Business Class Offered Aboard Cardinal Effective January 19, 2016

[neroden]

Bruce Becker made some entertaining comments about business class at the ESPA/NARP meeting. He said that according to his informal surveys, the primary reason for people to take business class was not any specific amenity -- it was "so I'm not with the coach passengers".

"The class system is alive and well in America!" I certainly can believe it.

So, only partially tongue in cheek...

Maybe it's time to reinstate the much more complicated class systems which used to exist! Oceangoing ships had classes ranging from first class to fifth class and more. Early trains in the UK all had first, second, and third class, plus special additional higher classes for ship connecting traffic, and sub-third-class options for seasonal workers.

There's something which automobiles can't give you: class differentiation and status. Rather than standardizing Amtrak's business class cars, why not give each type of service a separate name, and offer more and more different classes on each train...

OK, I know there are several good reasons why not, but it's worth thinking about.

 

[Seaboard92]

There's something which automobiles can't give you: class differentiation and status. .

To play devils advocate you could say that BMW and Lexus. Maybe even Rolls Royce. There is a certain status to that and you can tell going down the road who has the money based on their car. But at the same time the roads are the same and everyone rides by themselves or with their select group of people. So in a way your right.

 

[neroden]

I guess there are "Lexus lanes" where you pay to go on the toll road, but there really aren't that many of them. Rich are stuck in traffic just like the poor are...

While Amtrak has neatly separated Acela passengers from Northeast Regional passengers. Hmm. Anyway, it's interesting.