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.

zdcatc12

I have not seen that on Amtrak, but I have seen it happen in Europe the times that I have been in first class there, both on ICE and on RENFE. And there I noticed that they stay in the first class car and just move to a different empty seat.

WeekendTraveler

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.

musicalbox

I once saw a poacher get caught, start to gather up his things in a slow way, and after the conductor moved on sat right back down again. His was the next stop and he totally got away with it. Kind of shameless.

I almost never get my beverage. I get free bottled water at work and I'd rather just carry a bottle than have to walk three cars and get on line for one.

ijgordon

Someone was in my NER Business Class seat when I boarded in DC (the first stop), but oddly they then left the business class car altogether. There were at least several other "poachers" who were booted by the conductor, but it really wasn't clear to me if they were intentionally poaching or just clueless that it was business class. It's not that easy to tell if you're not really paying attention, the seats look the same just with more legroom.

lensovet

I suspect most don't know, as Amtrak is intentionally vague on their page for business class amenities.

It's insane to me that when you buy the ticket for a specific train, this generic boilerplate is repeated verbatim, instead of being tailored to the train you're booking the ticket on. For the NER specifically, it seems weird that the same class of service contains more amenities than the "premium" Acela.

Mr. BoH

I think it is an "ability to deliver" issue rather than wanting to give less amenities. Every business class passenger going to the cafe car to get their free soda would be completely untenable. Even if 30% did it it would be a mob scene.

ND76

Last fall Mrs. ND76 and I were on the NS International train between Brussels South and Schiphol Airport; we had first class tickets (we took this train because it was 50% cheaper than the Thalys high speed train). There were only about 10 people in the car until we got to Antwerp. Apparently the rest of the train was packed, and the people who couldn't get seats sat down in our car, which was almost filled up. The conductor came in and threw out all the poachers, and they promptly left and assumed standing positions in the other cars.

In England, the the train staff catches you in a first class compartment and you don't have a first class ticket, if you are lucky you just get asked to leave; the train staff can demand the full first class fare, and if you don't have it, the police will come and arrest you at the next stop. I've personally witnessed this.

lensovet

I don’t know why Amtrak can’t put a vending machine that scans your boarding pass in the car.

I tried this once some days ago.

First attempt was Wilmington-Philadelphia. I stood in line for the whole trip and when I got off there were still 5 more people ahead of me. To get a $3 beverage, probably not worth it.

Second attempt was Philadelphia-Trenton. No line, but they were out of the iced tea which I wanted. Got a pellegrino instead.

Small sample size, but with a batting average of zero, I can imagine why some people might not bother.