CHICAGO — Amtrak business-class passengers no longer receive free admission to Chicago Union Station’s Metropolitan Lounge, although a $35 day pass is available.
Enlarged and reimagined at a new location within the sprawling facility in 2016, the Metropolitan Lounge’s primary function has been to serve transferring long-distance sleeping car passengers. It is a multi-level place to relax, offering snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.
The change became effective Oct. 1 — in part, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari tells Trains News Wire, because “the new Amtrak Midwest railcars have significantly more seats in business class than we’ve been offering on the Amtrak Midwest network.”
The Siemens Venture business class cars, featuring 1-2 seating, have about twice the capacity of the half-car business sections of Horizon and Amfleet I cafes now operating on routes out of Chicago. So far, the new cars have carried only coach travelers [see “Venture business class cars debut …,” News Wire, April 13, 2023]. That is likely to continue until Venture cafes are delivered beginning in 2024.
Lounge access varies nationwide
Amtrak Guest Rewards members with Select Plus (at least 10,000 annual tier qualifying points) and Select Executive (20,000+ points) status may use a premium lounge on the day of travel, even on a coach ticket, though a Chicago Metropolitan Lounge agent recently insisted that a Select Plus member required a separate day pass.
Any Guest Rewards participant can also redeem a “complimentary” day pass for 1,500 points.
Business class passengers may still use the smaller, unstaffed lounges at St. Louis and Portland, Ore. Policies elsewhere include:
— Los Angeles Union Station’s Metropolitan Lounge is available to business class passengers for $25
— Northeast Corridor business class passengers may buy day passes at Metropolitan and Club Acela staffed lounges for $35 at Boston and Philadelphia, or New York’s Moynihan Train Hall for $50. According to Amtrak’s website, business class customers don’t have a Metropolitan Lounge option at Washington D.C. Union Station.
— In addition to St. Louis, unstaffed lounges at New Orleans; St. Paul, Minn.; and Wilmington, Del., may be used by sleeping car passengers, complementary single-visit pass holders, and Select Plus and Select Executive Guest Reward members.
Chicago’s Metropolitan Lounge is busiest from mid-morning to mid-afternoon for westbound passengers, and again late afternoon into the evening for travelers making eastbound connections. With a few exceptions, Michigan, St. Louis, and downstate Illinois departures with business class generally aren’t scheduled when most long-distance trains are loading, but late inbounds from the west can make the lounge a busy place.
This way management can charge all the costs of the lounge to the LD network. Don’t put anything past Gardner and Coscia to make the trains financials as bad as possible.
Getting use of the lounge in Chicago was pretty much the only reason to upgrade to Business Class on the Lake Shore Limited when I took it Boston-Chicago and back last year. However, if access to the showers in Chicago is included in the $35 day pass, that sweetens the deal… being able to freshen up before switching to the Zephyr was great. Also having a secure place to stash luggage so that you can stroll around the city was handy. I found the lounge employees to be helpful.
If the fully allocated cost of the lounges is baked into first class and business class fares, passengers with those bookings should be able to use them. If the costs are not covered by the fares, they along with any other passengers that want to use the lounge should pay the daily rate. Asking the taxpayers to support a lounge for passengers on a money losing passenger railroad is over the top.
SUPER disappointed to read that Wolverine biz class travelers won’t have free access to Met Lounge at Chicago Union Station. Now I understand why they downgraded me from biz to coach at the very last minute three weeks ago. The lounge was literally the reason why I purchased biz class fares on the Wolverine between Detroit and Chicago. I have been a big advocate of using Michigan Amtrak trains to/from Chicago but will just drive or fly between Detroit and Chicago from now on. I’m not going to pay for a biz class seat and also pay $35 to sit in the Metropolitan Lounge for an hour on my return trips to Michigan. Amtrak will lose business due to this change.
I rode Amtrak from Chicago to Detroit New Center (and return) in “business” class. Meaning I had a seat next to the queue for the snack bar.
That was many years ago. Hopefully with the new Siemens trainsets business class will be improved.
With the exception of the NYC lounge all of the Amtrak lounges are dated and by comparison to any airline lounge are sad. The waiting rooms in St Louis and New Orleans are quite simply tragic dumps. The LA lounge is extremely dated. Amtrak does an extremely bad job of serving premium customers.
Guest Rewards is also a sad loyalty program with few partners.
This seems to be the trend even with Airlines. Delta airlines changed their policy. You use to be able to access it you bought a yearly pass or had a reserve AMEX card. No more now. You have to be a certain status of flier based on your purchase of tickets. Delta said change came about do to overcrowding at Sky Clubs across the system. I am sure other airlines going in same direction.
This could kill my proposed use of AMTK’s Boston-Washington sleeper! Last time I used it in 2000 I got kicked off at a 6AM DC arrival while the power got killed for switching before the train continued on the Richmond/Newport News for some reason (who goes there that early? Now no more anti-Southerner remarks!). But the AMTK lounge was open and available to sleeper psgrs so I and others made use of it both for the buffet and the cleaning facilities. Now we won’t be able to do that; now no overnight trips to visit family or railfan trips out of Baltimore or Philadelphia; bad enough that AMTK tries to schedule for overnight business out of Newport News and Richmond; a number of sleepers get taken only for NY Penn from points south.
Surely AMTK could continue having lounge accommodation as part of the sleeper package!
Might as well just not go or drive down! Flying is uncivilized, more like Flying Cattle instead of Flying Tiger.
Access and fees to
staffed Metropolitan lounges across the system needs to be the same. I know the NYP lounge is exceptional which sets it far apart from the others. The employee at the Chicago lounge that wasn’t aware of the new rules is not a surprise. Typical performance of an Amtrak employee.
This was expected.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Businesses treating some customers as being “more equal” than other customers aren’t noted for their longevity.