Acela Business Class and lounge

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Pooh2

Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
127
Does a ticket for Acela Express Business Class get me entrance to the First Class Lounge at NY Penn?
 
Nope. It’s only for passengers in sleepers and Acela First Class, and if memory serves the top Amtrak Guest Rewards level.
 
Nope. It’s only for passengers in sleepers and Acela First Class, and if memory serves the top Amtrak Guest Rewards level.
Both Select Plus and Select Executive have access to all Amtrak lounges that are accessible to Sleeper passengers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One exception would be if you were riding the Acela in BC to connect to a sleeper in WAS such as the CL, or off a sleeper at NYP connecting towards BOS. Under that provision, as a same day sleeper passenger you would have lounge access, even to/from NER coach.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If we upgraded from Business Acela to First, are there any other perks other than use of the lounge?

Do they offer meal service? Early boarding?

Wonder if it is worth the price to upgrade?
 
All of that is true, but it is usually a pretty good price hike....Meals are at the seat, and I've only done it (first class Acela) a couple of times, but they were actually not bad...
 
You will get both complementary meal service and early boarding.
Early boarding is a perk at the Boston and Washington end points, and possibly New York depending on dwell. At some other stations like Philadelphia, F passengers can go to the head of the line to go to the platform to await arrival of the train, but that does not translate to boarding the train early. By the time the train arrives, everyone is on the platform and it's the usual scrum to board and find seats.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If we upgraded from Business Acela to First, are there any other perks other than use of the lounge?

Do they offer meal service? Early boarding?

Wonder if it is worth the price to upgrade?
Seats are slightly more spacious. You get complimentary heat-and-eat meal service and free booze. But since First Class is generally two or three times the cost of Business (coach), and it's not a particularly long ride, I don't think it's worth the price. The lounge is nice, but it's nothing particularly amazing, and get pretty crowded at peak times.

But if you really want access to ClubAcela, spend $20 and get yourself a dummy ticket in a roomette on the Lake Shore Limited for the 15 minute ride from Boston South Station to Boston Back Bay. Then show that to the lounge staff and they'll let you in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You can’t buy a ticket from BOS to BBY. And that ride is 5 minutes at best. Not even close to 15 minutes.
You used to be able to. I guess they tightened the short-distance sleeper rules. Technically though, any sleeper ticket anywhere should get you same-day access to any lounge in the country. My point was that a short distance ticket in a sleeper would technically get you access to the lounges, if it were really that important to you. Not that it's worth it.
 
For fun, we have taken the LSL sleeper to Worcester (about an hour), and then back via MBTA

And also taken the 1st Class Acela to PVD (about 1/2 hour), then back via MBTA.

But those are hard to judge value, since we didn't care about the price on those trips.

However, I have priced buying a short throwaway ticket just for club access. ie Baltimore to BWI is $39 for 1st class Acela.

I'm sure there are even cheaper ones?

Obviously, the passes are easy enough to get, but its still interesting to think about
 
?????? There is no Club Acela in either Baltimore or BWI - so why BAL-BWI?
default_huh.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
?????? There is no Club Acela in either Baltimore or BWI - so why BAL-BWI?
default_huh.png
We're trying to figure out the cheapest possible ticket that would allow entry to the NYP ClubAcela. To have access to ClubAcela, all you need is a same-day ticket in either a sleeper or Acela First Class, even if it's not to or from a station with ClubAcela. So it would just be a "dummy ticket" that you show them to be let in, even if you're not actually taking it.
 
Plus, United Club members are welcome.
I suppose AGR top tiers have reciprocity at United Club's? I suppose you have to have a UA flight that day....
Yes you do. You and one other guest. You must have a same day boarding pass NOT a United boarding pass. It is for Select Plus and above. This is how I used to access United Clubs when I used to take Amtrak twice a week for work. It was a lot easier to achieve back then with the 100 point minimum.
 
If we upgraded from Business Acela to First, are there any other perks other than use of the lounge?

Do they offer meal service? Early boarding?

Wonder if it is worth the price to upgrade?
Seats are slightly more spacious. You get complimentary heat-and-eat meal service and free booze. But since First Class is generally two or three times the cost of Business (coach), and it's not a particularly long ride, I don't think it's worth the price. The lounge is nice, but it's nothing particularly amazing, and get pretty crowded at peak times.
But if you really want access to ClubAcela, spend $20 and get yourself a dummy ticket in a roomette on the Lake Shore Limited for the 15 minute ride from Boston South Station to Boston Back Bay. Then show that to the lounge staff and they'll let you in.
If people keep abusing loopholes they will adjust policies and make things now difficult for everyone involved.
And the first class fares are no where near 2-3x the business class fares, unless first class is close to selling out and business class has light loads. Booking your tickets in a reasonable amount of time before your trip will ensure this isn't a problem.
 
As stated by others, a sleeper ticket with same day departure or arrival will get you in. So would AGR Select Plus/Executive.

On other method would be to 'buy' a 5-pack of one-day passes using AGR poiints. It works out to about $20/pass, though. Allow a 2-week lead time to get to your mailbox, though.
 
Plus, United Club members are welcome.
I suppose AGR top tiers have reciprocity at United Club's? I suppose you have to have a UA flight that day....
Yes you do. You and one other guest. You must have a same day boarding pass NOT a United boarding pass. It is for Select Plus and above. This is how I used to access United Clubs when I used to take Amtrak twice a week for work. It was a lot easier to achieve back then with the 100 point minimum.
Actually access to United Clubs for AGR top tier is much more generous than access to Amtrak Lounges for United Club members, since United Club membership only confers access to Club Acelas, not all Amtrak lounges.

Since I am both Select+ and United Club member, I have never tried using one membership to get into the other's lounge. As it is my Select+ ness is quite tenuous and could disappear any year now, specially if availability of usable Amtrak service reduces any further from where it is now.
 
Back
Top