Any changes to Acela First Class?
 

Anyone taken Acela F since the resumption today? Are there changes to amenities/service levels? I saw speculation on a blog that meal service would be a cold boxed meal.

So here’s my experience from this week.

Union Station sad, eerie, and desolate. Almost everything closed. Lights low. Many entrances and entire corridors blocked. Very few passengers.

Club Acela all to my own until one other customer arrived. Social distancing markers and plastic shields at front desk.

Acela F had five passengers over the course of my journey. Only two of us boarded at WAS.

Single attendant. She presented a drink menu and stated lunch would be boxed.

Said box had a wood grain look and included napkins, plastic ware, wet naps, Fiji Water, Bare apple chips, Amtrak savory snack mix, Hillshire Genoa salame, white cheddar, and toast rounds small plate, and a small chocolate caramel truffle cup dessert.

Not sure I would upgrade again until things are closer to normal.

Were they serving mixed drinks as usual?

I'm not familiar with their usual alcohol menu, but this one has seven liquors, five beers, unspecified wines (said to ask server), and one sparkling wine.

The non-alcoholic drinks seem no different than before - coffee, juices, sodas, waters, teas, hot chocolate, ginger ale.

(There is a copy of the drink menu in the boxed lunch.)

I agree -- not worth the upgrade ... thanks for the report.

Sounds like something I might burn an upgrade card for (since I have a pile of those) but otherwise the experience seems to be mainly useful for a quiet ride without much company. I might seriously consider taking the train if I finally hit "stir crazy"...

Could you tell if the rest of the train was equally empty? I guess no vegetarian option on the lunch other than skipping the salami?

I started watching a movie a few minutes after getting settled, but I'd say based on the few people that passed my window (and the low numbers in the station, in general), the entire train was extremely light.

No option for lunch - other than take it or leave it. Would've preferred a healthier choice. The contents of the box probably totaled 800-1,000 calories.

I understand COVID19 situation, but what a stretch to call this "lunch".

I follow the logic of COVID food service reductions on the long hauls but why the downgrade on the Acela? Preparation equipment and staff are still there.

Agreed. And, at minimum, they could do a sandwich, salad, or hot item from the cafe. Why a box of (mostly) junk food instead?

This. In fact, even post-coronavirus, I'd prefer they just let you order from the cafe menu. Seems more efficient, and I've found the cafe food to bee marginally better than FC Acela anyway (though this is admittedly splitting hairs; neither are great).

I've taken Acela several times since June 1st, and am on it right now. About 25 people leaving WAS towards NYP. But I am in business class so I can't comment on First.

Is the snack car open?
 

Is the snack car open? I rode a Talgo train from Eugene to Portland last week. That snack car was closed.

Yes it is open on all Acela trains.

Note that Amtrak deems it safe for the Acela Cafe Car to sell packaged hot sandwiches (hot dogs, hamburgers), but not safe for the First Class attendant to serve the same to passengers who pay 2-3x the business fare. The "snack boxes" are wholly inadequate. I wouldn't be surprised that the boxes cost more than the contents!

Any update on the meal situation in Acela First class? Is is still just a snack box? I couldn't find any reference to this in the COVID section on the Amtrak web site.

Still a box as of last weekend. Slightly different items. Disappointing.

Yep, rode yesterday and got a choice of breakfast or lunch box. The salami/cheese portion someone mentioned above was described to me as an "adult lunchable." Agree with whoever said the box was nicer than the contents. I chose the breakfast and the muffin was a tiny junior size. Ironically, when I got to the Acela lounge in NY, they had full sized muffins and danish. Could they not have included that on the train??? I would have rather had one decent sized pastry than four snack-size things (FTR, they were the muffin, a tiny Biscoff cookie, trail mix, and a small Kind bar).

I had a coupon to burn otherwise would absolutely not have done this. The two reasons I ever do, the meal and the desire to sit alone, are both now irrelevant as this is not a meal and you are now guaranteed no seatmate on any train in any section.

If sitting alone is your thing, on a recent TQP run (signed up for AGR World card in March, so 4k TQP with no status from last year would do me no good), I had the F car to myself. The attendant said I was the only passenger north of NYP on that train in F.
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Wow! This one was actually pretty full for the now times, I would say. There was probably someone in every other row which would have been crazy empty a year ago but I was surprised, things being what they are. Could be everyone was burning coupons, or maybe things are beginning to edge towards normal.

And, unless things have recently changed, the First class attendants won't let "their" passengers travel into Business class to go to the cafe! I agree, Business class right now is fine -- on a recent NYP-WAS on Sunday, there were 4 other passengers in the quiet car leaving NYP; two got off in PHL, and only two others remained all the way to WAS. The non-quiet cars were almost as empty.

I've had no problem going from FC to the Cafe. Just get up, push the button, and the doors slide open. If need be, talk to the Conductor (has four stripes on his epaulets -- not the Assistant Conductor who is the other ticket taker). And don't hesitate to write Amtrak Corporate Customer Relations at [email protected] if you have comments about subpar service.

I didn't realize that about transit during the trip -- guess I was thinking about the boarding and disembarking process, where the conductor gets very huffy if you don't go out the exit at the opposite end from the galley...

That's just to make sure you walk by the attendant with his hand out waiting for a tip on your way off.

Stuck having one now. It’s really an awful “meal service”.

PLEASE... everyone should complain to OCR (at) amtrak.com -- let them know it's ridiculous that an FC passenger can go to the cafe car and buy a wrapped sandwich, but it's "unsafe" for the FC attendant to serve it. If they're so concerned, the FC attendant can give passengers vouchers for a sandwich in the cafe car. Or show the boarding pass like we do in Regional cafe cars to get a free beverage -- the cafe car attendant can have a seat number check-off sheet to keep it to one per person.

Maybe if they hear from enough of us, they'll make a change.

Well, to be fair the cafe car attendant is behind plexiglass. But I assume the FC attendant is serving beverages seat-side, no? So really no reason not to serve food, other than cost savings.
They'll probably need to hear from enough passengers who are buying first class tickets, not those using upgrade certs. :)

Upgrade certs and award tickets represent significant spend too -- it's a LOYALTY program meant to reward the carrier's best customers with perks. Just like the airlines, when a passenger accesses a premium cabin with an upgrade or free ticket, the service provided should be no different than if a full-fare ticket was bought.

Amen. And, if anything, they should be wooing premium customers, not stripping the amenities.

The Acela FC attendant just told me that now FC passengers can go to the Cafe Car and request a complimentary cheeseburger, hot dog, or breakfast sandwich. Thumbs-up for this interim step to restoring hot food to Acela First Class.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I am traveling FC in a few weeks (Needed some extra points and the price differential was not as wide as it normally was so I decided to splurge). I will ask the attendant this as soon as I get aboard and settled in.

This is good. I would even be in favor of making this as a permanent change. I've always found the food in the cafe to be marginally better than the FC "hot" food.

Before the pandemic, it was an open secret that you could, sort of.

FC was usually stocked with cheeseburgers and hot dogs as "kids meals," that most FC attendants would gladly serve to Big Kids.

The boxes now include a printed menu for the Cafe Car and the FC attendant will bring your selection. While not the same as the prepared meals of pre-pandemic, it's a very welcome addition. The cheeseburger and hot dogs are not bad at all.

Good for Amtrak for making this official.

Any updates to Acela FC catering? Looks like still a snack box only per Amtrak.com, with full beverage service. No mention there that I saw of free items from the cafe car.
Fares for an upcoming trip to WAS are only marginally more than Acela Business, so we might "splurge."

I'm hearing the hot meais will come back to Acela First Class on or about March 1.

Are mixed drinks in Acela FC pre-bottled/pre-made, or are they mixed on board?

The drinks menu seemed really good- that alone makes it worth the upgrade, in my view.

Done like on airplanes, with minis and mixers served separately. I usually order a mimosa, and am given a split of prosecco and bottle of OJ -- makes two :)

https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/p...erage-Menu.pdf

Just saw this on Amtrak's website. Not sure when it was posted, but it appears hot options are available again, in addition to the breakfast/lunch/dinner boxes. Nothing fancy but the offerings sure beat the boxes. Would be interested to know when the hot meals become available again. I have some upgrades I will need to use before the end of the year, although I plan on saving them, hoping to use them on the Avelia Liberty entering service before the end of the year. Also, the ticket price difference between First and Business, at least booking more than three weeks in advance, has decreased drastically in the past month to the point where its worth while to purchase First Class tickets. During the pandemic, I have only purchased a First Class ticket once, WAS-STM one-way. I thought it was nowhere near worth it without the option of hot meal choices and I do not plan on considering purchasing a First Class ticket or using an upgrade with the status quo until the Avelia Liberty enters service this year. Hot meals coming back, plus a smaller difference in price between First and Business, I will consider it, especially for trips longer than WAS-NYP. Last month I did get an email from Amtrak saying that later this year the Avelia Liberty would enter service in 2021 but no date was given.