleeper demand might be. As well coach and business class ?. Was there extra dinning staff ?  Maybe its time to short 2 sleeepers to just EMY - Seattle?

[081552]

I got on the train around 5 p.m. and didn't go into the dinner. They did come over the P.A. and say that they had no extra reservations because the sleeper passengers were holding reservations.

[Dragoman]

Am I understanding this correctly? No coach (or business class!) passengers could eat in the diner because all of the availability was taken up by sleeping car passengers?? Talk about losing marginal revenue! Of course, truth be told, I am one of those who believes that sleeping car fares should not include meals. In my opinion, "free" meals only leads to mediocrity -- folks who are not very hungry are, in effect, overpaying, while no one can get a really good/expensive meal, even if willing to pay. All passengers should pay, and menus should include a range of foods and price-points, from cheap small plates to fine expensive meals. Maybe one could get closer to reducing F&B losses that way. I'll get off of the off-topic soapbox now.

[schlimm]

+1.   Finally some more straight-shooting common sense about Amtrak's misguided F&B. 

[blue streak 1]

Is Amtrak so short of extra on board crew that they cannot provide extra staff for diners when the bookings of train are so high ?

[rrsfor21cent]

I regularly ride from Dunsmuir to Sacramento for one day business trips. This is a 5.5 hour overnight trip. The extra expense is not worth it. These are the same double coach seats as upstairs. No wifi. There should be at least 2 and 1 seating. I am large, for the extra price I should get a private seat. 

The first class lounge car is still on this train. It still has an unused lower level. This would be the correct place for business class, parlor car type seating. The car runs empty over night and the lower level is usually empty during the days. It usually has wifi. Business class patrons would provide extra revenue to this car.

A real parlor car style business class would be an asset to the Coast Starlight, but it can not be just the same coach seat at a higher price.

[dakotafred]

Dragoman

Am I understanding this correctly? No coach (or business class!) passengers could eat in the diner because all of the availability was taken up by sleeping car passengers?? Talk about losing marginal revenue! Of course, truth be told, I am one of those who believes that sleeping car fares should not include meals. In my opinion, "free" meals only leads to mediocrity -- folks who are not very hungry are, in effect, overpaying, while no one can get a really good/expensive meal, even if willing to pay. All passengers should pay, and menus should include a range of foods and price-points, from cheap small plates to fine expensive meals. Maybe one could get closer to reducing F&B losses that way. I'll get off of the off-topic soapbox now.

 

In other words, the way railroads did it pre-Amtrak. Couldn't agree more.

 

I remember some of the great food from those days and agree that Amtrak's is mediocre. At the same time, it's better than those congressional critics would give us who know nothing about the economics of passenger trains except the cost to taxpayers, which in Amtrak's case is less than is doled out to Planned Parenthood. (I speak of the subsidy required for Amtrak operations.)

 

Don't know if separating meals from sleeper fares would help or hurt the bottom line. I suppose that depends on how much is built into the fare for those meals. Amtrak had better be valuing them at the max available on the menu, since that is what most sleeper passengers order.

 

(They think I'm crazy for sometimes having the hot dog or mac and cheese. But you can't make me eat those tasteless steaks. I drink wine and am happy as a clam -- sociable, too.)  

[CMStPnP]

rrsfor21cent

A real parlor car style business class would be an asset to the Coast Starlight, but it can not be just the same coach seat at a higher price

I am interested in how the new Iowa Pacific Indianapolis service works out.   According to the trains article they are serving fairly decent meals for only $6-8 on white tablecloths with stainless steel tableware.

Noticed they were smart enough to use CHICKEN instead of BEEF to also keep the cost of the actual dish down as well.   Amtrak could learn from that as well.

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/08/iowa-pacifics-hoosier-state-debuts-sunday-with-some-surprises