Reply to: Comparison of 1st-class rail travel operators

[BA to the Stars]

I used to travel every morning from Sheffield to Nottingham - I was alone in First every day.

Nice Polynesian stewardesses used to serve me fresh orange juice dripping off their full rounded breasts.

You can't beat Virgintrains - all for £11 return per day.

Funny place to keep orange juice

[rsingh]

Get in!! I was planning on spending the money for the whole year. Nice to know I can stump up the cash for the 13 weeks at the start of the contract and then get it for free!

You only need to pay for the 8 weeks - double Boom!

[BoredBloke]

Nope - I never had any problems with Virgin Traveller it was great - 6 months 1st class return travel from Manchester to London free

I've even booked the same day and got me ticket.

Get in!! I was planning on spending the money for the whole year. Nice to know I can stump up the cash for the 13 weeks at the start of the contract and then get it for free!

[Pogle]

what is the availability if these free tickets like? Presumably they have to be booked way in advance on the commuter trains

Nope - I never had any problems with Virgin Traveller it was great - 6 months 1st class return travel from Manchester to London free

I've even booked the same day and got me ticket.

[norrahe]

East Midland trains offer nowt much on first.
Slightly bigger seats, orange juice and a miniature breakfast bar in the morning. Tea, coffee and water. and the financial times.

You have to pay extra for breakfast or any other food.

In the evening you get tea, coffee, water, some paltry red and white wine that would suffice as drain cleaner and a small packet of peanuts.
This is only available till 7pm and they stop serving wine after that.

Not worth paying £900 odd a month for on my season ticket.

[BoredBloke]

what is the availability if these free tickets like? Presumably they have to be booked way in advance on the commuter trains

[rsingh]

That may be new, I've frequently used the lounge with Advance 1st tickets and have never been asked for any dosh.

Nor me!

[rsingh]

I was budgeting for the weekly commute on one of the really early trains at about 6 to London. Booking in advance (about 3 weeks) meant that I could get this for about 55 quid in first. The jaunt back would be about 75 in first, again booking 3 weeks in advance.

Looking on their website they have this

As a Traveller member you and a partner can get away for free at any time on Friday until noon on Monday, anywhere on the Virgin Trains network, travelling First Class. The kids can travel for £10 each and under 5's go for nothing.

Does that mean that if I do what I was planning to do for a couple of months then I can qualify fo this card. Meaning that I could switch my travel so that I get free from London on the Friday afternoon and free from manchester on the monday morning - subjetc to availability!!

Exactly! My form is in the post and I await my free 1st class travel.

[BoredBloke]

I was budgeting for the weekly commute on one of the really early trains at about 6 to London. Booking in advance (about 3 weeks) meant that I could get this for about 55 quid in first. The jaunt back would be about 75 in first, again booking 3 weeks in advance.

Looking on their website they have this

As a Traveller member you and a partner can get away for free at any time on Friday until noon on Monday, anywhere on the Virgin Trains network, travelling First Class. The kids can travel for £10 each and under 5's go for nothing.

Does that mean that if I do what I was planning to do for a couple of months then I can qualify fo this card. Meaning that I could switch my travel so that I get free from London on the Friday afternoon and free from manchester on the monday morning - subjetc to availability!!

[dang65]

A useful trick for tightwads is to split the tickets on one train journey. e.g. Wilmslow-Nuneaton (£24), then Nuneaton-Euston (£52.50) (staying on the same train) comes to £76.50, but Wilmslow-Euston direct with one ticket (exact same train as above) costs £108.50.

And then there's that anomaly with the Friday evening (18:40) train which costs £57 first class and £108.50 standard class!

I'm sure a lot of it depends on when you book as well, but I've tried booking weeks in advance and not seen much difference in prices.

[d000hg]

That may be new, I've frequently used the lounge with Advance 1st tickets and have never been asked for any dosh.

Maybe your pretty face?

[Pogle]

If your have an Advance 1st you might have to shell out a fiver for the lounge. But it's worth it for the booze, newpapers and peace and quiet while you wait for your train.

That may be new, I've frequently used the lounge with Advance 1st tickets and have never been asked for any dosh.

[Pogle]

I'm going to start doing this monday/friday commute between Manchester and London. How cheap can you get this for?. I've seen that a single down from Manchester comes in at about 50 ish and back on a Friday seems to be about 75 ish. Is this about the right ball park or is there something I'm missing/not selecting. Also is there any type of loyalty scheme that - a train equivalent to airmiles?

See you all soon!

If you travel at peak times, it's expensive, very very expensive.
Buy in advance from the website, try and get trains outside peak times and don't ever miss the train you've got a ticket for - cos it will be full price for a replacement.
Next Monday traveling down to Euston at 7am will cost you £131 standard and about £183 first.
But the 7am is always packed to the gills, I used to get the 7.15.

Traveling back on a Friday is about the same price during peak times.

If you can stomach the initial cost , you can get a traveller card after a couple of months of 1st class travel and then you have your 1st class return to London free for 12 months!
PM me if you want any more info

Pogle

[cojak]

Can you use the first class lounge if you've just got a normal first class ticket, or do you have to have some kind of club membership? I've never bothered finding out, usually because I get there at the last moment in a mad rush... but would be useful to know if I'm missing anything.

If your have an Advance 1st you might have to shell out a fiver for the lounge. But it's worth it for the booze, newpapers and peace and quiet while you wait for your train.

[cojak]

All this talk of public transport... let's focus on 1st-class. What do different operators give you in 1st? GNER seem to only give you big seats and tea/coffee in a proper cup, someone mentioned free bacon... are there any operators who still do proper rail travel? Like sit-down dinners, etc?

Real coffee, bacon sarnie and and danish pastry if you're Threaded.

And brown bread sarnies on the way home too...

Cross Country trains - much better and less crowded than when they were Virgin...