Why Amtrak Acela First Class feels like poor valueRunway Girl

Finding myself on yet another New York to Washington D.C. business trip, I wanted to try something different. I have flown the airline shuttles and taken Amtrak’s flagship Acela service many times, but I’ve never bothered upgrading to Acela First Class. With Amtrak’s current Acela fleet slated to retire in the coming years, I wanted to try the legacy First Class product before it is gone.

I submitted a BidUp offer to First Class at one dollar above the minimum bid of $136 for the D.C.-New York leg. The upgrade offer was accepted just under two hours before departure, after I had already made lunch plans which negated much of the value of the upgrade.

Starting my trip in D.C.’s Union Station, the regret immediately kicked in. While New York’s Moynihan Train Hall features an Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge that can compete with even the newest US airline lounges, the lounge at Union Station is an entirely different situation.

The small space looks straight out of the 1990s and offers nothing more than some seating, packaged snacks, a mini fridge of beverages and a coffee machine.

I’m honestly not sure why anyone would spend a minute more than necessary in this lounge, though given Union Station’s lack of seating it may be beneficial during a prolonged departure delay.

Passengers can exit the lounge directly to the track area at Union Station, but the early boarding option brings no benefit since all seats on Acela are assigned.

Amtrak’s First Class car attendant greeted passengers at the boarding door, which was a genuinely nice touch.

Unlike many airline first class services, though, a pre-departure beverage was not offered. This mattered less in Acela First Class, however, because the drink and meal service kicked off almost immediately after departure from D.C.

Acela Business Class, the other only class of service onboard, offers a variety of seating configured 2-2. Acela First Class is a wider 1-2 layout, but many of the seats share a two- or four-seat table.

Of the 38 seats in this First Class car, only five are solo seats that do not share a table with another seat. Apparently, nearly a quarter century ago when Amtrak launched Acela, it expected groups of business travelers to book First Class rather than solo travelers.

The end result is that you might end up sharing a table with strangers. Hardly a First Class experience.

The First Class seats also don’t really feel any more comfortable than Business Class. But, with a light load on this train, I was able to sit at a four-seat table by myself.

The main benefit of Acela’s First Class service is the full meal and complimentary alcoholic beverage service. A printed menu was distributed before departure, and I was sipping a lovely La Colombe Cold Brew coffee six minutes after departure.

Amtrak has partnered with STARR Restaurant Group to offer a rotating menu from its various Northeast US brands, with options from Philadelphia’s PARC and Buddakan showcased on the current menu.

I opted for Buddakan’s black pepper beef, which was served on a single tray with a dinner roll and key lime pie in a jar.

My meal was served just 17 minutes after departure, quicker than most flights can taxi from gate to runway. This quick but thoughtful service was appreciated.

As evident in the above image, the presentation of the main dish left a lot to be desired, but that is likely a result of the extremely turbulent ride. Amtrak’s heavy train thrashes through switches, and tosses passengers in a way that would never be tolerated in the air.

The main dish tasted good, but not great. In hindsight, I should have ordered the other meal, PARC’s coq au vin.

Mixed nuts in a proper dish were served roughly an hour after the main meal.

Doing the math, Acela First Class is a bad deal even at the lowest bid offer. My $136 included lounge access that I value at $0, a seat I found to be akin to the lower class of service, and a meal with unlimited beverages.

With that $136 I could have purchased the entire Cafe Acela Lunch & Dinner — and hot favorites — menus with enough money leftover for a S.Pellegrino sparkling water.

At least Amtrak isn’t stingy and lets First Class passengers order as many drinks as they want, which can add up.

Now that Amtrak has taken back control of D.C.’s Union Station it will have the opportunity to open a lounge actually worth visiting, and the years-late Acela fleet replacement will offer a more traditional seating layout with a lower number of shared table seats.

Until those things happen, though, Acela First Class is not worth the asking price.

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