Acela: Avoiding table seats/checking before purchase?
 

I plan to use a coupon to upgrade to first class on an upcoming Acela trip, WAS>NYP. Is it possible to see before executing the upgrade whether non-table seats are available? I don't want to use the coupon and get stuck at a table -- exclusive legroom is a priority.

If it's not possible to determine before purchase/upgrade, how likely am I to get a non-table seat 12 hours before a Saturday or Sunday afternoon Acela?

Thanks you your insights.
Dwan

The only way to find out online is to buy a cash First Class Ticket (which is fully refundable), look at the seatmap using that First Class reservation, and then cancel the First Class ticket.

At only 12 hours out, on that popular route, don't be surprised if all the "good" seats are taken and you are at a 4-top with three burly partygoers!

It is pretty weak that this is still the only workaround, several years after the introduction of assigned seating. It is a huge flaw.

Thanks for the reminder of that -- I remember seeing it earlier, but it is a perfect response! Am surprised that the 2 crew members remained seated throughout, but I guess if nobody complained, the crew sure wasn't going to do anything about it.

As I was there, I can report that the vibe was very positive. Other than the minute or so that they played the song, they were normal quiet Acela First passengers.

It's also possible to call. I had an upgrade coupon that was not cooperating online. When I called in, the agent kindly ensured that I could upgrade to a non-table seat.

For the life of me, I don't understand why Acela first has so many tables.

The tables are actually better to use for laptop computers (no bounciness from the seatback tray tables). My problem with the table seats is that I have long legs, and like to move my feet around instead of keeping them in one spot. But, that results in playing footsie with the person across from me which is not a good idea for strangers!

And then there are Eurostar and other European trains, which seem to be nothing but tables. I booked a London to Paris train about two months before departure, and I had basically three forward facing non-table seats to choose from.

My favorite is definitely the Shinkansen, which has nothing but forward facing seats, and no tables (albeit at 5 across in most regular cars and 4 across in most premium cars).

FWIW, I will never bid for an upgrade to Acela First Class because of this. It's one thing to inquire via phone or do a dummy booking before applying a confirmed certificate, but no way am I playing the lottery with a bid and risking having to knock knees with a stranger. And frankly even with a companion the table seats are terrible for legroom.

Yesterday, I got an Amtrak survey from Ipsos (?), "Tell Amtrak what you think" -- I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell Amtrak about this issue. Well, I went through about a dozen "demographic" questions, only to find out at the end that "we have no further questions for you...."

Apparently my demographics were not whatever Amtrak / Ipsos wanted for its survey! Seems biased to conduct a survey, but then eliminate respondents based on demographics, when respondents may have legitimate, constructive criticism to offer!

You can pick seats before purchasing. No need to make a booking.

True! But this is new during the past few months. A great change!