Ispolkom
Engineer
I long ago decided that most arguments about ethics were really attempts to avoid doing what you know is the right thing. This is probably one of them.
Is it right to book a bedroom from New York Penn Station to Alexandria, Virginia on the day before Thanksgiving?
I try to plot out my Amtrak travels as far in advance as possible, as they are usually a mix of AGR rewards and paid-for tickets, and I hate to pay more than I have to.
Next November Mrs. Ispolkom and I head east, first on the Empire Builder and the Lake Shore Limited to Boston. After a couple of days in Rhode Island seeing in-laws (and also seeing an Acela go through Kingston station, I hope), we head on the day before Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with more of my wife's family in northern Virginia.
This leg of the trip puzzled me. The obvious answer was to take #67. The problem is that this train no longer has a sleeper, and the more time I spend in sleepers, the less I find sleeping in coach tolerable. I considered Acela, but it was too expensive. Just recently I hit upon the solution: Take the first regional from Providence to New York City, go to the Metropolitan Museum to see this, eat a dozen oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, then take the Crescent to Alexandria. We could drop our luggage at Club Acela, enjoy a cocktail in our bedroom (it was cheaper than the roomette), eat dinner if they serve it that early, even check our luggage.
But this, of course, means that some poor persons traveling to Atlanta won't be able to get that bedroom, unless they score an upgrade out of Alexandria.
I figure that I booked the room fair and square, so I shouldn't feel guilty. That was the attitude I took last summer, when we had the only family bedroom from St. Paul to Portland on the Empire Builder. But should I at least feel guilty enjoying the Club Acela and our vast amount of space in the bedroom on the Crescent when others are suffering through the busiest travel day in the Northeast Corridor? Especially since the total trip costs less than business class on #67 would?
Is it right to book a bedroom from New York Penn Station to Alexandria, Virginia on the day before Thanksgiving?
I try to plot out my Amtrak travels as far in advance as possible, as they are usually a mix of AGR rewards and paid-for tickets, and I hate to pay more than I have to.
Next November Mrs. Ispolkom and I head east, first on the Empire Builder and the Lake Shore Limited to Boston. After a couple of days in Rhode Island seeing in-laws (and also seeing an Acela go through Kingston station, I hope), we head on the day before Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with more of my wife's family in northern Virginia.
This leg of the trip puzzled me. The obvious answer was to take #67. The problem is that this train no longer has a sleeper, and the more time I spend in sleepers, the less I find sleeping in coach tolerable. I considered Acela, but it was too expensive. Just recently I hit upon the solution: Take the first regional from Providence to New York City, go to the Metropolitan Museum to see this, eat a dozen oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, then take the Crescent to Alexandria. We could drop our luggage at Club Acela, enjoy a cocktail in our bedroom (it was cheaper than the roomette), eat dinner if they serve it that early, even check our luggage.
But this, of course, means that some poor persons traveling to Atlanta won't be able to get that bedroom, unless they score an upgrade out of Alexandria.
I figure that I booked the room fair and square, so I shouldn't feel guilty. That was the attitude I took last summer, when we had the only family bedroom from St. Paul to Portland on the Empire Builder. But should I at least feel guilty enjoying the Club Acela and our vast amount of space in the bedroom on the Crescent when others are suffering through the busiest travel day in the Northeast Corridor? Especially since the total trip costs less than business class on #67 would?