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 because the drink and meal service kicked off almost immediately after departure from D.C.
Acela Business Class, the only other 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 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 an image provided by Jason Rabinowitz (author), “the presentation of the main dish left a lot to be desired,” likely due to turbulence during travel. The heavy train thrashes through switches and tosses passengers in ways that would never be tolerated in air travel.
The main dish tasted good but not great. In hindsight, I should have ordered PARC’s coq au vin instead.
Mixed nuts in proper dishes were served roughly an hour after the main meal.
Doing the math reveals that Acela First Class is not cost-effective even at the lowest bid offer. My $136 included lounge access valued at $0 by me personally; seating akin to Business Class; and meals 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 S.Pellegrino sparkling water.”
At least Amtrak isn’t stingy about allowing First-Class passengers as many drinks as they want; this can add up significantly over time for some passengers.
Now that Amtrak has taken back control of D.C.’s Union Station it will have opportunities like opening new lounges actually worth visiting alongside replacing old fleet units offering more traditional seating layouts reducing shared tables' numbers across classes onboard.
Until those things happen though,"Acela First Class is not worth asking price."
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All images credited to Jason Rabinowitz
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