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Cardinal adds business class
I wish Amtrak had the resources to provide a quality 2-1 seating business class in all its long-distance trains, especially the overnight routes. As a single traveler, a roomette or bedroom is usually too expensive. Coach seating is very comfortable, but if you are traveling solo and get stuck with an aisle seat, it is very difficult to sleep without ending up leaning onto the stranger seated next to you.
Mr. Smith, Amtrak sleeping accomodations are expensive but by using Guest Rewards points you can travel for free including meals. Get a Guest Rewards Master Card and charge everything (I use $10.00 as a minimum) and when when you get the bill pay it off entirely. Be careful not to charge more than you can afford to pay off. Then the only cost will be the annual fee ($70) which is a cheap price to pay for almost any sleeping car trip. I haven’t paid for sleeping car accomodations in the years that the Guest Rewards program has been in effect. I do pay for coach tickets (and some Business Class) to get the 3X points and conserve points for more expensive trips. During a 10 day western circle trip a couple of years ago I avoided the $2,300 in fares and used points exclusively for sleepers only paying about $100 for three coach tickets. Great deal.
The Cardinal has two Viewliners during heavy traffic times. It had two when I got a roomette for me and my grandson on short notice last May so I could bring him east to see 611. Our attendant said it also routinely has two over the Thanksgiving - Christmas period. This business-class with 2-1 seating is a nice feature. Once I was booked business class on a Northeast Regional and was placed in one of those. Very roomy and comfortable.
What is the strategy here? Did IPH’s operation of the “Hoosier State” evidence an unbeknownst interest in business class, even if this train has not increased traffic overall? Or, is this an effort to provide some continuity, if not, some competition, between the two operators on the CHI-IND route?
Or, to what extent is the addition of business class merely an effort to market this train as another Richmond-NYC NEC operation, by providing comparable accommodations as found on the Northeast Regionals?
Wi-Fi and Business class on the Cardinal but can’t figure out how to run this train on a daily basis? This looks much like Amtrak retaliating against Ed Ellis and Iowa Pacific Holdings much more professional and passenger-friendly operation of the “Hoosier State” with their Business Class and dome dining. Shameful how petty Amtrak is getting when they get honest competition from the private sector.
Mr.Smith,
Business class seats on AMTRAK are really not that comfortable if you are traveling overnight. They are similar to airline international business class in the 1990s. Believe me they were not that comfortable for long distance, overnight flights.