Amtrak

I have been a member of Amtrak Guest Rewards for a number of years. My wife and I recently took the Lakeshore Limited and City of New Orleans from Syracuse, NY to Chicago, IL to New Orleans.

The first leg of our trip was uneventful. 4/13/2019 on Train 49. I woke early enough to stretch my legs in Toledo. The temperature was 38 F and there was blowing sleet in a strong wind. I was in the dining car and mentioned to the attendant, Mike, that I would like to step out. He kindly opened the door and allowed me out on the platform. I walked for a few minutes, and it felt great. Mike remained on the platform monitoring me the entire time. He must have gotten uncomfortable, but was unfailingly pleasant. He treated me as I expect to be treated, as a valued customer.

The second leg of the trip was to NOLA. 4/14/2019 on Train 59. Brian was our car attendant and was very attentive and pleasant. We spoke for a while about the 8 hour delay into Union Station for train 58. Brian stated that he was on that train, and had not slept in about 30 hours. I couldn't tell, because he was very efficient in his duties. Except for helping me with my bags. I am 68 years old and don't mind assistance. I welcome it.

There was a supper served at 9 PM in the Dining Car. There were two tables fully occupied, a table with one couple and 7 tables vacant. My wife and I sat at a vacant table and were promptly asked by the attendant to move to the table with one other couple, which we did. That left seven tables vacant.

We ate a VERY disappointing Muffaletta. Almost tasteless. And it proved to reside with me for a couple of days. The server was surly. We finished our meal. There were still seven empty tables.

Breakfast was more of the same. One table fully occupied, one with one occupant, 8 empties. We were told to join the one occupant by a server who was, to understate the case, RUDE. We waited a very long time for the meal and ended up wishing it had not come. Some sort of egg/potato/sausage dish that was not completely heated (HOT AND COLD in One Dish) and was almost inedible. We finished our coffee and left. Still 8 unoccupied tables. The server was RUDER if possible.

I should mention that we had three carryons. I carried them up the stairs, and I carried them down the stairs. The attendant was nowhere to be found.

My wife and I had paid a first class rate and were treated as steerage. And fed accordingly.

We returned on 4/20/2019 Train 58. More of the same. Our attendant greeted us, and that was the last that we saw of him.

We were informed by someone that dinner would be served at 4 pm and 5 pm and would we like to make a reservation. We chose 5 pm. We learned later that there was serving at 6 and 7 also.

Same seating as before. Forced into an occupied table while many remained empty. A chinese noodle dish so bad that we left most of it behind. Poor service and long waits.

I wanted to retire at 9 PM so I used the button in our room to call Akeen at 8:30. The light on the call remained on for a full hour. No Akeen. I went looking for him. Couldn't find him. Asked a very rude attendant in the dining car how to find him. The gentleman was less than helpful.

I returned to my car and happened to run into someone who knew Akeen's location. I found him, He said that he never heard the buzzer/signal. FINALLY in bed at 1030. An hour and a half after my desired time. We asked for extra blankets since the car was very cold. Turned out that was a great idea.

I woke and went to the sightseer car. Very cold.

Went back to my room, very cold. Could see my breath! Had to don heavy clothes. And we were still cold.

Skipped breakfast. Had no desire for rude service and/or bad food.

Arrived in to Chicago. No help with bags.

A truly miserable trip on the fabled City of New Orleans!

Our last leg was on Train 4800 on 4/21/2019. Our attendant, Kevin, actually HELPED WITH MY BAGS! He also mentioned that there was a complementary drink waiting in the diner. We went and were served by the same affable attendant from our trip out, Mike. He was friendly, courteous and allowed us to sit by ourselves, even though two other tables had room for a couple. What a nice treat!

Our train was late getting into Syracuse, so we headed to the diner to be served by Mike. Again, tables were occupied by fewer than four. Again, Mike allowed us to sit where we wished. And another surprise...the lunch was not only edible but actually tasty! I had the antipasto and my wife had chicken in sauce. Mine was delicious, hers was delicious and Mike was the perfect attendant.

The train arrived in Syracuse late. Kevin assisted me with my bags. A good trip.

I checked the dollar value of my trip. According to Amtrak's site, the round trip, from SYR to NOLA and return, with 4 bedrooms, costs over 3300.00.

I also checked airfares. A FIRST CLASS trip, on Delta, from SYR to NOLA for two costs 1500 dollars. It is shorter and according to friends who have taken the trip, much more pleasant.

A train trip is an adventure. I've never demanded that I be treated as a first class passenger, and I won't now. But I should always be treated as a valued customer. And that was severely lacking on the City of New Orleans.

Strongly suggest that you get people from the Lakeshore Limited to train people on the City of New Orleans in HOW TO TREAT PASSENGERS.

I will be very surprised if I travel Amtrak again.

We were in california zephyr 5 returning from Reno. A cafe employee, name-D. Bennet who was in charge of the cafe was rude and was also hardly working. He took 30 minute break then worked for few minutes asked us to leave the cafe as soon as we finished eating though there was nobody else in the cafe wanting our tables. In one hour he went on an hour lunch again. Whole time he was walking around socialising or sitting down..hardly behind the counter doing his work and when we kept our stuff on the table while waiting for a coffee he asks to take our food off the table saying "not on my table". Overall very rude and lazy employee who would not stay behind counter but walked around, sat around or would get out at every station and walk around talk and socialise. If he does not want to work..give the job to someone who works for the money they are paid to do the job. D.Bennett..will not work..

train from Orlando the worst, bad customer service, dirty bathrooms late train no assigned seating, fend for you and your family to get seat. Passengers in coach traveling the furthest were not seated closest to cafe car, which is supposed to happen. Missed connecting tran in New York to Boston because of late train. ran out of food very early in tirp.

Oklahoma Retired Citizens Travel Club booked a reservation, 2CE89B, for 68 passengers and paid for this trip on March 21, 2019 at a rate of $55.80. We are booking another 15 passengers, reservation 78691F, for the same date and the rate went to $66.60. The representative said I cannot add these 15 to reservation, 2CE89B, because it is closed and we have to book a new reservation. I do not understand why our group cannot get the $55.80 rate since we are not leaving until September 12, 2019. I also booked two tickets on reservation 5C819D and six on reservation 5B358D at lower rates. We have a total of 76 paid passengers and would be filling the train to 91 from our ORCTC club with the addition of the 15 more.

We would like a rate of $55.80 for the additional passengers going the same date, times and return.

Do we need to cancel the entire reservation and rebook for the entire 83 to get the better rate of $55.80?

Sincerely,
Diana Powell
[protected]

On December 31, 2018, my sister and I (we both are senior citizens) took the noon train from Las Vegas, NM to Albuquerque, NM.

We were treated rudely by a female employee. Unfortunately, I did not get her name. She was in charge of assigning seats and checking tickets.

As soon as we boarded the train, she stated that we had too many suitcases, and that each person was only allowed to travel with one suitcase and one carry-on. My sister and I had a total of four suitcases and one carryon, besides our purses.

She said that this time she was not going to charge us for the two extra suitcases we had. Her tone of voice and attitude were very unprofessional, and I feel she verbally abused us and used her uniform to intimate us.

This was our second experience taking Amtrak, and we were very disappointed and hurt of the treatment we received.

We are currently on train 665 to Harrisburg on Sunday 9 December 2018. Every single car is full and packed with additional people standing and sitting in the aisle way. It's 100 degrees in the car and no one has even checked our tickets for already going on an hour. This is a safety hazard on many levels. My husband and I paid for reserved seating and had to stand for our entire ride so far... aside from the overcapacity safety hazard, people on the aisle safety hazard. It's 100 degrees in here and extremely uncomfortable. I've never experienced this in any trip with Amtrak. Please fix this with a refund.

I purchased a ticket by phone, unfortunately the return ticket date was wrong, when I called back in half an hour to correct the date they charged me $92 for adjustment, which is unfair and is taking advantage of the passengers since other option was to cancel which was no refund.
My reservation number is 08B032. It is very unfortunate that Amtrak is taking advantage of people this way. Please consider to return the extra $92 for the adjustment.

Thanks
Faramarz Nakhost Karimi

On 11/30/2018 the Amtrak train 505 departed PDX at 6:05 pm as scheduled.
It proceeded to the only scheduled stop at Oregon City, where we encountered a broken down Amtrak 508 going the opposite direction.
We then spent the next 1.5 hours sitting and going nowhere. It took another 2 hours for Amtrak to make a decision to tow the 508 back to PDX with our train 500, 20 miles away. It then took another hour to connect. It took another hour to get back to PDX. Train 500 then backed up and we sat another hour. 500 switched tracks and finally headed towards our original destination, 6 hours after the scheduled departure.

Not once during the entire delay did Amtrak offer passengers to get off of the train. Why wasn't there a bus alternative offered? We could have found our own ride to our destination! Salem is only 45 miles from Portland.
Ultimately, Amtrak kept all 93 passengers on 500 and ? on 508 hostage, unnecessarily! There should have been another non-passenger engine tow the broken 508 back to PDX.
I agree, we did eventually get to Salem, nearly 7 hours later. Unacceptable!
You have one job to do, transport paying passengers, and you don't do that very well at times.
There were several poor decisions during this adventure.

At the very least, a complimentary travel voucher should be offered to every guest.

Jack Haggard

Train 58 in Memphis Central Station to Chicago. This station is under construction and was very confusing on where to get on at or check in at. The attendant standing out was not people friendly at all. We were with a group and came at different times one attendant enen though the we were to load was close he said we must go to the front for ticket scans. My mom is disable uses a came an the extra steps was not needed cause of poor communication with your employee no wheelchair access even though paid for lower seating. The 58 AMTRAK need to do better my mom had to stop several times using her cain she's disabled and no wheelchair available unless you go to the office that's under construction it's was just a mess all your attendant should have ticket scanner. Your sleeper attendant mis inform on where to go the lady attendant had a bad attitude cause the disable was to slow loading the train. Please be advise this is unacceptable Tn Disability Act will be informed of this incident.

Good evening,
Your conductor Fabian Perch was extremely unprofessional and rude to me. I bought a monthly Marc ticket and have been taking the Amtrak 85 train from Aberdeen to New Carrollton without a problem. Apparently the rules changed and the Marc monthly was no longer valid for the Amtrak train. When Fabian approached me I showed him my ticket and he informed me this was not valid. I tried to explain that I've taking this train without an issue and the online website stated this Amtrak was an authorized train. With a raised voice he stated I didn't take this train before. I tried to tell him I did and he yelled at me saying I never did and that he has been working this train for 6 months (or sone time dramas like that) and I e never been on it. He said I had to get off the train at the next stop. I asked to speak to a manager and once again in a loud forceful voice said, he said, I'm the manager. Again I asked for a manager and he said again that he was the manager. I was feeling very uncomfortable as I am a petite female in a seated position and he is a rather large man standing yelling down at me. He walked away when I told him I wasn't getting off the train and that he was very inappropriate. The train was stopped at BWI for 30 minutes before someone came on and told me I had to get off. The whole experience was humiliating as I am Active Duty Lieutenant Colonel and would never violate the rules intentionally. It would have seemed more reasonable to inform me that the website is wrong and that I couldn't take his train in the future. His behavior was extreme and unruly. I've never been treated this way and can only imagine how many passengers have been treated poorly by him. This was an incredibly awful experience and needed to ensure it was reported. The incident occurred tonight 10/16/18.
Thank you for your time.
Jody Brown

Amtrak

Train number 49 & 3 : train from New York to Chicago to Flagstaff
Our cabin number 4911 A . A sleeper cabin has a couple of issues that could not be rectified and for us unacceptable. ( Yes we are accepting of the situation as we don't wish to make James' life he'll in continueing to complain when he can not improve the situation to our satisfaction.)
A). The bathroom - toilet would not flush. My husband did number two's and it would not flush, we added extra water from the shower hoping that would help, it did a bit but not really there was still stuff left that wouldn't go down. We spoke to our carriage butler James - who was absolutely terrific, he tried but he is not a plumber. We believe that there's a leak or displacement in the suction hose. We were asked if we wanted to change cabins to a smaller cabin, we chose not to as we felt it was way too small for us, plus the $ we paid. Later in the evening (after 11:00pm) there was a consistent buzz in the speaker/vent above the storage rack above the hand basin that could not be stopped. We packed a backpack and blanket however it only reduced it a little.
This, and the food offered for dinner (nothing short of a disgrace) is way short of our expectations of Amtrak. We were told by Americans that the trip that we're booked on is magic and we'd love the service... not sure about that...yes this is our first leg of three - New York to Chicago -res 839414, Chicago to Flagstaff res 839414, Flagstaff to Los Angeles - res 83947E. At this rate we can only complement our butler James - he's fantastic, a wonderful man with a sense of humour, very caring and loves his work.

Now the second leg of our journey is complete - Chicago to Flagstaff res 839414, toilet problems in our sleeper cabin again. This time the fresh water that rinses the bowl continually filled then overflowed. You had to flush the toilet every few minutes so that it wouldn't overflow. Paul, our new butler, did all that he could, but it took some 2 hours before he could turn off the cold water. This meant that the bowl could not be rinsed, you could not use the shower as no cold to temper the hot. The floor outside (carpet) ended up quite wet. The maintenance is ridiculous on these sleeper carriages, cost reduction is one thing but when it causes major discomfort to your clients it's another.

Our train was 4.5 hrs late into Chicago, which meant the sight seeing activities that we booked had to be thrown away as we had less than half an hour before our train Flagstaff was to leave. Staff were apologising as they had run out of food and could only offer tea and coffee, albeit with no milk/creamer as they'd run out of that. You guys have to get your act together.

The third leg was relatively uneventful, we just couldn't sleep very well due to the room dividing door rattling sooo much. We tried to stuff it, we succeeded a little but it was near impossible to sleep.

I know that we will never travel Amtrak again, let alone consider adding it to any of our plans. This experience (and it's cost) has made us realise that Amtrak are cost cutting far too far. You need to fix your trains to make the sleeper mode attractable. We also know that this email will be shoved aside and ignored, but you need to know the customer issues.

Kind regards. Jo'anne Reed

I am walking with a cane with two pieces of luggage. Not one of Amtrak employees ask me if I needed help.

I asked for disable car to take me with my luggage to the train and no one did anything. It was very difficult to walk all that way to ge to the train door . Thank God for for two passengers they helped me lift my baggage up so l could grab the railing.

I was on train 29 from pittsburgh to chicago on car 2900 room 003 with arrival in chicago at 8:45 am. About a half-hour before detraining, I went to the lounge car and in about 15 minutes returned to find that my 20 dollar hat and a 20 dollar cigar were missing from the top of my carry on bag. I told the attendant about it but he was too busy to look for the items. I looked everywhere but could not find them. He told me he might have mistakenly put them in the trash. I told him why would he do that when they were on top of my bag between the handles. He just shrugged his shoulders and when I complained he told me nothing could be done. Then another person lost his wallet, but the attendant found it. Then the father of the person who lost his wallet stood with the attendant and said to me laughing, that he might give me back the hat but he would smoke the cigar. No one came to my defense. I complained that the items didn't just walk away. Again the attendant did nothing and said nothing. We detrained.
When I told the story to another attendant on the train to la, they told me that the attendant probably took my items. And told me to complain about the incident.
I'm a 77-year-old man, vietnam era veteran, with difficulty in walking, and yet no one could help me. How sick could that attendant be to steal from someone like me.

My name is Juliette Lynn and the service on Amtrak Train number 97 heading down south was the worst experience a person can ask for.

Being a Disabled person ( Stroke Survivor) and a person with Bad knees, the bathroom is my number one concern! I specifically purchased Fabuloso and Clorox for The Bathrooms and they were were horrendous!

I pity how some of these people clean their house! Then the people using their cell phones after hours and after the conductor made reference to if they speak on their cells go to the bar car.

A baby crying for 24 hours was nerve racking..

Then the most startling experience was the very obnoxious and racist person that was screaming obnoxious statements ( to the conductors and his traveling partner was the worst thing one can witness, he was also very verbally abusive and the conductors did nothing to diffuse the situation. We All felt unsafe, in danger and I've been traveling Amtrak since 2013, traveling up north, but after that experience I am exploring traveling in the future another way, flying anything but that train.

* Back to the Disgusting bathrooms: Traveling on Amtrak one needs to feel safe, the female conductor with neck problems did her best, but after she would clean up, then people resorting to urinating on the floors, this was very unsanitary. Might I suggest a person needs to be assigned to that position mainly to clean the bathrooms especially on long train rides from West Palm Beach Florida to NY.

I am sure many will complain about this service and I feel as if a refund and or we should be compensated with a round trip ticket to make up for our terrible treatment..

I can be reached at [protected]@gmail.com and I would appreciate if someone can contact me immediately.

Not a happy camper

Juliette Lynn

On Sunday August 19, 2018, I boarded a train leaving New Orleans headed to Albuquerque New Mexico. I'm upset because I was lied to by the agent who stated that there was no smoking on the platforms of the trains anymore. I knew she was lying because I take Amtrak often. so after complaining several times she then stated that she was told to say that by the conductor. I didn't know the conductor was allowed to make those types of on the spot rules. as the morning went on more passengers started to complain because they were not letting us off the trains to smoke. we didn't get to smoke until we arrived at Lake Charles. Second complaint was the delays. The train was 4hrs late which meant that I could not be picked up in time which also meant that I had to cancel my plans in Albuquerque and try to get a refund for reservations that was already paid for. I want to know how I am going to be compensated for the money I lost on my reservations and the time I wasted sitting on a train that wasn't allowing passengers to smoke

My name is Patricia Flowers.. my reservation # is/was 81DBAA. On August 12 2018 at 2:30... train was late. I was on the texas eagle 22. Traveling from Ft. Worth tx to mineola tx. I put my suitcase on in the luggage area when I got on the train in Ft. Worth tx. We went to Dallas n stopped there for passengers and left and went on to mineola tx. When I came down the stairs to retrieve my suitcase it was not there. I told the conductors and one man didnt seem to care. Kept rushing me to get off. Another man asked if that was where I put it. And I said yes. I asked if they could help me look for it and they said no. They asked me if I was going on to Longview n I said no I was getting off here in mineola and he said come on we have to leave. They had NO compassion for my lost luggage. I put a nametag on it with my name n email. Not It is blue, a roll on, has 2 zippered compartments in front n one in back. Has a pull up handle as well as a reg. one. I have clothes in it along with clothes from my step mom who had just passed away the previous weekend. Along with cigarettes, a heating pad, poise pads, cell phone charger, make-up, pictures that cant be replaced. I have a partial pic of my suitcase that I can send with this complaint. I need a complaint # in order to be reembursed thru the insurance I paid for.

Today while riding Amtrak 80 20JUL 06:45AM-CHARLOTTE, NC, I requested a transfer ticket from the train to the bus. I was getting off in two stops, which was Salisbury, NC. Conductor Johnson did not have the transfer ticket. He passed me several times, and I continued to ask for the ticket. Since my stop would be coming up I needed the ticket. He never came back to give me the ticket. I had to walk down two carts to find him sitting down at a table. I asked him for the ticket again, and he said there weren't any. I explained to him that I have been riding the train all week, and I have been issued a transfer ticket to get on the bus. All the other conductors carried the tickets in their pockets. He said, he was alone. I told him this wasn't an excuse since he knew he had to provide this service to the customers riding the train. I told him the tickets should be a part of his uniform, and he said they weren't. When I got off the train, I still didn't have a ticket to transfer. I had to pay the bus fare that would have been free. The same conductor (Johnson) tried to ask the station personnel for a ticket. They do not carry the tickets, since this is a service received from the personnel on the trains. He was extremely rude, and told me I was having a bad day. I explained to him I wasn't having a bad day, I was asking for a ticket he should have provided. The ticket was included in the pricing of my ticket to work. I explained to him that if he had the tickets there wouldn't have been an issue. I would have received my ticket and been on my way. There should be some training given to this individual since he evidently has no idea about how to give good customer service. He even tried to say when I got off that he had given the tickets away. This could not have been the case when he admitted to not having any in the beginning of the ride. Charlotte was the first stop, and no one had left the train. I asked immediately upon entering the train. He never had the tickets with him. I shouldn't have had to pay for a free ride on the bus. Hopefully, he is disciplined for this since he is giving Amtrak a bad name.

I am a single mother traveling to Chicago with my two children. One child is 8 and the other is 10. Amtrack's new policy requires me to pay an adult price for one child as I'm only allowed to purchase one discounted child's ticket. When I called Amtrack to inquire as to why this is the policy, all I was told was Amtrack recently updated this policy. I understand that but I would like to know why I am allowed to travel with two children but am required to pay a higher price for a second child?

I traveled the Auto Train 52, Reservation No: 421E54, July 3, 2018 from Sanford, FL to Lorton, VA.
Prior to this time I had traveled the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor several times.
I never in my life had such a rough, dangerous ride in my life. (I have a knee and hip replacement) and found it quite difficult to get around in my room.
At any rate during the night I was awaken every 10 minutes or so, my body being thrashed around in the bed. I was afraid I was going to be thrown out of the bed. This is absolutely no exaceration at all!
I cannot understand this, while aboard the Silver Star and/or Meteor I slept soundly with no disturbances at all.
To pay all that money and to be given such a horrible experience is awful. Not to mention the food was also horrible - this trip (including the food) leaves a lot to be desired. Not to mention the safety issues - they go without saying.
I am just hoping I can check into my hotel early so I can get some sleep so the day is not a complete washout. I am so grateful I decided to stay overnight in Lorton before making my long trip to Maine. That would only make things worse indeed.