stimpy

Well in Europe and Japan the high speed seat assignments work just fine, even in coach. I don't see any reason why things need to be different in the US.

musicalbox

The problem with people just getting up and sitting where they want in a pandemic is that you'd think people would choose to social distance but for whatever reason, some don't seem to care, which makes it difficult for those who do.

AndyPatterson

Two years ago, I used Deutsche Bahn to go from Frankfurt (airport) to Koblenz and back. The seats not only had numbers, but also electronic indicators showing whether or not the seat was reserved, and for which leg! Thus, since I did not pay for a reserved seat given the short trip, I looked around for a seat that was open at least through Koblenz. I remember picking a seat that was reserved on the very last leg (I think it was Berlin-Stralsund, or some such), as it was open for my leg. The return leg was easier to identify vacant seats for the rest of the route, as the southbound train ended in Frankfurt with only one intermediate stop (Mainz).

wxguy

Amtrak is changing how 4-seater tables are assigned in Acela Business Class. Up until now, only one person could be assigned per four-seater. Effective December 20, opposite corner seats can be assigned by parties of two. If you have a previously-assigned four-seater, you are being reassigned to the window seat of a standard pair. It's unclear what happens if you go back and reassign yourself to a four-seater. Here's the email from Amtrak:

Blumie

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with an upcoming reservation. I booked a NYP-BOS round-trip in late November and reserved seats in the quiet car.

Just this week I received a flurry of emails from Amtrak. The first two to arrive were entitled "Important Information About Your Seat Assignment" stating that "Due to recent updates to our seat maps, your reserved seat number may have changed. If you were originally assigned a seat that is no longer available, you will receive a new eTicket with your new seat number." I would have thought I was receiving two emails because my reservation is a round-trip, but both emails state "We are contacting you about your trip on Train 2250, the Acela Express, from New York City Penn Station on 12/26/2020." Neither email makes any reference to the return trip.

I immediately went into my reservation and saw that I had been assigned new, random seats. When I tried to change seats, I was unable to do so.

Later that same day I received three (yes, three) emails from Amtrak with an updated eticket and receipt. Since receiving these emails I have been able to go in and change my seats.

So nothing at all about my reservation has changed except for the seats. The train numbers and timings are exactly the same. Yet now I only am able to reserve seats in car 3, 5, and 6, none of which is designated as the quiet car. (I assume car 1 is first class and car 2 is the quiet car.)

Any idea what's going on? Why have I been booted from the quiet car???

Blumie

Ok, so after I posted I decided to pull up my reservation on the website, as opposed to the app. On the website I was able to choose seats in the quiet car. But now the website and the app show me in different seats. Even when I refresh the app (including by shutting it down and reloading it), it continues to show the seats I had chosen before going on the website to move myself back into the quiet car. Also, this deepens the mystery of why Amtrak sent my all of the emails earlier in the week, since everything about my reservation could have stayed exactly the way it was. Instead, their systems booted me out of the quiet car and generated the five emails I received. Go figure.

wxguy

See my post of two above for the reason, though it wasn't handled well from the IT side. I too can see my changed seas on the website, but not the APP. My guess is things will sort out before too long. Before this, Amtrak had one of the best seat-selection processes out there. Sadly, this implementation was a goof.

physioprof

And with regard to receiving multiple "new" etickets via email, this is how the Amtrak system has always handled changes in seat assignment. Whenever your seat assignment changes, a new automated eticket email gets sent. IME when there is a conflict between the app & the website in terms of what seat assignment is shown, the website is correct. Also, whatever seat assigment is shown on the most recent eticket email you've receive is IME correct.

ijgordon

I mean, it's really no different from getting a new boarding pass whenever you change your seat on an airplane. Obviously there is no 24-hour check-in, and your ticket is your boarding pass, so this multiple-ticket thing can happen anytime after booking.
As for not allowing seat selection at the time of booking, I suppose it could be an IT limitation, or it could be an intentional business strategy. So the competition can't spy on loads.

stimpy

If you want a particular seat or car, you can always go old school and buy your ticket at the counter in the station. The ticket seller can honor your request if available. And most seats are available these days. I bought two last minute Acela tickets this week at NY and DC. Both times they put me where I asked to be put.

bennos

(I realize I'm replying to some posts from August, but since the thread was kicked...)

I desire seat assignments. They solve some very annoying problems, in particular

1. The mad dash to board at NYP.
2. Queuing a half hour early to board at WAS or BOS.
3. Finding an empty seat on a busy train when boarding en route, such as at PVD or BAL.
4. Physically larger people who sit next to me because I'm smaller and therefore they get more space (by being able to encroach over the armrest). At least with seat assignments this becomes a randomized problem rather than a systematic one.

As stimpy observes, seat assignments work throughout Europe and Asia, they can work on the NEC too.

The current Acela trainsets have seat occupancy indicators as well, they are small LCD displays below the luggage racks near the seat number. I think the idea was that the conductors would have some handheld device that would program them when collecting tickets, rather than using paper seat checks. (IIRC, back in 2000 when the Acela was introduced neither DB nor any other European train operator had en route electronic indicators -- most still used paper reservation slips -- so this would have been considered state of the art.) The new trainsets appear to have European style digital reservation indicators, but who knows if/how they'll actually be used. The technological bits are all in place, though.

truncated

Noticed these decals have been added to Track 1 at BBY recently (and they're even aligned correctly to where the doors are!):


Although it seems that most people on my train didn't notice them — everyone was waiting at the front of the platform (i.e. where the escalators are) and ended up walking back past the locomotive and first and the quiet car...

bennos

Someone from Amtrak finally visit Japan?

hi55us

Or even the NYC subways, where they have "step aside" at each of the subway doors at major subway stations like Grand Central.

JoeRids

Has anyone had experience with the new 2 person to a table system? I was wondering if, since the Acela train is bi-directional, the seat diagram that shows the direction of travel can be relied upon. So, my thought is even though it shows your seat to be facing forward, you could in fact be facing backwards.