Originally Posted by
NYCommuter
I saw the thread about the confusing boarding process for the Coast Starlight in Seattle (involving checking in at a desk, and then lining up to wait to board the train, and I intensely dislike long lines at NYP, WAS and elsewhere (waiting in line to have your ticket inspected as you walk towards the tracks).
Question: what happens if you just get your ticket from a kiosk (or already have it) and just bypass the whole boarding line and just get right on the train?
I typically do this at Seattle and Chicago Metro Lounge whenever the check-in scene gets frenetic. There's no sense in starting a trip by jockeying into a long line just to get a hand written card that tells me what car/room I am in (which I already know). Usually, the SCA will pull the ticket or the conductor will stop by enroute to do so.
I have questioned this practice on another forum as, for sleeper pax, this exercise seems more geared towards making the conductor's job easier for himself rather than making the passenger's travel experience better. That seems backwards to me, so I circumvent the "preboard" exercise altogether as needed.