Seat Etiquette on the Train
November 29, 2010 12:52 PM Subscribe
Amtrak etiquette - what do you do with your seat when you head to the cafe car?
I realize that if you're traveling with other people it's easy to have them hold your seat. What if you're going alone, or you're with another person and you both want to go stretch your legs and grab a soda? Do you keep your seat? Take the little conductor ticket with you? If you hold your seat, what's the best way of letting other people know it's taken?
We're traveling Boston-Baltimore on the Northeast Regional for Christmas and it would be nice if we could both get up without worrying about losing our seats on an expectedly crowded train. Last time we did this trip, neither of us got up much out of fear of losing seats.
I realize that if you're traveling with other people it's easy to have them hold your seat. What if you're going alone, or you're with another person and you both want to go stretch your legs and grab a soda? Do you keep your seat? Take the little conductor ticket with you? If you hold your seat, what's the best way of letting other people know it's taken?
We're traveling Boston-Baltimore on the Northeast Regional for Christmas and it would be nice if we could both get up without worrying about losing our seats on an expectedly crowded train. Last time we did this trip, neither of us got up much out of fear of losing seats.
I always just leave my book on the seat.
posted by dayintoday at 12:57 PM on November 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by dayintoday at 12:57 PM on November 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
I'd leave a blanket or an afghan. It's been several years since I travelled via amtrak, but I was always glad to have a blanket with me. Make it one that you won't be heartbroken to lose, and ideally something easily identifiable, in case someone gets grabby (I had a kid considerably younger than me look at my blanket longingly and ask when the conducters came around to hand those out ;) ) .
And you can always find an afghan at the thrift store, or at least I've been seeing lots of them lately.
posted by lemniskate at 12:59 PM on November 29, 2010
And you can always find an afghan at the thrift store, or at least I've been seeing lots of them lately.
posted by lemniskate at 12:59 PM on November 29, 2010
It's not easy moving seats. Each seat is marked by a stub listing your destination. But yeah, leaving a tshirt or something equally unimportant is a good idea. I sometimes bring a cheap paperback for pretty much this purpose.
posted by zombieflanders at 12:59 PM on November 29, 2010
posted by zombieflanders at 12:59 PM on November 29, 2010
When I'm traveling alone, I ask the person seated next to me to please not let someone else sit there, and also leave something like a book on the seat.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:00 PM on November 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 1:00 PM on November 29, 2010 [4 favorites]
I leave a coat or a book on my seat if I'm alone and need to pee or whatever. I always bring my wallet and anything *valuable* with me, but I've never had problems with leaving an item or two to reserve my seat when wandering around the train.
If there's someone friendly looking nearby a quick "Could you watch my coat for a sec?" also does the trick making it clear that yes, I am returning and no, this seat is not up for grabs.
posted by sonika at 1:05 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
If there's someone friendly looking nearby a quick "Could you watch my coat for a sec?" also does the trick making it clear that yes, I am returning and no, this seat is not up for grabs.
posted by sonika at 1:05 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You are supposed to take your seat-check with you--I have seen conductors ask people for them in the cafe car.
And it's perfectly OK to save your seat when you go to the cafe car to get something and bring it back to your seat. If you go to the cafe car to sit for hours, it's kind of a jerk move to keep your seat as well.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:35 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
And it's perfectly OK to save your seat when you go to the cafe car to get something and bring it back to your seat. If you go to the cafe car to sit for hours, it's kind of a jerk move to keep your seat as well.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:35 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Used to take Amtrak home from university all the time.
+1 on leaving a book on the seat - a book, not a newspaper - or a blanket or something. (As a smoker, I often took one with me to the platform at stops and left the pack on my seat, serving the triple function of marking my place, indicating where I'd gone and for about how long, and being able to tell potential moochers that I'd only brought one cigarette out with me.)
BUT...There's really no assigned seating on Amtrak unless you have a compartment, so someone could move your placeholder and sit in that seat and there'd be nothing you could do about it except call him a jerk. But most people respect the 'oh, there's a coat on that seat, someone's there already' level of social etiquette that keeps us from total chaos. But enlisting the person across the aisle to watch your seat - meaning they pledge to tell a jerk that someone's sitting there - but a jerk could still ignore them; they'll eventually end up in the hell that people who stick their chewed gum wherever they like end up in, but you'll have to find another spot for the train ride
BUT THE LITTLE TICKET STUB WITH THE ODD HOLES IN IT GOES WITH YOU; that's your proof of having paid your fare, and you can potentially be ejected from the train or forced to buy a full-route fare without it.
posted by bartleby at 2:00 PM on November 29, 2010
+1 on leaving a book on the seat - a book, not a newspaper - or a blanket or something. (As a smoker, I often took one with me to the platform at stops and left the pack on my seat, serving the triple function of marking my place, indicating where I'd gone and for about how long, and being able to tell potential moochers that I'd only brought one cigarette out with me.)
BUT...There's really no assigned seating on Amtrak unless you have a compartment, so someone could move your placeholder and sit in that seat and there'd be nothing you could do about it except call him a jerk. But most people respect the 'oh, there's a coat on that seat, someone's there already' level of social etiquette that keeps us from total chaos. But enlisting the person across the aisle to watch your seat - meaning they pledge to tell a jerk that someone's sitting there - but a jerk could still ignore them; they'll eventually end up in the hell that people who stick their chewed gum wherever they like end up in, but you'll have to find another spot for the train ride
BUT THE LITTLE TICKET STUB WITH THE ODD HOLES IN IT GOES WITH YOU; that's your proof of having paid your fare, and you can potentially be ejected from the train or forced to buy a full-route fare without it.
posted by bartleby at 2:00 PM on November 29, 2010
Best answer: You'll get both a seat check and a ticket stub. After the conductor takes your ticket, he'll give you the stub. He'll stick the seat check in the luggage rack above your seat, which shows your destination. Leave the seat check there, plus a coat/book/empty bag on your seat, then take your stub with you to the cafe car in case the conductor checks. Or, do what I do, and just sit in the cafe car the whole way!
posted by yarly at 2:22 PM on November 29, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by yarly at 2:22 PM on November 29, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Funny, I have always left the ticket stub over my seat on the Northeast Corridor. Sometimes I'll leave something like a jacket or book at my seat, sometimes I won't. But I've never had someone take my seat (not even on a super-crowded trip like NYC-Boston on December 23) or had a conductor ask for the stub. I've taken that train over a hundred times and I didn't even know you were supposed to take your stub with you. So I think you should be fine just leaving the stub with or without a shirt or something on the seat.
posted by lunasol at 2:22 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by lunasol at 2:22 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've traveled by myself to/from Boston and to/from Baltimore on Amtrak from NYC tons of times and what I normally do is ask the nearest person if they'll kindly watch my stuff. As an incentive, I also sometimes ask if there's something they need or offer to take their trash away with me as I go. When I leave, I close my laptop and leave my jacket on the seat.
>>>>>lunasol: I take my wallet with me when I leave my seat to go to the cafe car so that if the conductor asks me for it, I can pull out my punched ticket stub and waive it at him or her.
posted by TrishaLynn at 2:58 PM on November 29, 2010
>>>>>lunasol: I take my wallet with me when I leave my seat to go to the cafe car so that if the conductor asks me for it, I can pull out my punched ticket stub and waive it at him or her.
posted by TrishaLynn at 2:58 PM on November 29, 2010
Just took the Northeastern train from VT to Baltimore by myself last month. Nthing leave your seat check in the luggage rack over the seat to show that someone is sitting there and also leaving something on your seat (jacket, shirt, book, etc). I've gotten up numerous times on that trip - takes about 12 hours - and gone to the restroom, cafe car, etc. and no problems. It's probably the sixth or seventh trip in the last couple of years.
The only time I had to take my stub with me was when I actually got off the train to stretch my legs at a layover. I've never had to show it while on the train.
posted by garnetgirl at 4:56 PM on November 29, 2010
The only time I had to take my stub with me was when I actually got off the train to stretch my legs at a layover. I've never had to show it while on the train.
posted by garnetgirl at 4:56 PM on November 29, 2010
I took Amtrak from NYC to Chicago alone. It was quite busy, I remember a conductor making an announcement for people not to hog seats because many more people would be getting on at each stop... but no one took my seat or touched my things when I went to the dining car(2x) and restroom (1x). I actually just left one of my suitcases there (nothing valuable in it) and a jacket on the seat. I positioned everything a specific way before I left.
Nobody touched a thing.
posted by lovelygirl at 6:42 PM on November 29, 2010
Nobody touched a thing.
posted by lovelygirl at 6:42 PM on November 29, 2010
Book, coat, etc.
I took Amtrak for maybe twenty Boston-Philly or Boston-Washington round trips in college, all solo. I never remember worrying about this, and I'm the sort of person who worries about things like this.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:16 PM on November 29, 2010
I took Amtrak for maybe twenty Boston-Philly or Boston-Washington round trips in college, all solo. I never remember worrying about this, and I'm the sort of person who worries about things like this.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:16 PM on November 29, 2010
Response by poster: It sounds like the seat check stays put, unless we want to relocate to the cafe car, and it's totally fine to leave the seats unattended for 10-20 minutes. Thanks!
posted by backseatpilot at 5:23 AM on November 30, 2010
posted by backseatpilot at 5:23 AM on November 30, 2010
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posted by Danf at 12:54 PM on November 29, 2010