Acela first class attendant denied to serve me a meal...

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They should have offered you a meal. The FCA was incorrect. Make sure you call Amtrak and talk to Customer Relations about the matter.
The attendant was actually quite friendly, but just insisted that Washington-to-Baltimore was too short to be served a meal.

I don't want to get her in trouble or anything..... so I'm just gonna let it go. Next time, I'll stand my ground and demand

my meal. :D :D :D :D
 
Put a slightly different spin on this.

You didn't get your meal, because the person before you and the person before that just let it ride.

Call and help out the next guy.

(Assuming those are the rules)
 
You paid for that ride in FC and the Attendant has a job to serve you! ( Acela FC has 2 Attendants unlike Cafe Cars)

This was a case of another Lazy OBS making up their own rules on the fly so to speak! Ryan is right, please call Customer Relations and help your self and your fellow riders get the good service you deserve!
 
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I'll give you an example of some poor service I once had in FC.

I was traveling from BOS-PHL. That trip gets two meals. The train departed NYP at 5pm. They took my meal order and asked my final destination. Folks who were going all the way to DC got their meals first. The attendant brought my second meal when the train was about 10 minutes away from PHL. I told the attendant my stop was PHL and I knew we were 10 minutes away so save it for the next guy. I called Amtrak and explained the situation. I explained that I was traveling in FC on a free upgrade and I didn't want a TC but I just wanted to let them know about the issue I had. Even though I didn't want a TC they sent me $50.
 
How long is the trip? I mean....Baltimore to Washington is pretty close. I try not to be an amtrak apologist, but if the car is very busy and they didn't even come by to get an order until halfway through the trip because they are just going through the car, there might not have been time left to serve the meal.

Personally, I wouldn't expect a meal from WAS - BAL or from BOS - PVD if the car is full.

Now if the car is empty that is a different story. But I'm just pointing out a situation where there could truly not have been enough time.
 
Maybe they should institute a policy that meals will be served for journeys that are scheduled for at least an hour's duration or more or some such, and advertise that prominently, so that the right expectations are set. As things stand it appears to be rather arbitrary to serve a meal or not depending on random things
 
30 Mins. Plus they typically board from the lounge about 15-20 mins before departure.
Right but if it's a full car I can see how they legitimately might not have time.
In the old days of paper tickets, many of the FC attendants would look at them and stick them in the clips on the seats. Then they would know where everyone was detraining. I don't always see them doing that now a days.

I'm just saying that if it's a full car and they are going through doing drinks in the station then handing out menus that they might not even come by to take an order until they are only 15 minutes out.

I do think there should be enough time for a meal but I would suggest - as I did on FT - that the pax proactively mention it to the staff upon boarding. If one boards early at WAS or BOS there should be enough time if the order is placed early and it's made clear that you are detraining shortly. But for a staff stressed with a full car or maybe a b team staff I could see how there wouldn't be enough time.

OP if you weren't satisfied with the service call customer relations. Good luck.
 
Why would anyone want to pay the steep tariff of Acela First Class on such a short hop...what, 30 minutes? Unless the purpose was also to get an included meal, I just can't understand the rationale behind it...... :huh:
 
Why would anyone want to pay the steep tariff of Acela First Class on such a short hop...what, 30 minutes? Unless the purpose was also to get an included meal, I just can't understand the rationale behind it...... :huh:
My thoughts exactly. That is a pretty expensive meal unless you are doing the trip on points or passes, etc. :)
 
The folks who have their travel expenses paid by their employer, or as a write off if self employed, don't really care what it costs!

Unfortunately more and more companies are prohibiting their employees from traveling first class or even business class unless the employee pays for the upgrade! (I never did figure out what the dividing line was between regular government peons like me and the VIPs who travel in style was! I know Joe Biden traveled for years on the Metro Liners and Acela between Wilmington and WAS on upgrades but he was a US Senator for 30 years, closest thing we have to being a member of the Royal family!)
 
Unless it's clearly spelled out that the OP is not entitled to a meal, then the OP should have been served. Nice attendant or not. Full car or not, those issues are not relevant IMHO. 30 minutes is enough time for an efficient crew to provide the service.

The crew members have a manifest and should know that a passenger is going to Baltimore, and should take care of it by using seat checks and other means to identify these passengers. And then serve them. The Acela is supposed to be Amtrak's flagship service. This crap should not happen on the Acela.

If somebody wants to spend extra money for FC Acela that is their business too.
 
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Unless it's clearly spelled out that the OP is not entitled to a meal, then the OP should have been served. Nice attendant or not. Full car or not, those issues are not relevant IMHO. 30 minutes is enough time for an efficient crew to provide the service.

The crew members have a manifest and should know that a passenger is going to Baltimore, and should take care of it by using seat checks and other means to identify these passengers. And then serve them. The Acela is supposed to be Amtrak's flagship service. This crap should not happen on the Acela.

If somebody wants to spend extra money for FC Acela that us there business too.
I fully agree with that sentiment. If indeed there are segments or journey lengths for which meals will not be served that should be spelled out clearly.
 
Maybe they should institute a policy that meals will be served for journeys that are scheduled for at least an hour's duration or more or some such, and advertise that prominently, so that the right expectations are set. As things stand it appears to be rather arbitrary to serve a meal or not depending on random things
I think this is a reasonable suggestion, and I think one-hour would be a good cut-off. This would ensure that meal service on most logical city pairs would

continue. You could word it in such a way as to provide wiggle-room for cases where an attendant has few passengers and has time to serve a meal on

a shorter segment, such as BOS-PVD. Something like "Meal service may not be provided on Acela segments of one hour or less."

Even first-class airline passengers understand that on-board service varies depending on the length of the flight. There's no reason why Amtrak should

offer the impression that every single Acela first-class passenger should get a full hot meal. I mean, you can buy an Acela ticket from BAL to BWI but

no reasonable person expects a hot meal on a 12 minute train ride. So the attendant who says a meal cannot be served in 30 minutes is really not

that far out of line...unless Amtrak implicitly promises that meal, which is currently the case.
 
I was traveling to BNL on a somewhat-delayed TE once. They made the lunch call. I went down, asked the LSA if I had time for lunch given my destination (IIRC, we were just pulling out of Springfield). He said yes.

But then the service was SO SLOW that they didn't take my table's order until after Lincoln (1/2 hour or so out of my destination) and everything seemed to be moving so slowly I just told them I didn't think there'd be time and left. IIRC, I didn't even bother to order, so it's not like they were "out" that meal.

I didn't feel cheated so much as I felt annoyed at the slowness, but it just seemed like really bad luck. I've been on other runs where everything moved MUCH more efficiently. I suppose it would be possible to prioritize the people (somehow, by doing zoned seating or something) whose stops are coming up.
 
I once entered the diner as a 1 hour late 30 passed Conway yard west of Pittsburg. I was connecting to the Pennsylvanian. I knew I was wrong when I entered the diner and saw the skyline of Pittsburg. I was in a sleeper and wanted a decent breakfast. I ordered and she asked where I was going. I said Pittsburg. She wasn't happy. I explained, and she did get my French toast. It was served as we crossed the bridge outside the station. I inhaled the last bite as the train stopped. I hiccuped my way back to the sleeper to get my bag and get off.

I fit the same crew a few days later on the way back from was-chi. Was not a warm reception. In this case I was wrong.
 
The previous two anecdotes aren't entirely relevant here since Acela meal service is really nothing at all like meal service

on a LD diner. [though I have my own story about entering a diner with seemingly plenty of time to be served, only to

abandon the effort before my order was even taken]
 
The folks who have their travel expenses paid by their employer, or as a write off if self employed, don't really care what it costs!

Unfortunately more and more companies are prohibiting their employees from traveling first class or even business class unless the employee pays for the upgrade! (I never did figure out what the dividing line was between regular government peons like me and the VIPs who travel in style was! I know Joe Biden traveled for years on the Metro Liners and Acela between Wilmington and WAS on upgrades but he was a US Senator for 30 years, closest thing we have to being a member of the Royal family!)
Self employees care if they aren't rich. Yes I can and do write stuff off on my taxes, before pass through. What that does is very simple to understand. Let's say my company made $100,000 profit this year. Now, I buy on my company's dime a train ticket, ok?

Regular coach is $100 and first class is $200. Well that erodes the profit, naturally.

My tax liability without the ticket is $11638, netting me $88,362. with the coach ticket it's $11,612, netting $88,388, so since I wrote it off the coach ticket costs me $74, a 26% discount. First class, likewise produces $11,588, $88,412, and a fare of $150 for a savings of 25%.

I get a discount, which is fair if it's a legitimate business expense, it's not free, and Id care about the $74 price increase, believe me.
 
They should have offered you a meal. The FCA was incorrect. Make sure you call Amtrak and talk to Customer Relations about the matter.
The attendant was actually quite friendly, but just insisted that Washington-to-Baltimore was too short to be served a meal.

I don't want to get her in trouble or anything..... so I'm just gonna let it go. Next time, I'll stand my ground and demand

my meal. :D :D :D :D
There might not have been enough time to prepare some meals, but there is usually a salad or small bites, already made up that does not require preparation.
 
If somebody wants to spend extra money for FC Acela that is their business too.
That is true. Valid point....

I suppose that case is not so unusual anyway...not nearly as questionable as say booking a roomette for a similar distance, but then again, you're correct...it's their business..... :unsure:
 
The previous two anecdotes aren't entirely relevant here since Acela meal service is really nothing at all like meal service

on a LD diner. [though I have my own story about entering a diner with seemingly plenty of time to be served, only to

abandon the effort before my order was even taken]
At least we were talking about meal service on trains. Many posts on AU do not discuss subjects relevant to op.
 
They should have offered you a meal. The FCA was incorrect. Make sure you call Amtrak and talk to Customer Relations about the matter.
The attendant was actually quite friendly, but just insisted that Washington-to-Baltimore was too short to be served a meal.

I don't want to get her in trouble or anything..... so I'm just gonna let it go. Next time, I'll stand my ground and demand

my meal. :D :D :D :D
There might not have been enough time to prepare some meals, but there is usually a salad or small bites, already made up that does not require preparation.
All the meals are already prepared. The warm ones just have to be run through the Microwave and served.
 
The previous two anecdotes aren't entirely relevant here since Acela meal service is really nothing at all like meal service

on a LD diner. [though I have my own story about entering a diner with seemingly plenty of time to be served, only to

abandon the effort before my order was even taken]
At least we were talking about meal service on trains. Many posts on AU do not discuss subjects relevant to op.
OP here, called Amtrak today. the customer service agent told me that the attendant was correct.

Only Acela trips over 60 minutes would have been served a meal... :(

Not one to give up easily, I called again a couple of hours later and spoke with a different agent.

She transferred me to a supervisor(?) who told me the same thing. I don't know who they were

consulting, but it took they put me on hold for almost 10 minutes before coming back with the

same same answer.

Oh well... at least I tried. :( Unless there's a different department at Amtrak that I can mail an

actual letter to? Sometimes these customer service agents on the phone just want to get you

off the phone ASAP. Sending an actual letter with a 49-cent stamp sometimes will get a differnt

result. :)
 
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