There was no extra meal served, in fact the complaint is that the meal was never mentioned. With all the previous posts I thought that was clear but lets leave no stone unturned!
The traveler was unaware of the details of the ticket since during booking there are no links that are labelled: Click to see what's included... there is one little dinner plate icon that they did not click on that would have alerted them to the meal and a hyperlink in the name of the accommodation (Superliner Roomette) that lists it also, both of these weren't clicked since they are not necessary to booking. The e-ticket does not list meals, the room doesn't list whats on offer and the SCA offered a 'reservation' without mentioning that the dinner is complimentary.
If that is whining then I don't know the definition of the word or the context in which you apply it.
If you were running a business and a customer was unaware of an offer until later and they requested it later and it would not cost you in a great way, would you not accommodate the request? Would you tell them to stop whining for simply asking the question?This is just a hypothetical question, I do not assert what the real costs are here. It also seems that some people have noted that free travel is all they can offer and that sounds like it might not make economic sense to offer travel to replace a meal.
As we see in the informative posts here in this case it may be difficult for Amtrak to make such an offer due to infrastructure not being in place (did someone say that there are no 'dinner vouchers' in the Amtrak system?) and someone else compared the train to an airplane where extra meals are not on board I believe. The food itself and compensation for it is not what the traveler is after I don't believe but the experience of eating in the dining car as the train carries them along, which they missed.
Nevertheless its fun to consider all the angles and opinions discussed here!
