Standard or First Class Travel to client site

[kal]

So £20 a day for "free coffee and breakfast"

And dinner/drinks in the evening I think, don't know whether they dole out free booze though

[Old Hack]

Do they do that on planes too?

Interesting question. I'd venture it would be hard to simply walk into First Class and sit down.

[bobspud]

I try and travel First class when ever possible mostly for the empty carriage and lack of plebs. I also value the ability to open my laptop without a battle for space. It does make the journey more relaxing.

[kal]

I try and travel First class when ever possible mostly for the empty carriage and lack of plebs. I also value the ability to open my laptop without a battle for space. It does make the journey more relaxing.

My train pass finishes today and as I am off on holiday soon I only need to buy a one week pass next week, may as well make it a 1st class one and try it out (oh and free booze is provided, just not at breakfast )

[original PM]

I agree - nothing more annoying than sitting next to some sweaty muppet...

oh and the ladies in first class or a better class to!

[Zippy]

I agree - nothing more annoying than sitting next to some sweaty muppet...

oh and the ladies in first class or a better class to!

Oi! We travel first class to avoid the likes of you.

[Spacecadet]

I tried first class Leeds Manchester - wasn't worth it. Most of the time the train was so rammed they allowed the proles into first class.

Depends which trains you catch. I learnt early on which ones were double length and so worth catching.
Of course at least once a week First Trans-Pennine would **** it up and the train would be half length and bursting at the seems... or the train before was cancelled... or the train was so late that everyone who turned up for the next train was also on it.

But given that it wasn't a great deal extra for the first class seats I thought it was money well spent

[Spacecadet]

Morning

Was wondering if any of you who do a daily commute by train elect to travel first class rather than cattle (standard). At the moment I travel on Virgin between Birmingham International and Watford/Euston on a daily basis. Its costs me approx £1070 a month on standard class. I was thinking of maybe upgrading to first class, a months travel is £1490, roughly £100 a week more. It does mean that I get to avoid the huddled masses (some of those trains are full to bursting, especially in the evening), free wifi and I hear that they serve breakfast and dinner/drinks as well (which may offset the extra £££).

Any of you do this? Is it worth the extra money for a more pleasant journey. Are the food/drinks on offer of a good standard or is it similar to the ropy buffet car subsistence on offer in standard?

how does the extra £400 per month compare to your day rate?
Would you do anything useful on the train or will you just be sat in first class picking your nose and watching Game of Thrones?

[Old Hack]

how does the extra £400 per month compare to your day rate?
Would you do anything useful on the train or will you just be sat in first class picking your nose and watching Game of Thrones?

Part of my new contract, is that hours worked outside of the office count, so the 2 hours London to Taunton are billable.

I don't think I could justify the extra if it wasn't.

[Paddy]

I used first class so that I could get a seat and have space to work. My bookable day starts when I am working, not when I arrive at client co. However, South West Swindling Thieving Sh1t Trains don’t bother to clean the trains properly and the seats in first class resemble that of a 25 year old Ford Sierra with 250,000 miles on the clock and now used buy a builder. We never get free food on trains down South. We just get abusive staff and delayed trains.
Anyway, I now use standard class and leave half an hour later in order to get a seat. It saves £250 pm .