Asking for a onboard upgrade-that is rude?

[daveyb99]

On the return, I checked amtrak.com the day of departure, and saw that there were roomettes available at the lowest bucket ($106) ......

Then why didnt you buy the upgrade BEFORE boarding. Instead, you sat around waiting.

Once again, buy in advance and you will never be disappointed -- or left to write a story on this site about a 'terrible upgrade experience'.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I've asked for upgrades about 5 times on the California Zephyr, and most of the time got either "I'll get back to you" (never happened), "Not right now, maybe after Grand Junction" (passing the buck to the next conductor), or "There's nothing available" (not true).
Finally, a few weeks ago, I got an upgrade! Here's how it happened:

I went on a short trip from Denver to Glenwood Springs with a friend. When checking in with the conductor at Denver Union Station, I asked about upgrading to a roomette. The reply was the usual "I'll check and get back to you." Fat chance.

On the return, I checked amtrak.com the day of departure, and saw that there were roomettes available at the lowest bucket ($106). As we were boarding the train, I noticed that we had the same conductor as on the outbound. I approached him and said that we were still interested in an upgrade. As before, he said "I'll check and get back to you." After sitting in coach for 10 minutes, we made our way to the lounge car, and on the way there, ran into the conductor. I politely reminded him that we were still waiting to hear about an upgrade. He stared a us for a few moments, then said "Yes, I remember." I informed him that we will be in the lounge car. We sat there for about 30 minutes without hearing from the conductor.

Finally, I heard his voice, turned around, and saw him telling some factoid about the passing scenery to the lounge car passengers. He had what appeared to be whiskey on the rocks in his hand. He noticed us, a look of recognition crossed his face, and he disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he said we can have the upgrade for $106. For the benefit of my companion (who was new to Amtrak, and would be sharing the expense), I asked for a quick tour of the sleeper car. He agreed, but as the other lounge car passengers overheard our conversation, they asked if they could join the tour as well. The conductor ended up leading quite an entourage to the sleeper cars, his drink still in hand. To my surprise, he stopped at bedroom E, and asked us if we'd like to have it for the price of a roomette. I immediately said "yes," and whipped out my credit card. He took it, and then lead the rest of the passengers on a tour of the sleepers. The poor guy ended up dealing with quite a few upgrade requests at the end of it. In a few hours, he stopped by our bedroom, returned the credit card, and told us to put down "roomette 8" instead of "bedroom E" when we go to dinner, because that's how he processed the official paperwork. We appreciated him bending the rules for us.

are amtrak employees allowed to drink on the job. any other place they would be fired in a heart beat. at least you got your upgrade after some persistence with the conductor.

So, the guy was drinking on the job, and falsified your upgrade. Sounds like a candidate for instant dismissal.

 

[Guest]

How to get a real upgrade.Ask conductor when he takes your tickets if any are available.

DONT say you checked with amtrak and know that xxx and xxx are open

In about 30 minutes conductor will be at a lounge table come up to him and ask if any

roomettes are available and if so you will pay in exact change cash. Through him a $20 for his effort for looking for an upgrade. DO NOT leaev lounge car until he gives you an answer......

I am 7 for 9 at this method.

Remember Exact change, pleasant attitude, and a $20bill for the conductor=booya room upgrade!!!!!!!

I guess I don't understand why I have to pay a $20.00 bribe to get someone to do something they are already supposed to do!

tell that to the sleeping car attendant!

 

[MrFSS]

How to get a real upgrade.Ask conductor when he takes your tickets if any are available.

DONT say you checked with amtrak and know that xxx and xxx are open

In about 30 minutes conductor will be at a lounge table come up to him and ask if any

roomettes are available and if so you will pay in exact change cash. Through him a $20 for his effort for looking for an upgrade. DO NOT leaev lounge car until he gives you an answer......

I am 7 for 9 at this method.

Remember Exact change, pleasant attitude, and a $20bill for the conductor=booya room upgrade!!!!!!!

I guess I don't understand why I have to pay a $20.00 bribe to get someone to do something they are already supposed to do!

tell that to the sleeping car attendant!

I was talking about tipping the conductor.

 

[darien-l]

On the return, I checked amtrak.com the day of departure, and saw that there were roomettes available at the lowest bucket ($106) ......

Then why didnt you buy the upgrade BEFORE boarding. Instead, you sat around waiting.

Once again, buy in advance and you will never be disappointed -- or left to write a story on this site about a 'terrible upgrade experience'.

It was impossible to for us to upgrade ahead of time because we used a free companion coupon, which stipulated no sleeper upgrades. However, I figured that the conductor wouldn't care, and was right -- he didn't even look at our coach tickets when doing the upgrade.

 

[AlanB]

How to get a real upgrade.Ask conductor when he takes your tickets if any are available.

DONT say you checked with amtrak and know that xxx and xxx are open

In about 30 minutes conductor will be at a lounge table come up to him and ask if any

roomettes are available and if so you will pay in exact change cash. Through him a $20 for his effort for looking for an upgrade. DO NOT leaev lounge car until he gives you an answer......

I am 7 for 9 at this method.

Remember Exact change, pleasant attitude, and a $20bill for the conductor=booya room upgrade!!!!!!!

I think that it's actually easier for the conductor to deal with a credit card than cash.

 

[AlanB]

On the return, I checked amtrak.com the day of departure, and saw that there were roomettes available at the lowest bucket ($106) ......

Then why didnt you buy the upgrade BEFORE boarding. Instead, you sat around waiting.

Once again, buy in advance and you will never be disappointed -- or left to write a story on this site about a 'terrible upgrade experience'.

It was impossible to for us to upgrade ahead of time because we used a free companion coupon, which stipulated no sleeper upgrades. However, I figured that the conductor wouldn't care, and was right -- he didn't even look at our coach tickets when doing the upgrade.

Even if the conductor had looked at your coach tickets it wouldn't have mattered. You just can't upgrade prior to departure when using that coupon.

Besides, when the conductor phoned in the upgrade to space control the person processing things would have seen the fact that you had used the coupon and would have stopped it were it not allowed. The conductor gets the price of the room from space control and they block that room out for sale once you accept the upgrade.

 

[Guest]

How to get a real upgrade.Ask conductor when he takes your tickets if any are available.

DONT say you checked with amtrak and know that xxx and xxx are open

In about 30 minutes conductor will be at a lounge table come up to him and ask if any

roomettes are available and if so you will pay in exact change cash. Through him a $20 for his effort for looking for an upgrade. DO NOT leaev lounge car until he gives you an answer......

I am 7 for 9 at this method.

Remember Exact change, pleasant attitude, and a $20bill for the conductor=booya room upgrade!!!!!!!

I guess I don't understand why I have to pay a $20.00 bribe to get someone to do something they are already supposed to do!

tell that to the sleeping car attendant!

I was talking about tipping the conductor.

no different than tipping/bribing the sleeping car attendant.

 

[PaulM]

So, the guy was drinking on the job, and falsified your upgrade. Sounds like a candidate for instant dismissal.

Sounds to me like the conductor realized he may have been caught in the act, of refusing to sell a product to a potential customer that is (I'll stay away from the drinking the job aspect). He figured that if he bent the rules for Darien-I, he might not get reported.

Also, the title of the original post makes me wonder. Has the definition of the word "rude" morphed into something other bad manners? Here it merely seems to refer to something the conductor might not like.

 

[Gingee]

For your information, I do have a roommette booked for a upcoming trip but if I could find a good deal on board to a bigger room, I would take it. That is what I have planned before.

 

[PetalumaLoco]

For your information, I do have a roommette booked for a upcoming trip but if I could find a good deal on board to a bigger room, I would take it. That is what I have planned before.

You and me both! My x-country trip east this August is full bedroom, the return trip is roomette, which I hope I can upgrade once on board. I was forced to book the return trip too late to catch low bucket.

 

[Dovecote]

When I first started travelling on Amtrak about 8 years ago, I tried in vain several times to get an on-board upgrade and never had any luck. I travelled on the Silver Meteor, Sunset Ltd, Texas Eagle, Lakeshore Ltd, Capitol Ltd, and the Crescent several times in coach. I tried on every single trip on each of these trains to get an onboard upgrade. I asked the conductor/attendant if a roomette was abvailable, and always got the same answer. "I'll check and get back to you".Well, not once in about 8 or 9 trips did they ever return to tell me if a roomette was available.

I was not really happy travelling in coach, so I decided to just book a roomette for my next trip, which was aboard the Crescent from NY to NOLA. I have been booking roomettes ever since.

I found that trying for an onboard upgrade was far more trouble than it's worth.

I have been able, in most cases, to get a decent fare for the roomettes.

Also, I don't think I could ever do an overnight trip in coach again. The roomettes are so much better!

Just my two cents as usual....

David

Actually I have been successful upgrading onboard to sleeper accomodations on the Crescent (from WAS), Capitol Limited (from CHI), Silver trains (from WAS and JAX) and the Sunset Limited (from TLH pre Katrina). The upgrades were generally during the off season although the Sunset and the Silver trains were done in the summer as well.

The biggest obstacle I have experienced in upgrading to a sleeper is dealing with a conductor who just does not want to bother going through the upgrade process. This is the norm for me although a few conductors have been very pleasant to deal with regardless of the outcome. As a rule though the majority of the conductors that I have dealt with will tell you that they will get back to you concerning the upgrade but never return to inform you yeah or nay. In most cases I have to hunt the conductor or the assistant down in the lounge car and ask them again. It is certainly a cloak and dagger process but when successful can be financially rewarding.

 

[Gingee]

On our first train trip (Chicago to NYC - Capitol maybe) I got a very friendly conductor who told me all about the upgrade prosibilities. He even showed me a couple of the rooms. There wasn't anything open at that time though.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

are amtrak employees allowed to drink on the job. any other place they would be fired in a heart beat. at least you got your upgrade after some persistence with the conductor.

Not only is that guy violating Amtrak policy, he is violating federal law. If that guy was drinking Alcohol, he should not only be fired, but jailed. A conductor's job is for the safety of the passengers and drinking on that job is not just wrong, but criminally negligent.

no different than tipping/bribing the sleeping car attendant.

Very different. Its not allowed.

 

[EB_OBS]

are amtrak employees allowed to drink on the job. any other place they would be fired in a heart beat. at least you got your upgrade after some persistence with the conductor.

Not only is that guy violating Amtrak policy, he is violating federal law. If that guy was drinking Alcohol, he should not only be fired, but jailed. A conductor's job is for the safety of the passengers and drinking on that job is not just wrong, but criminally negligent.

Let's keep in mind folks that it's actually very, very, very unlikely that this conductor was drinking alcohol.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

are amtrak employees allowed to drink on the job. any other place they would be fired in a heart beat. at least you got your upgrade after some persistence with the conductor.

Not only is that guy violating Amtrak policy, he is violating federal law. If that guy was drinking Alcohol, he should not only be fired, but jailed. A conductor's job is for the safety of the passengers and drinking on that job is not just wrong, but criminally negligent.

Let's keep in mind folks that it's actually very, very, very unlikely that this conductor was drinking alcohol.

Much less doing it in front of passengers during a tour of a train...

Perhaps coke err, Pepsi on an Amtrak train.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Let's keep in mind folks that it's actually very, very, very unlikely that this conductor was drinking alcohol.

Oh, I figured that. Actually, the whole story is so fantastic, excuse me, but I don't believe it.

 

[darien-l]

Let's keep in mind folks that it's actually very, very, very unlikely that this conductor was drinking alcohol.

Oh, I figured that. Actually, the whole story is so fantastic, excuse me, but I don't believe it.

What exactly do you find fantastic about it? I told it to the best of my recollection. Although I can't say for sure that the conductor was drinking alcohol, the amber-colored beverage he had was definitely not carbonated, he was nursing it for a long time, and was acting like he's had a couple. My travel companion noticed and commented on the same thing. We were actually half-wondering if he'd even remember to return my credit card and/or charge us for the upgrade.

Also, and I don't know if it has anything to do with it, I overheard the conductor saying to the other passengers in the lounge car that he's "been doing this for 30 years" and "was all set to retire." It's possible he didn't care about getting fired for that reason. Besides, who is going to prove exactly what was in his cup?

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

He'd care as he'd lose most of his benefits and face being prosecuted with a felony-- I know there are conductors out there who must drink on duty, but I doubt that they would do so so... openly. I'd expect a hidden flask and a sip down in the lower level before one having on on the rocks with pax surrounding him.

Also it's likely his partner would have an issue with this, if not the OBS...

I once had a SA chastised for drinking beer in front of pax during his break from the conductor, it was actually root beer in one of those bottles that made it look like beer-- and it was actually a product sold in the PPC. The conductor nodded and said "you should probably avoid it anyway, its somewhat suggestive to the passengers".

 

[Green Maned Lion]

What exactly do you find fantastic about it?

1. The conductor was drinking alcohol infront of passengers openly.
   
2. The conductor paraded you through a sleeping car with many passengers. The cars aren't even big enough to hold a parade, let alone condoning one.
   
3. The conductor let you have a bedroom for the price of a roomette and told you to lie on your form.
   
4. He did this openly in front of all the passengers.
   

They are all so fantastic I have a hard time imagining it. Together they are almost conclusive.

I am friends with Amtrak conductors that wouldn't do number 3 for me, and they're friends of mine. You're just a regular passenger. What does he get out of it, besides a possible forced early retirement, without that huge pension he has labored 30 years to attain?

 

[darien-l]

[*]The conductor was drinking alcohol infront of passengers openly.

I'm not saying I know for certain what was in his cup, but that's the way it appeared.

[*]The conductor paraded you through a sleeping car with many passengers. The cars aren't even big enough to hold a parade, let alone condoning one.

In addition to us, there were about 5 other passengers from the lounge car that joined the tour. The two of us, plus the conductor, went into room E, while the rest scattered around looking at roomettes, shower facilities, etc.

[*]The conductor let you have a bedroom for the price of a roomette and told you to lie on your form.

That's certainly not unheard of. See here: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?...mp;#entry196569

As for asking us to put down a roomette instead of a bedroom at dinner, that's exactly what happened. I'm not making this up.

[*]He did this openly in front of all the passengers.

This actually isn't correct. As I mentioned before, the three of us went into bedroom E as the other passengers went looking around the sleeper car.

They are all so fantastic I have a hard time imagining it. Together they are almost conclusive.

I'm simply reporting what happened, to the best of my recollection, for the benefit of the users of this board, and I don't appreciate you insinuating that I'm lying.

I am friends with Amtrak conductors that wouldn't do number 3 for me, and they're friends of mine. You're just a regular passenger. What does he get out of it, besides a possible forced early retirement, without that huge pension he has labored 30 years to attain?

Again, it's not something that never happened before: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?...mp;#entry196569 Since this post is also in reference to CZ, it's quite possible it was the same conductor.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Again, it's not something that never happened before: http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?...mp;#entry196569 Since this post is also in reference to CZ, it's quite possible it was the same conductor.

That is not at all the same thing. If Sunchaser had a more than low-bucket roomette, and upgraded to a bedroom, it is entirely possible the price difference between it was less than $50. Or perhaps the low-bucket bedroom was even cheaper then the price of her roomette. In that case, the minimum is $50.

I do not say you're lying. I am just highly suspicious of your story, and don't personally believe it.

 

[darien-l]

Sunchaser reported that

The Conductor insisted that even if we were coming from coach, the price would be the same.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

If it is true I feel bad for those who paid to get in to that car... the idea of a tour with a half-dozen people poking in and out of rooms around the car would be highly annoying considering the primary benefit of sleeping cars is relative privacy

 

[darien-l]

If it is true I feel bad for those who paid to get in to that car... the idea of a tour with a half-dozen people poking in and out of rooms around the car would be highly annoying considering the primary benefit of sleeping cars is relative privacy

Even if it resulted in several upgrades and additional revenue for Amtrak? It certainly appeared that the sleeper car was mostly empty.