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Can you prereserve seats on reserved train Baltimore-NY

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Old Dec 23, 2005, 3:38 pm
  #1  
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Can you prereserve seats on reserved train Baltimore-NY

I've made a booking for travel Baltimore Penn to NY Penn in march next year. (its a saturday)
Not an easy job from Australia as the amtrak booking system would not accept that local aussie postal codes are only 4 digits - so by trial and error , i just added more and more digits until my address was accepted .
Anyway,my question, is there a way to request certain seating or is it just allocated by the computer? Like everyone else,I'd like to sit facing forward by the window.
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Old Dec 23, 2005, 4:00 pm
  #2  
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Originally Posted by ozflier
Anyway,my question, is there a way to request certain seating or is it just allocated by the computer?
Neither. On Amtrak (at least on the regional service operating between Baltimore and NYC), a reserved seat just means that there will be a seat for you on the train, that is, you will not have to stand. When you board the train, seating is first come, first served. And since your train probably originates in Washington or some point further south, there will already be people on board when the train pulls into Baltimore. An exception to the first come, first served policy applies to special-needs passengers needing "accessible" space. Click on this link for more information about that if it applies to you:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten...54546&ssid=186
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Old Dec 23, 2005, 4:39 pm
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Originally Posted by ozflier
Anyway,my question, is there a way to request certain seating or is it just allocated by the computer? Like everyone else,I'd like to sit facing forward by the window.
Almost all seats between BAL and NYP are forward facing. Except for some seats on Acela Express trains, most seats face foward.

As guv1976 said, a reserved seat means that you only have a guaranteed seat (space) on the train, not a specific seat (like the airlines). However, very few times have I not had a window seat (if I wanted it)!
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Old Dec 23, 2005, 10:53 pm
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I reserve ticket doesn't mean you get a seat.

On the rare occasion, usually during busy holiday periods,I have been on jam packed Amtrak trains where everyone has a reserve tix but not enough seats for everyone.
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Old Dec 24, 2005, 7:13 am
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As an aside, when Amtrak first started running the Acela they actually did have assigned seats in F. This went by the wayside fairly quickly because either: (a) Amtrak's computer was too lame to coordinate seat assignments where pax get on and off at various intervening stops; (b) Amtrak pax were too lame to understand they had an assigned seat and needed to sit in it - because that empty seat they liked better was assigned to someone getting on at the next stop; (c) Amtrak crew were too lame to enforce the advance seat assignments, causing problems when pax boarded only to find their assigned (preferred) seat occupied; or (d) some combination of all of the foregoing.
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Old Dec 24, 2005, 1:21 pm
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Originally Posted by BeantownFlyer
As an aside, when Amtrak first started running the Acela they actually did have assigned seats in F. This went by the wayside fairly quickly because either: (a) Amtrak's computer was too lame to coordinate seat assignments where pax get on and off at various intervening stops; (b) Amtrak pax were too lame to understand they had an assigned seat and needed to sit in it - because that empty seat they liked better was assigned to someone getting on at the next stop; (c) Amtrak crew were too lame to enforce the advance seat assignments, causing problems when pax boarded only to find their assigned (preferred) seat occupied; or (d) some combination of all of the foregoing.
It was B and C, not A. Reason E didn't help either, which was the fact that the automated ticket collection system for the conductors never happened.
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Old Dec 24, 2005, 3:24 pm
  #7  
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Thanks for your advice .
I had the choice of BWI to a NY airport vs train but I just couldn't put up with the crap / hassle of air travel when there is an option .
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Old Dec 25, 2005, 9:26 pm
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Most likely your train originates in Washington so there should be plenty of empty seats in Baltimore. I find that more northbound trains tend to fill up by Philly.
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