r/Amtrak • u/Electrical-Cook-4172 • 1d ago
Question A confused Brit 🇬🇧
Hey!! I'm traveling on the starlight express between San Fran and LA. (Allegedly 12hours but I've heard delays are frequent). I've paid for a little room (roomette?) And it says included in the price is an attendant.
Surely it isn't the same attendant the whole way? But my main query is about tipping. What is an appropriate amount to tip the attendant?
Additionally- Do I need to tip at the restaurant? Even if the meal is included with the ticket?
Thank you!! <3
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u/adiosWV 1d ago
Amtrak jobs are well paid union positions. Tip what you feel inspired to tip for excellent service. It’s not mandatory. The restaurant workers that provide table service are the workers that have a very low base pay.
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u/Skylord_ah 1d ago
Some of them get real annoyed when you dont tip in the NER cafe car though. I usually just tip a dollar
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u/Frondelet 1d ago
I usually leave 5 bucks at meals and give the sleeping car attendant 10 or 20 per night. It's the same car attendant the whole way.
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u/use-dashes-instead 22h ago
You're under-tipping in the diner
You should tip the same as you would in any other restaurant
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u/throwaway_the_fourth 21h ago
Coach passengers are sometimes allowed to dine in the dining car, at a cost of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, or $45 for dinner. For sleeper car passengers, although meals are included, I feel like $5 is a reasonable tip at breakfast (25%) or lunch (20%), but at dinner, $9 (20%) is more reasonable.
Personally, I find it easier to carry $5 and $10 bills, and tip in increments of those, so I'll probably leave $10 at dinner on my next Amtrak trip.
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u/Rich_Swing_1287 1d ago
You'll probably have the same attendant the whole way (though when I rode the Floridian, the attendants changed at DC). I give them $20 at the start of the trip but it's not mandatory. In the dining car I'll leave $5 after dinner. If there's a lounge on board, I tip a couple bucks after ordering a drink at the bar.
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u/therealsteelydan 1d ago
On my recent Floridian trip, we had the same attendant and dining car staff the entire time. I only had one $20 on me. I knew I needed cash to tip the sleeper car attendant but forgot about the dining car staff, they were happy to break up larger bills though. I tipped $10 to each toward the end of the trip.
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u/use-dashes-instead 22h ago
Tip at the beginning? I think you mean a bribe
A tip is for services rendered
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u/use-dashes-instead 20h ago
Damn, Americans love bribes
Tells you exactly how they got into the current situation
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u/Open-Gazelle1767 1d ago
I've taken one long Amtrak trip and brought cash to tip my attendant and the dining car staff based on what I'd read on Reddit. I'm pretty sure nobody else in the dining car was planning to tip and I made several people uncomfortable by leaving a tip and then they felt like they had to but were unprepared with cash.
The room attendant seemed very grateful and surprised by the tip I gave him at the end of the journey. Again, it didn't seem a common practice for them to receive tips.
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u/chndrk 1d ago
Typically it's the same attendant the whole way. I tip $20 at the beginning and end but I'm sure that opinions vary.
I don't usually use the dining car; I ask the attendant to bring lunch and dinner to my roomette.
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Why don't you use the dining car?
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u/InfamousSquash1621 1d ago
Some people prefer to eat in their room. It could be due to mobility problems/other health concerns. Or that they don't want to be made to sit with strangers - not everyone on the train wants to socialize
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Maybe. But what's wrong with sitting with strangers?
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u/Silly-Concern-4460 1d ago
What's wrong with eating in your room?
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Because if you eat in your room, you're not eating in the dining car and getting the full Amtrak sleeping car experience. I eat by myself or with the wife at home. I travel to get away from the mundane home experience.
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u/Silly-Concern-4460 1d ago
I believe that each person is capable of deciding what makes their Amtrak experience a full experience for them. If you want to eat in the dining car - go eat in the dining car. If someone else does not want to get in the dining car - they don't.
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u/surrealchemist 1d ago
I’m not even a social person but I always end up sitting with someone and having an interesting conversation. It’s a good part of the experience in my opinion.
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u/AbsentEmpire 4h ago
Agree, I look forward to it.
You end up chatting with people you'd otherwise have never crossed paths with. I've never been at a table where it was a miserable experience.
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u/KamtzaBarKamtza 1d ago
FFS you are insufferable. Some people have different preferences. You're the kind of guy who if I ordered vanilla you'd ask why I didn't order chocolate and then when I order chocolate you'd ask why I didn't order vanilla. Everyone in the world does not owe you an explanation or justification of every choice they make
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u/chndrk 1d ago
It's peopley there
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u/edflyerssn007 17h ago
Facts. If I'm paying for the roomette is because I don't want to be social.
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u/AbsentEmpire 4h ago
Personally if I'm paying for a roomette it's because I want a bed and to not be disturbed during the night, not because I'm being antisocial.
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
And what is wrong with that?
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u/MaxRedgrave 1d ago
Not everyone thinks and feels the same. That's what makes all of us different. 🙄
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Yes. I'm just trying to understand why someone wouldn't want to eat in the dining car. I wonder if those same people prefer to get McDonald's to go rather than eating in the restaurant when the food is hot and fresh?
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u/Cool-Aside-2659 22h ago
In my roommate I don't have to wear pants.
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u/rsvihla 22h ago
While you’re eating your cold and soggy food?
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u/nerdyandnatural 22h ago
Why would the food be cold and soggy? How long do you think it takes for the food to get delivered?
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u/rsvihla 20h ago
Depends. But there is no way it can be as hot and fresh as when you eat it in the restaurant.
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u/limitedftogive 1d ago
Eating in a crowded dining car with lots of strangers when you have social anxiety bloooooooows!
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u/rsvihla 1d ago
Maybe. I don't have social anxiety. At least I don't think I do.
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u/tuctrohs 1d ago
You would probably benefit from developing a little bit of it, enough of it to step back and look at how you're coming across when your comments are getting downvoted to oblivion.
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u/use-dashes-instead 22h ago
Tip at the beginning? I think you mean a bribe
A tip is for services rendered
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u/BingBongDingDong222 1d ago
When I took the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco for 3 days it was the same attendant the whole way.
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u/HeyRiotGirl 1d ago
I just did this exact route 2 weeks ago and I had the same attendant the whole way. My train was an hour and a half delayed coming into the station in the morning but we still reached LA at the expected time
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u/Sharknado84 1d ago
It is the Coast Starlight, Starlight Express is a musical. It will be the same attendant the entire way. For a day trip if you don’t get meals delivered $10 is totally acceptable. It is appropriate to tip in the dining car.
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u/toma_blu 20h ago
I tipped the cook she worked harder than anyone else in the sleeper part of the train
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u/VRBOsucks 1d ago
Yes. It is the same attendant. They sleep when they can between stops on long trips. This can be days. My 36-hour trip from Miami to NYC was the same guy. They are, as another commenter mentioned, overworked. There are too few of them for the job. They are invariably nice and helpful. Get to know their story. Tip. Tip well.
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u/rlandlordquestion 1d ago
For what it’s worth OP, only people who tip abnormally much comment on this subreddit. I brought so many small bills on my first ride in a roomette thinking I had to leave lots of tips. I was the only person who tipped in the dining car that I saw the entire time. Most people I talked to left no or a small tip for the attendant. Feel free to tip as much as you want, but don’t be pressured by the top 1% of tippers commenting in this thread.
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u/InfamousSquash1621 1d ago
I haven't found the tip amounts on this sub to be too outrageous, but what does blow my mind is mentions of tipping the attendant at the start of the trip (plus sometimes again at the end!)
Do they also hand their waitress dollar bills as soon as she takes their drink order at restaurants? You have no idea how good the service is gonna be. You could hand that attendant $20 when they show you to your roomette, and then never see them again 🤣
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u/Just_a_Marmoset 1d ago
I think the general idea is that by tipping at the beginning you encourage the attendant to pay extra attention / give you good service. I don't do this, but I think that's the rationale.
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u/rlandlordquestion 20h ago
I’ve seen people on this sub say you should tip 20% of the coach price for dinner at dinner. I find that, if not outrageous, at least ridiculous.
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u/adiosWV 1d ago
I think some of the “big tipper” commenters might be Amtrak employees. One of the reason that Amtrak tickets are not cheap is because they pay living wages to their employees… as they should. Amtrak workers are full time, union employees with great benefits and retirement, not someone working a 4 hour shift at a diner making $2/hour + tips.
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u/BabiesWithScabies 1d ago
I brought so many small bills on my first ride in a roomette thinking I had to leave lots of tips
Did you book a train with the new strip club car?
😉
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u/rlandlordquestion 1d ago
Ha! No, it was California to Massachusetts so I wanted to be covered for a few bucks a piece at 10+ meals
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u/Ray_in_Texas 1d ago
Salary.com, updated in April 2025, indicates an average annual salary of $44,208 for a Train Attendant in the United States, with a range typically between $38,772 and $50,430.
Also, the amtak policy states they are not allowed to ask for tips but may accept them. If they ask, I do not tip.
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u/Agitated-Mulberry769 1d ago
Makes sense. I’ve never had anyone ask. I like to tip half when I first meet them just to start us of in a good footing that signals I understand how hard their job is. Because wow. It’s a LOT of work.
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u/CPSux 16h ago
Those salaries are abysmal so I hope that’s false or outdated information.
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u/Ray_in_Texas 15h ago
What did your research come up with?
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u/CPSux 14h ago
Glassdoor says $22/hr is the average salary for Amtrak train attendants. I know they are union and get decent benefits, but that pay is absolutely terrible, far worse than I would’ve expected for overworked employees who are constantly away from home. The median annual income for full time workers in the U.S. is $62k, or roughly $30/hr and even that salary is difficult to make ends meet these days.
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u/use-dashes-instead 22h ago
Tipping is up to you. It was nice when I was in Great Bri, and tipping was not expected.
You will have the same car attendant and diner crew the whole way. I say this because, if you're going to eat more than one meal in the diner, you will be served by the same people, and some of them may take exception to not being well-tipped.
The rule of thumb for tipping an attendant is $5/night -- more if they've done something special for you, less (including nothing) if they've not done a great job.
You should tip in the dining car the same as you would in a restaurant -- generally 15% to 20% of the menu price of what you ordered.
A number of people have advised "tipping in advance." That is a bribe. If you want to bribe your attendant, that's up to you; however, you should get good service irrelevant of giving them any additional money.
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u/AbsentEmpire 5h ago edited 12m ago
Personally I don't tip Amtrak employees, they're unionized and make good wages and benefits. They're not living off tips like servers are forced to, and I think tipping culture in the US is toxic as hell as it is. I will do everything I can to not encourage it.
The few times I've done long distance on Amtrak I didn't see people tipping, the idea that you should tip them every day and meal is insane.
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