R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:30 pm Auto Train always offered complementary diner service even for coach passengers, a rare exception.BUT, only buffet and not "traditional diner" service for those down the back.
DISCRIMINATION!!!
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R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:30 pm Auto Train always offered complementary diner service even for coach passengers, a rare exception.BUT, only buffet and not "traditional diner" service for those down the back.
BitterOldRRExec wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:50 amPlease, ever since Amtrak equipped the Auto Train with Superliner's both Coach and Sleeper pax were offered a sit down dinner in separate diners, with different rotating menus. This ended when the Flex Dining era commenced and coach passengers were relegated to whatever the cafe car offered.R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:30 pm Auto Train always offered complementary diner service even for coach passengers, a rare exception.BUT, only buffet and not "traditional diner" service for those down the back.
DISCRIMINATION!!!
Maverickstation1 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:03 am The original Auto Train Corporation service was popular, and initially profitable, but it was never known for it's food.Mr. Ken Maverick, as one, possibly the only one, around here who rode the private Auto Train (Dec '72), I wholly concur - it wasn't known for its food that was served college cafeteria style. The only difference is that employees carried your selection to the table (liability issues).
Rockingham Racer wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:17 am Is there anything wrong with a coach passenger having the ability to reserve a seat and a meal in the dining car, and prepay exorbitantly [!] online when making the trip reservation? It seems that Amtrak is leaving money on the table.I have been a sleeping car passenger on many trips over the years, and there have been some occasions when after the employee visited each sleeping car compartment to take dinner reservations, all seatings were booked except for the last seating of the evening and it was announced that coach passengers could reserve those few open spots, first come first served. Additionally, some seats in the dining car were held open for passengers boarding further down the line. Were coach passengers able to book in advance, that would greatly inconvenience many sleeping car passengers with a specific time preference to eat dinner.
Obviously, prepaying eliminates the need for monetary transactions in the dining car. There could be an option to order--or not--a split of wine and/or a cocktail, as well.
Rockingham Racer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 5:24 am That's great. I think the difference, though, is that menus used to have prices listed for each item. The upcoming ones do not AFAICT, so how does one decide how much the cost would be? Again, I think pre-paying would be the way to go. That, or put back the prices for each item, and use credit / debit cards only.Given that Amtrak serves Amish country (Lancaster, PA -- when taking to the train to Pittsburgh I was a bit amazed that a family actually came up on my train and attended Anthrocon, and was a bit of a regular for them)... and how currently most Amish can use credit cards (although they treat it as "must pay ASAP" -- there's a lot more to the Amish than normally thought)...
But that leads to another issue already discussed: what about people who use ONLY cash, such as the Amish?