Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Business Class: Is It Worth It?
We took the Pacific Surfliner on our recent trip from Los Angeles to Disneyland. The journey from Los Angeles Union Station to Anaheim only takes about 40 minutes, but I have decided to splurge on the business class seats anyway. Mainly because a business class ticket grants you access to the Metropolitan lounge at the Union Station, and we do love lounges.
Table of Contents
Overview
Pacific Surfliner is a passenger train service covering 351-mile route along the California coastline from San Diego to San Luis Obispo with the stops at such popular locations as Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Anaheim. You can see the list of stations served by Pacific Surfliner here.
Pacific Surfliner partners with many transit providers that offer passengers free connection to the local attractions like Disneyland or Santa Barbara Zoo. Get the transfer details here.
Cost
A Coach ticket from Los Angeles to Anaheim costs $16 for an adult and $8 for a child (2-12). Upgrade to the Business Class for this trip was $10/person. No child discount on the upgrade.
Our total cost for one adult and one child was $44. It came out ~$1 per minute of the train ride.
At The Station
As I have mentioned earlier, the Metropolitan Lounge was one of the main draws of booking the business class ticket. See our full review here.
We hang out at the lounge for about half an hour when the lounge attendant announced it was time to head to the train platform. We had no idea that we would be driven there by Red Caps! They loaded our luggage (and us) in the golf carts and off we went. I am very thankful for this as our train platform turned out to be quite far away.
On The Train
We left our luggage in the storage area on the lower deck and headed to the top deck, an obvious choice as we don’t have double-decker trains in Maine.
The seats are arranged in 2-2 configuration. They were quite comfortable with plenty of legroom.
There are 120V outlets by the window if you need to recharge your electronic devices.
Shortly after we departed, a snack box was served.
I love the saying on the box – “Eat Well. Travel Often”. This is what my go-to travel shirt says.
The snack box contained:
- crackers
- spreadable cheese
- trail mix
- beef stick
- pretzels
- chocolate chip cookies
In addition to the snacks, you get a selection of beverages (soft drinks and white or red wine).
Other Perks
In addition to the lounge access (only at the Los Angeles station), roomy seats, and complimentary snacks and drinks, Business Class fare comes with:
- Guaranteed seat
- 25% bonus Amtrak Rewards points
- Fully refundable fare if canceled prior to departure
- Free newspaper
- A dedicated attendant, who can answer questions and assist with luggage
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed our quick, 40-minute ride in the Business Class of Pacific Surfliner. I wouldn’t say it is necessary to upgrade to Business Class for a short trip but the perks that came with the $20 upgrade cost were worth it to us.
