WASHINGTON — Amtrak is now offering a single-visit pass to coach passengers at its Metropolitan lounge, for $50 at New York’s Moynihan Train Hall and $35 at other stations where the lounge is offered. Access to the lounge is free for Acela First Class or sleeping-car patrons, and is available for 1,500 points (redeemed online in advance) for Amtrak Guest Rewards members.
In addition to New York, Metropolitan Lounges are located at Amtrak stations at Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, and Portland, Ore. Food and beverage selection, quality, and quantity vary by location.
Amtrak’s press release announcing the single-visit pass makes no reference to the previously imposed “three-hour rule.” That limited limits visitors’ lounge arrival to three hours before departure unless they are connecting from another Amtrak train the same day or are in the SelectPlus or SelectExecutive Amtrak Guest Rewards membership tier [see “Amtrak introduces time restriction …,” Trains.com, June 30, 2025].
A comment in the press release by Amtrak Chief Commercial Officer Eliot Hamlisch implies that that limitation has been lifted. “Opening the doors to our Metropolitan Lounge for all our guests adds more time to relax and travel comfortably and conveniently when traveling with Amtrak,” Hamlisch says. There is also no mention of the three-hour restriction in the description on Amtrak’s lounge page.
