Passenger Trains > Coach Passengers Food on Amtrak Trains

Can coach pasengers buy the boxed meals or do they have to eat out of lounge car?

Thanks for answer.
RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

When I was a kid back in the 40s we often brought our own box lunches which usually included fried chicken.
Which my Mom fried from our own chickens in those pre-Col. Sanders days.
 

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

texchief1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can coach pasengers buy the boxed meals or do they
> have to eat out of lounge car?
>
> Thanks for answer.
> RC Lundgren
> Elgin, TX

No. The "sleeper-lounge" servings cannot be sold to coach passengers. You are stuck with nuked pepperoni pizzas and cheeseburgers. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> texchief1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Can coach pasengers buy the boxed meals or do
> they
> > have to eat out of lounge car?
> >
> > Thanks for answer.
> > RC Lundgren
> > Elgin, TX
>
> No. The "sleeper-lounge" servings cannot be sold
> to coach passengers. You are stuck with nuked
> pepperoni pizzas and cheeseburgers. 

Or as noted above, bring your own. But at least you get to decide what you get to eat.
Just don't ask the Lounge Car attendant to warm up anything in their microwave.

Once they restore regular dining, I'll be riding again!

Posted from Android

All this I read, probably best bringing your own food  but is there an actual  reason coach passengers can''t get a box lunch.

Maybe the same reason we were wiping everthing down and deep cleaning for nothing  which as actually known at least by last summer.

Bob Jordan

I assume you can still get sandwiches, drinks, and other items in the lower area of the Sightseer Lounge car.  

Occasionally there will be a fresh air stop at a place that has food.  Albuquerque comes to mind.  Just get off, place your order, and get back to the platform as soon as you can.

John

Shoot!  I was going to reccomend Pizza 9 at Albuquerque, but I see they closed the downtown location a block away from the depot!
Probably loss of downtown workers due to Covid did them in.

wa4umr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I assume you can still get sandwiches, drinks, and
> other items in the lower area of the Sightseer
> Lounge car.  
>
> Occasionally there will be a fresh air stop at a
> place that has food.  Albuquerque comes to
> mind.  Just get off, place your order, and get
> back to the platform as soon as you can.
>
> John

There were no ham or turkey or cold sandwiches of that nature onboard any of the long distance trains last October and August.............................This is why I had suggested that it would be nice to put a "sandwich" or "marketplace special" on the flexible dining menu as a lunch option. 

mp51w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shoot!  I was going to reccomend Pizza 9 at
> Albuquerque, but I see they closed the downtown
> location a block away from the depot!
> Probably loss of downtown workers due to Covid did
> them in.


That is a shame. They were my go-to place while riding the Chief.
Good food at reasonable prices.

robj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All this I read, probably best bringing your own
> food  but is there an actual  reason coach
> passengers can''t get a box lunch.

Probably for inventory reasons. You're either going to throw away a lot of unsold meals, or force sleeper passengers to not get one of their preferred choices. Planning for possible coach passenger purchases will likely be difficult to project.

Posted from Android

Makes an SP AUTOMAT car sound attractive 

OK, so all the reasons on why they can't etc. I get it.............

BUT

Couldn't Amtrak INCREASE revenues if you posted for every passenger on a long distance train - as an add-on - upon ticket check out, what is there preferred meal choice, with a charge next to it, and you select it for pre-pay  just as you pay for your ticket in advance. Amtrak at one point had passenger pre-select their meals - the sleeper car passengers. Why couldn't it be added as a possible "add-on" for coach passengers. The chance of cancellation last minute is likely small so it could be re-sold. How could it hurt? Available for pickup in the cafe car with showing your QR code on ticket. 

If the sleeper car LSA has extra Flex meals left over, why couldn't they put them up for sale in the long distance cafe car (Sightseer Lounge Car or Amfleet Diner Lite)? 

WHAT AM I MISSING? PLEASE TELL ME? Seriously? Is it that HARD? Maybe it is? Amtrak can now have passengers get assigned seats. VIA's been doing it for over 20 years. 

What's the advantage of assigned seats?

Have not been on Amtrak for 2 yrs now but understand the snack car is hot dogs and hambergers in Micowavel   No other sandwiches or salads.

Guess t can vary from route and train.

 Some like the San Joaquins provide a snack pack and water on request.   NO coffee or beer,.  This was confirmed by SJ managment folks last week

Junk food addicts and sugar-holics have taken over Amtrak's food service management. 
They should sell Potassium tablets at the snack bar to neutralize the sodium intake. 

> What's the advantage of assigned seats?

If you like scenery, you can be assured of a window and also choose the side of the train that has better views. Elderly passengers may prefer an aisle for easier in-and-out, and perhaps near the restroom end of the car. People who want to sleep might prefer a seat in the middle of the car (less vibration). Etc. 

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK, so all the reasons on why they can't etc. I
> get it.............
>
> BUT
>
> Couldn't Amtrak INCREASE revenues if you posted
> for every passenger on a long distance train - as
> an add-on - upon ticket check out, what is there
> preferred meal choice, with a charge next to it,
> and you select it for pre-pay  just as you pay
> for your ticket in advance. Amtrak at one point
> had passenger pre-select their meals - the sleeper
> car passengers. Why couldn't it be added as a
> possible "add-on" for coach passengers. The chance
> of cancellation last minute is likely small so it
> could be re-sold. How could it hurt? Available for
> pickup in the cafe car with showing your QR code
> on ticket. 
>
> If the sleeper car LSA has extra Flex meals left
> over, why couldn't they put them up for sale in
> the long distance cafe car (Sightseer Lounge Car
> or Amfleet Diner Lite)? 
>
> WHAT AM I MISSING? PLEASE TELL ME? Seriously? Is
> it that HARD? Maybe it is? Amtrak can now have
> passengers get assigned seats. VIA's been doing it
> for over 20 years. 

You make some great points. The problem is Amtrak is a very lazy organization that is more oriented to its own convenience than to passenger satisfaction. And when they come up short of money they just beg for more from the government. That’s why I’m not too keen on giving them even more buckets of money because they are experts at pissing it away. The way you improve your bottom line is to please your customers. Instead of doing that they just ask the taxpayers to shovel them more money to provide ever lower standards of service. It’s really very much akin to the post office where the whole thing is a poorly run makework project. It’s really sad.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/21 21:05 by alan2955.

The food situation on the Govt. wayfreight is a disaster. We understand the extraordinary times the world is going through right now, but to tell long distance coach passengers to exist on Cheetos and gas station microwave food for 2-3 days is just asinine.
I’m not in the 5 course meal club in this issue, but come on...

Posted from iPhone

alan2955 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > OK, so all the reasons on why they can't etc. I
> > get it.............
> >
> > BUT
> >
> > Couldn't Amtrak INCREASE revenues if you posted
> > for every passenger on a long distance train -
> as
> > an add-on - upon ticket check out, what is
> there
> > preferred meal choice, with a charge next to
> it,
> > and you select it for pre-pay  just as you pay
> > for your ticket in advance. Amtrak at one point
> > had passenger pre-select their meals - the
> sleeper
> > car passengers. Why couldn't it be added as a
> > possible "add-on" for coach passengers. The
> chance
> > of cancellation last minute is likely small so
> it
> > could be re-sold. How could it hurt? Available
> for
> > pickup in the cafe car with showing your QR
> code
> > on ticket. 
> >
> > If the sleeper car LSA has extra Flex meals
> left
> > over, why couldn't they put them up for sale in
> > the long distance cafe car (Sightseer Lounge
> Car
> > or Amfleet Diner Lite)? 
> >
> > WHAT AM I MISSING? PLEASE TELL ME? Seriously?
> Is
> > it that HARD? Maybe it is? Amtrak can now have
> > passengers get assigned seats. VIA's been doing
> it
> > for over 20 years. 
>
> You make some great points. The problem is Amtrak
> is a very lazy organization that is more oriented
> to its own convenience than to passenger
> satisfaction. And when they come up short of money
> they just beg for more from the government.
> That’s why I’m not too keen on giving them
> even more buckets of money because they are
> experts at pissing it away. The way you improve
> your bottom line is to please your customers.
> Instead of doing that they just ask the taxpayers
> to shovel them more money to provide ever lower
> standards of service. It’s really very much akin
> to the post office where the whole thing is a
> poorly run makework project. It’s really sad.
>
>
> Posted from iPhone

So true, how come they hired Airline Boy in the 1ST Place!

Posted from Android