Assigned seats/cars?

I'm reading a few different responses to this. When you board do they assign you seats and a specific car? I've read on some pages that they assign cars based on where you are getting off at. It then on other places I've read you just board in coach and find a seat.

It is not consistent, it just depends how each crew operates. Usually if you get on at the beginning of the line (Chicago, DC, etc) they will assign you to a car when you get to the platform. They tend to group people together according to destination. Your attendant may assign you a seat as you get on, or may tell you to pick one. Once you get your ticket scanned, they will put a slip of paper with your destination above your seat. If you get on down the line, they will put you wherever they have the room to.

When I rode the Cardinal, my first, and so far only, LD coach trip, I got on at a relatively early stop and was just told which car to board based on my destination. There were plenty if seats to choose from. Later I got off at a smoke stop and they were assigning seats to the people boarding at that station. My take on this was that because the train was filling up, the attendant(s) or conductor had written up seat checks for the empty seats and was handing them out to the people in line.

They may assign a specific car, based on your destination. At some stations (such as St Louis) all doors may open, yet at other stations on the same route (such as Marshall) only a couple doors may open - maybe because the platform is too short for the train. Also, you may be assigned a specific seat upon boarding - maybe because they only have a few seats available in that car or you board at 3 am.

As mentioned above things largely are based on where you're traveling to, where you board, how full the train is, and the crew you're with. I would expect to be assigned a seat at the door, and if you get anything different it's a pleasant surprise.

From my limited experience:

-Northeast regional, Acela, Keystone, Pennsylvanian, and I am assuming any other of the shorter routes: You pick the seat when you get on.

-Crescent, Capitol Limited, and all long distance overnight routes: Assigned seats based on your destination. I assume they do this as not to disturb the whole train in the middle of the night.

I'll be traveling the southwest chief from Chicago to Flaggstaff

Juliann95 said:

I'll be traveling the southwest chief from Chicago to Flaggstaff

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I believe they will assign you the seat and car when you get on in Chicago. That's how it worked for me the two times I took that trip (went to CA instead of Flagstaff).

Enjoy your trip.

Dan

Depends on the route. I mostly use Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor (between Sacramento and Oakland/San Jose) and that route is totally unreserved. I've also taken the San Joaquin a couple of times. Although they call that "reserved" it's really that they guarantee you'll have a seat (even though there are those with 10-rides, monthly passes, and even some with Capitol Corridor tickets using them on the San Joaquin between Martinez and Oakland).

I've also taken the Coast Starlight a couple of times, even though it was for a really short stretch. I always got an assigned car/seat that was written down on a seat check and handed to me as I boarded.

And the Keystone was supposedly "reserved" but when we boarded at NYP the conductor told me to sit wherever we wanted.

Reserved/Unreserved is not the deciding factor for you being assigned a seat by staff. Reserved just means you must have a ticket for that train number on that day. Unreserved means you can have any unused ticket that has not expired with any date for any train between the city pair you are riding. Unreserved trains do not have different price buckets.

The Keystone is unreserved between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Between Philadelphia and New York, it is reserved.

Unreserved has been handy for me in the past when I had business in Philadelphia not knowing what time it would end. I just book the earliest time I think I could be done and if it goes later, I just hop on the next convenient train. If I had reserved ticket, I would have had to rebook and possibly had to pay more because the ticket price may have been more.

Juliann95 said:

I'll be traveling the southwest chief from Chicago to Flagstaff

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They'll assign your seat in Chicago.

When they call for coach boarding, just follow everyone out to the track and line up in front of the car attendant. When you tell him/her your destination, they'll give you a seat assignment and tell you which car to go to. Sometimes they have you head to the next car down to talk to that car attendant.

Aloha

Memories of my first train rides out of Philadelphia are that as we boarded the PRR behind the GG-1 the conductor (could have been a car attendant) at the car door saying left to ... right to Conshihakin (sp) where my aunt lived.