I traveled holiday class on the Indian pacific line. The fc was very expensive. Holiday class was several steps below Amtrak. The food offerings and quality were inferior. There was basically one choice for each meal each day. There was little variance. Always eggs. They were overcooked too. No pancakes or french toast. That was one train I was actually glad to get off of. The meals ont the high speed trains were nasty. 12 hours on the sydney Brisbane run without decent food. Plus we had to get off and ride a bus for the last hour northbound. Southbound you can ride the train the whole way. I like trains, and am patient. Now this was a truly crappy product. So don't talk about is Americans until you get your country straightened out. Intact you can go book your quantad flight now and check out that fancy lounge
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Ya gets what you pays for - 1st class on Amtrak can't begin to get near 1st class on GSR. And if you take the wrong train to Brisbane don't complain - the bus connection is for the daylight service, the overnight goes right through.
And the NSW XPT serves far better food than Amtrak, just a matter of taste.
A burger is not fine dining, nor is fried bread with icing sugar and 'breakfast syrup' (aka french toast). Amtrak food is bland, fattening and extremely unhealthy.
Maybe when your government takes responsibility for the nation's health the national rail passenger service will have to take an interest in the health of its passengers.
RTOlson
Lead Service Attendant
Thank you for your opinion. Considering all the crud that Amtrak has apparently put you through, I think it's thoughtful that you would at least consider traveling on it again. I would hope for more convenient routing in the future.
I am confused about the point about how you not taking an Amtrak trip means "foreign currency lost to your limping economy."
You still came to the United States, presumably spending money of some sort. Even if it isn't on Amtrak and it's less than what you might have spent, the money that you spent will presumably stay here.
Regardless of the money, I hope that you have a terrific trip.
$AU240 return on Alaskan is a damned sight cheaper than a return bedroom on the Coast Starlight. You do the sums.
And I have already booked a return trip from home to NYC early next year, $AU381 return using loyalty points. Doubt if I could travel LAX to NYP in coach for that money. And I can't get AGR points to soften an Amtrak fare.
I'd prefer to take the train but it just isn't worth it, no matter how you look at it. Anyway, I've seen the scenery often enough for it to have lost much of its attraction.
Well you are pricing Alaskan air coach, even first class coach, versus a bedroom for two nights and 10 meals. Coach v. Alaskan first class is just about the same $200 Alaskan v. $196 Amtrak(Sea to LAX). $386USD for a March NYP-LAX-NYP coach trip versus $287USD(converted from AUD) $100 or less, depending on discounts used.
What it boils down to is time.
2 hours in coach by air is bearable after 14 hours crossing the Pacific. 36 hours in coach (if you're lucky) on Amtrak is just not an option (even if Qantas enabled a same day connection). Coach airfares are expedient and I hate using them. Coach on Amtrak is for the converted or poverty stricken over that distance and time. Count yourselves lucky that I won't/can't take coach for 36 hours after taking two flights to get to the US (or feel very sorry for anybody in my immediate vicinity).
And meals? I never eat burgers, have never reheated a steak and powdered eggs disappeared from most of the western world shortly after WWII. 10 Amtrak meals is a sentence.
It's not about time for me - it's bang for the buck. And until Amtrak treats its premium passengers to something like a semblance of premium service I'll be viewing the USA from 35,000 feet and saving money into the bargain.
I just wish this forum would stop being a fan site and started to become a lobby for improvements in standards.
As I observe it it's "America, the land of the sheep" - you just meekly do what you're told, at stations, airports, sea ports, wherever. For a country borne out of revolution you sure don't revolt anymore.
Oh dear, I suppose the NSA is going to screen this and give me a hard time at LAX next week. NSA -KGB, whatever....
Why do you people put up with such incredibly low standards of service? And tip for the privilege!
Well seeing as you are the one bleating either your as Australlian as Mel Gibson or a goat!
If you don't like Amtrak don't ride it.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my trips to America - it's just the reality between the 'land of the free' and the reality that totally perplexes.
I like to wander onto a platform and find my carriage. I like the idea of a reserved seat at the time of booking.
I don't like taking my shoes off to pass airport security. I don't like having 'explosive residue' testing in Australia just to satisfy Homeland Security (since when did US law penetrate our borders - would you like it Australian law extended into the US?).
You're such a compliant nation that it just seems to be such a paradox.
And Australia has been bombed, blitzed and suffered far more damage than the US will ever experience over the last 6 decades. BUT WE JUST GET OVER IT.
And hate to have to tell you this but there are better places in the world to live than the USA (just don't tell anyone - it's a secret the rest of the world likes to keep from you).
But I'll keep coming, enduring the indignities and the affronts just to enjoy the aspects of the US that I do enjoy.
But it's a near run race, Europe has a lot to offer, too. I go there just as often as I go to the US.
So now insult me, anything but look at what's wrong with the USA, or question your own society (ain't that where the revolution began?)
Ispolkom
Engineer
Konrad, am I correct in understanding that you're writing this while you're *actually* on vacation in the U.S.? It seems to me, at least, an odd way to spend one's travel time. Me, I like sightseeing, or perhaps trying a local restaurant, even riding a trolleybus (as I recall, they have quite a nice network of them in Seattle), rather than posting to the Internet while I am traveling.
This strikes me as unusual since I recall you've already been quite systematic in listing what you dislike about Amtrak.
Takes all kinds, I guess.
Please, carry on, though. You do it very well.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
i supposed in Austria that your not told which train car to go to or which track to board and your not escorted out to your train. is it some one big free for all when the say all aboard you all run at once to the train.
Upstate
Lead Service Attendant
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The worst part is that it is not even a steak. Its f*$%@#$ pot roast! If I wanted reheated pot roast I would go to my mothers refrigerator and throw it in the microwave. I got more inspiring food when I was in the army.
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
if you want gourmet meals then write to congress and tell them to increase Amtrak's budget for food so they can cook the food for real like on the auto train. you people come to this country and think your so much better then us. really do your trains have real food. do they have a real chef that's cooks t-bone steak or rack of lamb etc.
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Actually, it's well after sunset in Seattle and I've been out all day so I'm enjoying a meal in my apartment. Far more practical than restaurant meals, and NO TIPS.
Oh, and I love Seattle's trolleys and ferries. Believe me, I get around.
And Seattle is lovely - three visits now and I'll be back again. But might make a trip north into the British Commonwealth later in the week just to re-establish my equilibrium :lol: .
Therein, I believe, lies a lot of the problem. I think Amtrak would do better in more areas if they had more money to do so. And as for the arguments for and against the USA, I will refrain from them since my total international experience adds up to probably little more than a week, all of that in Canada. I have no basis for comparison.
Well, Of course, I can't write to congress. On the other hand 1st class meals on our transcontinental services are outstanding.
I've even had a meal on an Hungarian diner attached to a train from Germany to Austria that made Amtrak food look like p*k*. The Hungarian 'champagne' left a lot to be desired, however.
And, although yet to experience it, the 1st class menu on 'The Canadian' will eventually lure me on board.
And , excuse me, but I think I try to spend more time checking my spelling and grammar.
While it may have happened in the past, Amtrak does not use powdered eggs on it's trains today.
This forum was started for neither of those purposes. This forum's primary purpose is to give first time riders, as well as those who have taken Amtrak but not fully explored its many routes, to come and ask questions and learn about things. The fact that many railfans hang out here is both welcome and useful towards that primary purpose, educating people about all things Amtrak.
Lobbying is not one of our purposes for existance, even though we do have many threads that talk about how things might be improved and even my analysis of SDS, which I understand actually did land on the desk of a certain US Congressman. But lobbying is not why this forum exists and I think it highly unlikely that we would ever consider going down that path.
Anthony's intent when he crafted the first pages of the now largely gone static site as a young teenager was to inform people about what to expect when riding Amtrak. And that has remained our primary purpose ever since.
Good question, I just reply to the responses as they come in.
Probably went off topic when I said the Metropolitan Lounges weren't really that good.
Lot of thin skins out there... :huh:
ThayerATM
OBS Chief
And another thing that I'd like to point out.
This particular topic started out about the Metropolitan Lounge in CHI. How did it ever come to the point of bashing Americans for being a land of sheep, which appears to have little bearing on the original topic.
I think this forum is great, but I sometimes get lost as to the topic being discussed.
STAY ON THE TOPIC.
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We never have done that around here. :lol:
And while I'll occasionally split up a topic like I did with the old trains/PPC, that is a rarity. We generally just let things go where they will. It's been working for us for almost 10 years now.
To get back on Subject - we will be coming in to Chicago on the EB, and leaving later that night on the LSL. This will be our first Amtrak trip, our first time in Chicago, and there are a whole lot of other firsts happening as well. We have Roomette reserved for both legs of the trip, and assuming we arrive on time or nearly so, we will have a couple of hours to kill. We would like to leave some luggage in the Metro lounge, which I have read is possible. We would then like to se a few of the sites - Willis/Sears Tower, and the Pizza place just down the road.
I am a little confused about the station, and how we find our way around. Is it pretty obvious, or do I need directions? Are we arriving in the "basement" and have to go up one or two escalators to get to the Metro Lounge?. Is the Metro Lounge on the ground/street floor?
Thanks for any help. I can usually figure things out, but a little help doesn't hurt.
Thanks
Coltrip,
The Metropolitan lounge is on the arrival level. You will not need to go upstairs to find the lounge. Since you're arriving on the Empire Builder, you'll most likely enter the terminal via the north side gates. You'll turn right as you walk through the door from the track and make the first left that you can make. Go through those doors and walk down a long hall. When that hall opens up, you'll see the Amtrak ticket windows ahead and slightly to your right. To you left is another set of doors that you want to pass through.
Walk basically straight ahead with a very slight swing to your left and you'll see two tinted glass sliding doors that say Metropolitan lounge. Just head in there and show your sleeping car tickets for the Lake Shore to gain entry.
To head to the sights that you've mentioned, after leaving the lounge, walk back towards the Amtrak ticket windows. Before you reach them, turn left down the long hall, and then make an immediate left onto an escalator that goes up one level. This is the food court level. Turn right and walk till you see another set of escalators to your left. Head up those escalators to reach Jackson Avenue. A walk down Jackson will take you to both Giordanos and the Sear's Tower.
Upon your return you'll come back down the escalator from the street and basically walk as straight as you can walk to reach another escalator down to track level. Make a 180 turn as you come off the escalator. You're now walking past the South Gates. Make the first left you can make down the opposite long hall from the north gate. Turn right to head back into the Amtrak waiting areas and the lounge.
The Metropolitan lounge is on the arrival level. You will not need to go upstairs to find the lounge. Since you're arriving on the Empire Builder, you'll most likely enter the terminal via the north side gates. You'll turn right as you walk through the door from the track and make the first left that you can make. Go through those doors and walk down a long hall. When that hall opens up, you'll see the Amtrak ticket windows ahead and slightly to your right. To you left is another set of doors that you want to pass through.
Walk basically straight ahead with a very slight swing to your left and you'll see two tinted glass sliding doors that say Metropolitan lounge. Just head in there and show your sleeping car tickets for the Lake Shore to gain entry.
To head to the sights that you've mentioned, after leaving the lounge, walk back towards the Amtrak ticket windows. Before you reach them, turn left down the long hall, and then make an immediate left onto an escalator that goes up one level. This is the food court level. Turn right and walk till you see another set of escalators to your left. Head up those escalators to reach Jackson Avenue. A walk down Jackson will take you to both Giordanos and the Sear's Tower.
Upon your return you'll come back down the escalator from the street and basically walk as straight as you can walk to reach another escalator down to track level. Make a 180 turn as you come off the escalator. You're now walking past the South Gates. Make the first left you can make down the opposite long hall from the north gate. Turn right to head back into the Amtrak waiting areas and the lounge.
Shocking as it seems, in Austria (or maybe Australia, which is where Konrad comes from) there is no need to be herded about, you get to the station, you walk onto the platform, the train arrives and you get on it. If you have a reserved seat or sleeper then there is a guide on the platform to where each car is in the train consist will stop.
All very easy and no herding about.
Before I made my first trip on Amtrak, I stumbled on this site and found out a lot of useful information.
The 2 main things I picked up was that time keeping was a bit lax and the food wasn't all that great.
So would I be daft enough to book a flight back to London the same afternoon I arrive on the CZ? Not really. Sometime trains run late, even Australian ones, shock horror. (a friend of mine did the Ghan a few months ago, and a derailment meant buses and lots of delay....) Yes, it would be great if Amtrak ran to Swiss levels of perfection, but it doesn't and while it shares with freight railroads it never ever will, and that's just life. Don't like it? Tough.
The food is poor to average, could it be better? Yes. Was it better than I expected? Just about.
Lots of things could be better, but you have the choice of using Amtrak or not. Moaning on here won't help much, you just have to accept it for what it is. Despite all the bad points, you have to look at the whole, and I have enjoyed all the Amtrak trips I have made, talked to some interesting people and met some great Amtrak staff who do a great job under the circumstances.
And as the poster who went off topic about old trains and diverted the discussion to whether it is viable to add parlour cars like the PPC to the EB and other long distance trained, I commended Alan for his wisdom in splitting the PPC discussion off to a new thread.We never have done that around here. :lol:
And while I'll occasionally split up a topic like I did with the old trains/PPC, that is a rarity. We generally just let things go where they will. It's been working for us for almost 10 years now.
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