“Amtrak made the decision to discontinue Business Class because of insufficient differentiation between Coach and Business Class on these two routes,” company spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire, adding that the railroad is “working to make the customer experience more consistent across the network.”
Business Class amenities included complimentary non-alcoholic beverages (obtained from the Cafe Car), full access to Washington Post and New York Times online content, priority boarding at larger stations, and bonus Amtrak Guest Rewards points. On the Crescent, the Business Class car had the same seating as a regular coach, but was located on the other side of the sleeping and dining cars from the coach section.
An Amtrak revenue management specialist told Trains last year that Business Class on the Auto Train had the effect of raising coach fares to the point where the company was losing business, so reservations agents had to “manually” override the yield management system to lower the price points. This particularly impacted larger families, which had a negative effect on the number of autos carried.
For most of the time the upgrade was offered on these trains, it was not readily visible in Amtrak’s online booking platform because sleeping cars appeared first under “Premium” accommodations. One had to toggle past the sleeper options to see Business Class.
bout time they woke up about business class on the cresent. what a waste of coach seats on a train that is sold out quite often.
Amen to Mark Singer’s comments.
Yet riding on most airlines especially in a small market means riding in a small hard seat on a small airplane. My last trip on United through Denver was pretty bad. Now if you are a small skinny person a small hard seat is not an issue. As for Bus Service, I will never take it. If I have to would hire a driver on a trip under 8 hours driving. Flying even in “First Class” is a drill in punishment. I like riding on Amtrak with sleeper service.
At least Amtrak endeavors to be consistent–in the failure of Product Development and Marketing!
With first class reserved exclusively for the privileged 1% using the Acela, and not expanded to other deserving corridor routes, it is difficult to believe Amtrak’s inability to benchmark with other transportation operations to appreciate how business class has fully evolved–on the airlines, luxury buses, and even railroading.VIA Rail Canada was required to change the nomenclature of its previous VIA1 first class corridor services due to corporate policies of clients. Keeping the luxurious 2+1 leather seating, complimentary hot entrees and liquors, first class merely became VIA Business Class. Unlike Amtrak, customers are not required to roam the consist for their free demitasse of a non-alcholoic beverage, as they are attentively served at their seats on VIA Rail.
Once again, Amtrak takes a terminology known to the well traveled public and turns it inside out, where despite the marketing hype, the product itself is quite disappointing in Business Class, with the exception of the “Downeaster” between Boston-Portland. Certainly fooled me on a RT between Boston-New Haven when B Class was nothing more than just another coach, and several cars forward from the cafe. Funny how when I inquired at South Station’s information desk as to the location in the consist, I was informed the individual how she did not know about it, and suggested the conductor would place it where he wanted to…
The flop of Amtrak’s Business Class should go down in the annals right next to Amtrak’s failed marketing campaign of 1972-73, “We’re Making the Trains Worth Traveling Again.” With so much potential premium travel between specific market segments of the state-supported corridors, it is apparent that if Amtrak cannot even get Business Class right, how could we expect their marketing to point out the market opportunities for corridor first class? Note how the market segments of the “Northeast Corridor” would amply support a first class/parlor service, as well as business, given the major and sub-markets not served by Acela.
However, we will not have to wait long for relief, as the bus industry does understand marketing and product development! The growth in luxury bus services has been reported as the fastest market.
Robert Vanwormer: I didn’t know that Amtrak has a marketing dept.? LOL!
I use Auto Train frequently, and absolutely agree with the decision as it relates to that train; no opinion on the others. A-T’s was poorly patronized, not worth the extra cost,and made no sense economically; good riddance.
Business Class on the NEC is also not worth the price. Extra fare for a coach seat that offers just a little extra leg room, No newspaper and a mini can of Pepsi. The Quiet Car is much better. Less leg room but no loud cellphone talkers or screaming kids. Costs less too.
I’m glad the experiment with business class on two overnight trains was discontinued. I feared that it was just another strategy to eliminate the sleepers on these lines, just as the “experiment” to eliminate the dining car on the Silver Star became permanent. I have no problem with Business Class appearing on the medium distance trains such as those that are operated in Illinois and Michigan.
Yet another decision that points to Anderson being made CEO by Trump to sabotage Amtrak from the inside.
The Coast Starlight has business class seating and the seats were leather and very plush as well. The Superliner car was all business class. Next time I ride the Starlight, I’m going to give it a try. If they still have it.
Mike Lustig
I am going to take the Crescent in the near future and will let you know how the service is. So far the Crescent has been running 4 to 5 hours late every day because of weighting for
A group of us ride Amtrak’s business class every year for four years now from Chi. to Springfield. What a pleasure is is not to be in a car full of crying babies and spoiled me first generation types with their loud music and feet on the seats. The extra fare is well worth it and nowhere near double the price. If this service were to be ended I am sure we’ll be driving ourselves down there. Which might be Amtrak’s end game anyway.
It sounds like this is the first sensible decision RA has made. I took Business Class once and the fare was almost double, the seat plenty wide but with no padding. They looked like Amfleet I seats from the 80s. It was not worth it.
I took Business Class on the Auto Train about a year ago. It was not worth the extra fare.
Amtrak is a pretend railroad, and always has been.
JIM NORTON – No Jim, you have it backwards. Amtrak isn’t better than the airlines, it’s a million times worse than even Delta, UAL and AAL. Business class appeals to people who will pay for convenience. For a train to be convenient, even in the least bit, multiple schedules per each day are needed. Not one train a day. Suppose I want to travel short-haul Charlottesville (V.A.) to Washington (D.C.). I don’t know the Crescent’s schedule but even if the one daily trip met my needs schedule-wise, as a long-distance train it’s anyone’s guess when it would show up in Charlottesville NB. Now compare Amtrak to an airline on a longer haul, New York to Atlanta or Washington to New Orleans. Flights run one after another, almost like streetcars. As an adult male of average height and weight, I can squeeze into an airline seat and stay there for a couple of hours, especially if it’s Southwest and I get an extra inch. It beats waiting in a crummy rail station for a train that runs once a day at a time that might not work for me, and might be hours late or not come at all. The train seat is more comfortable than an airliners’ seat. Big deal. That doesn’t make up for the colossal inconvenience of rail travel in USA. What’s so good about a train besides the seat size? That the rail stations are downtown? That works for some people. Some airports are well-located and or have good transit links. Boston Logan International Airport and Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport are both close-in and both have transit service. Downtown? I know people who don’t go to downtown Milwaukee (12 miles away) from one year to the next.
Making train travel like airline’s.
Yet another Amtrak failure most likely due to poor marketing.