08:35 PAD-NTA service on 28th August

[whole diary]

[James Vertigan]

Hi all,

Does anyone know if Weekend First upgrades will be valid on the above service between Paddington & Newton Abbot with a YP Railcard?

I haven't booked my ticket yet was asking because I wasn't sure if Weekend First upgrades were valid on early services. Hopefully the service will be running as well because that is the August Bank Holiday weekend so there's bound to be engineering works!

The cheapest ticket I can seem to get at the moment is a Super Off Peak Single or Return, but I don't know if these would qualify for the Weekend First upgrade.

Thanks 

[Chris2]

James,

The weekend first is valid for the holders of advance tickets, as long as they upgrade on board, so a super off peak ticket should be ok. All other tickets can be upgraded in advance at a ticket office, other than they recommend you upgrade on board in case first class is full.

Chris

Edited to add FGW^▸ (First Great Western) link

As now, Weekend First will be available on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays on all First Great Western services that have First Class accommodation. It will be available in conjunction with all Standard Class tickets and passes.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3973

[James Vertigan]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for that, yes I was planning on upgrading on board, just wasn't sure about the type of ticket or whether one could upgrade on an early (ie before 9:00) service.

[devon_metro]

No time restrictions on weekend first.

[inspector_blakey]

If you'll definitely be getting that train then I'd hold fire for a couple of weeks before booking, as it doesn't look like advance ticket have been put on sale yet for 28 Aug. According to the graphic on the front page of FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s website (which is admittedly a little out of date sometimes) tickets are currently available up to 11 Aug only.

Keep an eye on this page for updates on advance ticket availability:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

Edited to add:
And if you wait until Advance fares are released, you may be able to pick up a first-class advance ticket which may be a better deal than standard advance plus weekend first. Remember that there's no rush for you to buy the super off-peak ticket: if you wanted to you could buy that at Paddington on the morning of travel seeing as it's a walk-up fare.

[James Vertigan]

Looks like the cheaper fares are now available and looks like you were right, inspector_blakey!

Just to check which would be the best option I rang FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Customer service to check how much the FC^‡(resolve) upgrade would be (pressed the wrong option first time and got through to India who read exactly the same text off their screen that I had read on the FGW website about Weekend First pricing!) - second time I rang I chose the right option and got through to a very helpful young man who informed me the upgrade price would be ^20.

I've just been doing the maths with the current cheapest (advance) fares and with my YP railcard it works out ^14.05 cheaper to buy a First Class return (^23.75 going there and ^18.80 coming back) rather than a standard single (^17.80) + upgrade (^20) + first class single for the returning journey (^18.80).

I think I'm going to miss my YP railcard once I no longer qualify for it!