All Aboard! This past Thanksgiving, I decided to treat myself to the small luxury of Amtrak business class. Having taken the Amtrak between NYC and Buffalo several times before, I decided to see how the other half lives. After all, we all need a little pampering every now and again! Did spending the extra dough give me the elevated experience I was looking for? Here is my experience riding Amtrak business class from NYC to Buffalo.
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Why I Chose Amtrak Business Class
When booking my travel home to Buffalo for Thanksgiving, I was diligently pricing out my options. Given that it is the busiest travel day of the year, any affordable option was out the window. Airfare was upwards of $300 for a one-way flight, and rental cars were non-existent. Enter: Amtrak!
I have taken the Amtrak between Buffalo and NYC before. While it’s a long ride (about 8-9 hours), it really isn’t that unpleasant. You have plenty of legroom, big seats, and can get up and walk around whenever you want. Plus, I really enjoy watching the scenery change from city to rural and stopping in towns across New York State. As the slogan says, I really do love NY! Thankfully, Amtrak still had plenty of seats available and for about half the cost of airfare. I’ve only ever booked a coach ticket before, so when a screen popped up asking if I wanted to upgrade to Business Class for only $40 more, it gave me some food for thought.
At the end of the day, I figured: why not? Since it was such a busy travel day, I would have a guaranteed seat and a more “VIP” experience. Plus, I could have the opportunity to compare the two experiences so I knew for future trips.
Boarding at Penn Station
When you hear the term “business class” you almost expect to be treated like royalty. Maybe I was a bit naive, but I was expecting some kind of lounge or private waiting room. Unfortunately none of that was the case.
I arrived at Penn Station about an hour before my train, hoping to have some time to enjoy some extra perks of being a business class traveller. Shocking or not, there was nothing of the sort. I ended up waiting in the generic Amtrak waiting room, just like everyone else, staring up at a big screen waiting for them to announce our track number.
When it was time to board, I thought “this is it”. Unfortunately, not the case yet again. I waited in the same single file line as all the passengers. However, when I showed my ticket to the conductor, she did direct me all the way to the end of the platform to the business class car. My time to shine! The business class car is at the very end of the train, which is certainly nice for many reasons, but the interior looked just like every other Amtrak train I’ve been on. I settled into my seat and rolled my eyes at the extra $40 I felt I flushed down the toilet.
The Onboard Experience
Once onboard there were certainly a few small perks, but enough to make the extra fee worth it?
The seats were disappointing, and arguably worse than the ones in coach. While equal in size and comfort, there was a fixed partition in between the double seats. Meaning, when there was no one sitting next to you, there was no way to lie down or put your feet up. This really irritated me. There was about an hour of time when the seat next to me was open and I would have loved a little bit of lounge time, but I couldn’t. Sitting upright for 9 hours is exhausting!
When it came time to show our tickets, we had a dedicated conductor that was responsible just for our car. That was nice, but seemed very unnecessary, given there were only a couple dozen seats in business class. The conductors aren’t like flight attendants and don’t bring you drinks or snacks. Their sole purpose is to check tickets and answer questions.
However, one of the best parts of Amtrak business class is the fact that our car was at the end of the train. This meant that there was no other passengers walking through and it was very quiet. Directly in front of our car was the snack bar, which was convenient. It was nice to have our own dedicated space that no one else would be entering unless they had a business class seat.
Other Factors
One perk that often sells a lot of customers on business class is the unlimited free soft drinks. When you go to the snack bar, just show your business class ticket and you can receive complementary coffee, tea, soda, or juice – as often as you’d like. The snack bar had other packaged snacks as well as hot food, but keep in mind that everything that’s “cooked” is done so in a microwave. Best to bring something to eat on the train with you from the start.
After traveling this route several times before, I knew to expect that the wifi would be inconsistent. However, I had hoped in the back of my mind that there’d be premium wifi for business class! Unfortunately not. We were stuck with the same, awful wifi as everyone else. I think I got a total of about an hours’ worth of work done. Disappointing for sure, so manage your expectations ahead of time.
Was Amtrak Business Class Worth It?
All things considered, I probably won’t be booking Amtrak business class again any time soon. The only reason I’m glad I did on this specific trip was because it was such a busy travel day. I was relieved to have a dedicated assigned seat so I didn’t have to duke it out in coach. Otherwise, the added benefits of free drinks and the location of the car just aren’t worth it for me. At the end of the day, it was only $40 more so I don’t feel too guilty about making the splurge. I guess I’m just a coach girl through and through!
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