AndyPatterson

When, o when, is Amtrak going to allow seat selection at the time of booking an Acela ticket?!!! At a minimum, Amtrak should be able to store the "preferences" of travelers with an Amtrak account (mine is "window seat, middle of the quiet car"), and use that when randomly assigning seats.

Every time I book on Amtrak, I get assigned a non-quiet car seat, even though Amtrak should "know" by now that I am a quiet car veteran. So, after booking and paying, and getting a ticket with undesirable (to me) seats, I have to go back to the Amtrak website, and change the seats on both legs of a round trip. That results in two more emails, one for each seat change. Why can't we do two seat changes in one transaction? Better yet, why can't we pick the seats at the time of booking!

Mainline airlines have allowed seat selection at the time of booking for several decades, at least for all but the cheapest fares. Amtrak, it's time to get on board -- we are have been in the 21st Century for over two decades now...

wxguy

More importantly, allow us to look at the seat map BEFORE booking. If there are only seats at four-top tables in F, I won't apply an upgrade coupon. The work-around of booking a full F ticket, checking the seat map, and then refunding the ticket is silly when the technology exists to allow looking at seats before booking.

WeekendTraveler

I find it odd that there isn’t an automatic upgrade; you have to log in and apply an upgrade coupon for the upgrade to be done.

It’s a government program with limited funds, I guess.

schriste

If I have one upgrade coupon and 7 planned Amtrak trips... how is Amtrak supposed to know which, if any, train I want to apply it? Amtrak does not hand out unlimited upgrades as the domestic airlines do.

WeekendTraveler

Nor have lots of airlines, but their IT dealt with it.

On American Airlines, years ago, you would click on “Request Upgrade” for the flight that you wanted to use an upgrade coupon for. Then the upgrade would be processed automatically.

schriste

Ah, ok, now I see what you are getting at.

Long Train Runnin

When you have a trip that you want to upgrade you can apply your coupon via the app when it's inside that upgrade coupons window. That's come a long way. I remember having to go to the station to surrender my paper coupons back around 2010 when I was Select Plus.

To say they haven't made progress is not being genuine.

WeekendTraveler

Well, Amtrak has made progress but it’s 10 years behind airlines in terms of IT (and in terms of NY-DC trip times, 52 years behind the Penn Central Railroad. If it wants to be a truly viable means of transportation, there’s a long road ahead.

Mr. BoH

This is much much much more important than fixing the 2-step seat selection problem. Yeah it is a little annoying to have a few more clicks and get a few more emails, but you still get to the right place relatively easily. The inability to see seat maps prior to booking makes upgrade coupons near-worthless, plus it makes it harder for me to pick between trains if I have flexibility on times.

boswash52

I always assumed the inability to see the seat map before booking was a deliberate policy choice, intended to discourage customers from being picky about seating and picking and choosing trains based on seating preferences. Do you not think so?

(Or are you just arguing that it is a bad policy choice?)

Mr. BoH

Hmm, I hadn't considered that, I just assumed it was subpar IT. But from their point of view, wouldn't Amtrak want us to see available seats? Surely they would rather we select trains with lots of open seats over those with just a few left, and a visible seat map would support that. Nearly all airlines allow you to view seat maps prior to booking.

dx3003

I noticed when I change from the initial seat to a QC seat, it autogenerates a new email with a new boarding pass; even though I use the app...

AndyPatterson

Yes, and if you are changing both seats on a round-trip -- which I do to get into the QC -- you will get two follow-up emails, one for each seat change!

nd2010

Should just ditch assigned seats and block off cars for stations further down the line. Assigning seats is inefficient for multiple stops. It works on planes because everyone gets off when the plane lands.

AndyPatterson

Thanks, but that doesn't work if you want to be in Acela's quiet car, or in the business car on a NER (regular train).