Originally Posted by
dhammer53
We boarded 195 NRO/WAS last Saturday. I booked 2 Business tickets using my points. Coach was roughly 4000 points each, while business was 3200 points. Tough call I know.
It's our 2nd time in business. While coach legroom is equivalent to E+ on United, business is more like first class. More than twice as much legroom. We were in 3A and 3C.
I was amazed by how many people didn't get their free beverage from the Cafe Car. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe they didn't care. Free soda, juice, water works for me.
Back to the poachers. They were seated across the aisle from us. They were having an entertaining talk with the Asst Conductor when we boarded. The Conductor boarded in New Haven and was headed to NYP. There's a crew change there. The poachers (I overheard) boarded in Bridgeport. So far, so good. No problem.
At NYP a passenger boarded and had a seat across the aisle from us in row 3. The poachers had to move out. The guy mumbled something about being in the wrong car? Yeah right. They moved to a coach car. I couldn't figure out how they managed to be seated in business, right under the nose of the Conductor. As I said upthread, they were having a nice conversation when we boarded. From what I heard, the impression I got was that they didn't know each other.
I've seen seat poachers on a plane many times over the years. This is the first time I've seen it on Amtrak.
I don’t bother getting a free drink on Amtrak’s regular train business class because that involves dealing with the cafe car attendant. It’s not worth the hassle.
I’ve seen people without a ticket board the Acela and go to first class a few times, and I’ve also seen someone with a regular ticket on the Acela go to first class (and get free drinks before tickets are checked and the person is required to move to coach). People can’t possibly be too clueless to realize that they are in a higher class of service than they paid for; that can’t be accidental.