After our Capitol Limited train pulled into Chicago, we made our way from the arrival gates into Chicago Union Station
First, we had figured out that we didn’t need most of our suitcases. When we boarded in Toledo, we were running a bit late. Our 5:08 train arrival meant a 3:45 a.m. wakeup call, so we didn’t have a ton of time in the morning. We ended up just carrying on all of our suitcases onto the train – since we had 2 bedroom sleeper cars, it was fine (slightly cramped but manageable). Now that we had a bit more time, we first went to the Amtrak ticket counter and checked 5 of our suitcases on to Denver.
Thankfully we didn’t have 17 pieces of luggage like we did the last time we FLEW!
Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge “amenities”
There was a bit of a line to enter the Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge, but it moved quickly.
Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge entrance queue
As we were greeted, the agent looked at our tickets, and gave us passes to enter. She mentioned the “amenities” that were available. The Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge website says that the Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge has snacks and beverages, and we were hoping to be able to make that into lunch. However, the amenities turned out to be Lays potato chips and a pop machine.
Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge “amenities”
Now, our family is known to be loose with the definition of “lunch” (Saturday sample day at Costco, anyone?) but this stretched even our destination. There’s a food court on the upper level of Union Station, but I ended up taking one of my kids around downtown Chicago where we found a McDonalds. Naturally, after we got back to Union Station, we found that the food court ALSO had a McDonalds #fail.
Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge wi-fi
The Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge does offer complimentary wi-fi, though I had a lot of trouble accessing it.  There are actually 2 different wi-fi networks, #1 and #2, but both my wife and my phone could only see #2, and that one didn’t seem to work.
When I asked the attendant, she was less than helpful and suggested that I check with “a computer guy”, which I found ironically amusing :-). Â There are 2 desktop computers there in the lounge, but the Internet was SUPER slow on those, to the point of unusability.
Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge seating
The seating at Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge is pretty expansive. Â There’s probably room for at least 150-200 people, and while it did get a bit crowded during our stay, there was room for everyone. Â If you’re tired, you might be able to use some of the seating to take a nap
Worn out from the 4am wakeup call!
Of course, it helps if you’re only about 3 feet tall…. 😛
The Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge does have a place to check your bags, but we opted to just keep our luggage with us since we were only going to be there for a few hours.  On the way back, we also connected through Chicago, but because our trip was so delayed, we didn’t get to check out the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge – instead, we had to run, Amazing Race style, through Union Station!
Buffet at the Amex Centurion Lounge – NOT The Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge
All in all, it probably beats having to hang out at the station, but nowhere near even a domestic airline lounge, not to mention international airline lounges.  Checkout my reviews of the airline lounges “The Club” at the ATL airport, or the American Express Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas and compare those to the “amenities” of the Chicago Union Station Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge and it’s not even close.
- Introduction: Big heads, Trains and Bears, oh my!
- My (free) $6500 family train vacation on Amtrak
- Holy Toledo! The lunacy in trying to book this Ohio hotel
- Why you want to transfer Amtrak points to Choice Hotels
- How I spent 350,401 miles and points
- You can book unlimited Choice Hotel award nights?
- Checking historical Amtrak delays
- Amtrak Union Station Toledo parking
- 4 reasons my Amtrak trip was a blast…
- … but I’ll probably never take another Amtrak trip
- 4 laundry hacks when you're doing long term travel
- Amtrak Union Station Chicago Metropolitan Lounge
- Boiling River Yellowstone
- Do you take hotel toiletries, pens and other amenities?
- Finding the REAL geographic center of the United States
- How to get compensation for Amtrak delays
- Amtrak tips: Tipping on Amtrak
- Ranking the 8 hotels we stayed at on our vacation
- Updating my travel map with new visited places
- How I spent 350,401 points
- Why I didn’t spend $9,144.92 on my vacation
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Amtrak is opening a new lounge at Chicago Union Station on June 27, 2016 that is much larger with expanded food options including fresh fruit and sandwiches.
Yup I heard that and was able to check out a little bit while we were there (behind some construction barriers). Bummed I missed the new Amtrak lounge by a matter of a few weeks!
Wife and I were at that “new” Chicago Union Station on Sept. 2nd, 2017 — and what a letdown!
Yes, we were on Amtrak Business class on the Cardinal to Charlottesville…. so that’s how we got in to the lounge. Arrived 3 hours early.
The lounge has lots of new, if bland furniture. Had a single soda dispenser — with some fun options. But NO fruits, no sandwiches, almost nothing…. except for several different spicy trailmixes (about an hour before train departure…… THAT WAS IT.
Pathetic.
Oh, and the amtrak train (the “Cardinal”) did NOT have working internet. (Ok, it worked barely for about an hour — out of the 23 hours it took — lots of delays around Cincinnati and Indianapolis btw) Again, PATHETIC.
Yes, I saw the paid bloggers (Angelina) who last year raved about the Cardinal business class…. (be a while before I cool off enough to offer “the rest of the story” rejoinder to that shill job….)
Bummer – that sounds about the same quality as the old lounge – I had such high hopes for the new one….
I was there in July 2016 when it had recently opened and was very large with variety of snacks and beverages. Was back there a few weeks ago and they did put out fresh munchies of veggies and fruit and we also got a complimentary glass of sparkling wine. They now have a full bar where you can buy cocktails if you wish. I do remember the old one which was much smaller and did not have much to offer except a place to sit. The new one is on 2 levels, upstairs is a quiet zone and downstairs has various TV’s showing news reports too.
Yes it sounds like the new lounge is much nicer than the old one – I haven’t ridden Amtrak through Chicago since the new lounge has been open but will check it out next time I’m through
My name is LUTHER Wright i am am FROM WILSON NC and I just BEEN attacked by a Amtrak Employee and reference of a ticket dispute with his wife at the WILSON NC location TODD CAME AND TRIED TO ATTACK ME ON PENDER AND ROBINSON STREET WILSON NC
AROUND 5:20pm this LUTHER Wright WILSON NC