Great Western Coffee Shop

Rail passengers unhappy at the prospect of a journey in standard class can
now bid for an upgrade.

Empty first-class seats on selected Virgin Trains East Coast services are
being auctioned through a smartphone app shortly before departure.

Prices start from £5 for a seat in first-class carriages featuring
complimentary food and drink, free Wi-Fi, reclining leather seats and extra
legroom.

Upgrades are initially available on some weekday services from London
King’s Cross to Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle and York, with more routes
expected to be added soon.

Regular walk-up first-class fares for London to Edinburgh journeys can cost
almost £90 more than standard class tickets.

Each auction opens approximately two and a half hours in advance and closes
about half an hour before the train departs.

Suzanne Donnelly, commercial director at Virgin Trains East Coast, said:
“We are really excited to be partnering with Seatfrog to offer customers
more opportunities to experience first class.

“Passengers can get upgrades from as little as £5 and there are real deals
to be had. The live bidding element means you can decide at the last minute
if you fancy treating yourself.”

The Seatfrog chief executive, Iain Griffin, said people wanting to
guarantee first-class travel should buy a regular ticket, as auctions would
not be held for all trains.

“For passengers who travel standard class and maybe want to experience
first class now and again, or be a little spontaneous on the day, then
Seatfrog is the perfect platform,” he said. “We give them the chance to get
a really good deal.”

Griffin said he was in discussions about rolling out the service with a
number of other travel firms. “I’d be really interested in working with any
train service in the UK,” he added.

“I see this working perfectly for a business like Eurostar. We’re already
talking to rail operators in mainland Europe. Outside of rail, we’ve also
got a big airline capability.”

Passengers who want to use the system for a first-class upgrade enter their
booking reference into the app and start bidding. Successful participants
are instantly sent a new ticket direct to their smartphone or tablet.