Weekend First

[whole diary]

[basset44]

Hi All,

Could somebody tell me about the ^10 upgrade to First and what restirictions are there?  Will be travelling back from Brighton on a Saturday in June, Can get a Advance First up but not back from Brighton.There are advance ordinary tickets from London ( Not Brighton ) on Saturday 20th June thinking of booking a 11.50 and paying the extra ^10. Are there only certain trains from London you can do this on and what is the procedure. Do you sit in First and buy or do you wait for the TM^‡(resolve) to announce?

Yhanks

Basset

[Timmer]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are very good with Weekend 1st upgrade with standard advance tickets on weekends. Just take a seat in coach F/G and pay the guard ^10 on the train. BUT you still MUST travel on the train you are booked on even though you won't be using your standard reserved seat.

[inspector_blakey]

There is also a restriction on the number of complimentary drinks you can order from the buffet on a Weekend First upgrade, limited I think to three per person per journey. But it still represents pretty good value for money IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion).

[thetrout]

If i've read your post correctly...

A Walkup Standard class ticket from Brighton - London will set you back ^16.90 Adult Full Fare

A Walkup First Class ticket from Brighton - London will set you back ^30.40

For the extra ^13.50 for the First Class, might it be worth buying the ticket on the day just for the flexibility of any train you like...?? (Either Southern (<1Hr) or First Capital Connect (1>Hr)) ...??

I'm also lead to believe there is a First Class ticket for ^28.50 from Brighton > London routed NOT UNDERGROUND

But I am unaware of a specific operator you must use on the ticket... Devon_Metro will probably know

[basset44]

Sorry, did not give enough info Travelling from Cardiff to Brighton and back going up no problem can get 36.00 First Advance single. Returning on the Saturday the 20th although there is an advance from Brighton its via Fratton not 125.

There are advance low cost single from London 11.50 available on the Saturday but not via London from Brighton dont want to lose the chance of the low fare from london so I think I get the 11.50 and pay 13.40 from Brighton and upgrade for 10.00 would be nice to just get one ticket but I can spend time in London.

Thanks fo the info on Weekend First

Basset

[thetrout]

London - Brighton is NOT FGW^▸ (First Great Western)...! It's Southern or First Capital Connect.

I've just checked both there websites and they don't do weekend First upgrade. However what I said in my previous post is an option. Also if you have a day out in London, the ticket will allow travel on any train on the way back, the upgrade will cost you ^13.50 on top of your ^16.90 Off Peak Single Ticket.

Your other option is buy a ticket to Brighton from London Waterloo and go via Havant. SWT^▸ (South West Trains) offer a ^5 upgrade to First Class. From Havant you can go via Chichester to Brighton. I'm fairly sure thats a permitted route if the ticket is purchased from WAT. But don't quote me on that

Other problem with that is you will end up on a Desiro if you go via Havant...! The journey will be much longer as well!

Hopefully i've understood what your trying to do... If not then I will look no more silly than as I usually do...

[Chris from Nailsea]

From The Times:

Rail travellers priced out as First Great Western raises first class upgrade

Rail passengers of modest means will no longer be able to taste the high life because a train company has abolished cheap upgrades to first class at weekends.

First Great Western has increased the cost of upgrades by up to 150 per cent, with the result that first class carriages are running almost empty on Saturdays and Sundays while there is standing room only in standard class.

On Sunday the cost of a one-way upgrade increased from ^10 to ^25 for journeys between stations in Cornwall and South Wales to London. On many other routes the price doubled to ^20.

More than 90 per cent of first class seats remained empty on some First Great Western trains on Sunday as passengers decided that the luxury of large leather seats was not worth the increase in price.

Other train companies are expected to follow First Great Western^s lead and increase the cost of upgrades, putting them beyond the price range of millions of ordinary passengers.

Raising the cost of upgrades is the latest in a series of revenue-raising measures condemned as stealth increases by passenger groups. National Express has introduced a ^5 charge for seat reservations for a return journey, railcard prices have increased by up to 25 per cent and several train companies have raised the cost of parking at stations.

Cheap weekend upgrades were introduced by British Rail as a way of raising extra revenue at the same time as making use of carriages that would otherwise remain empty.

First class can be fairly full in peak periods from Monday to Friday when wealthy season ticket holders are travelling between their country homes and London. However, outside the peak, first class carriages rarely carry more than a handful of passengers.

First class fares have risen much faster than standard class tickets since rail privatisation because first class prices are set entirely by the train companies. The Government regulates standard season tickets and off-peak fares.

Since 1995 the average first class ticket has become 65 per cent more expensive in real terms compared with a 23 per cent increase in standard class fares.

For the full article, see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6336269.ece

[Timmer]

I'm sure SWT^▸ (South West Trains) will be pleased that The Times used a picture of one of their trains for this article...not!

Just a quick note to bring a bit of balance to this article. On the East Coast line, National Express have been charging ^25 for quite sometimes for journeys from London to York and north thereof and XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) have been charging up to ^20 to upgrade to First since they took over the franchise from Virgin which isn't really that good value if you are travelling on a Voyager!

In FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s defence they have kept the cost of ^10 for quite sometime; though the jump from ^10 to ^25 for those travelling from London to Cornwall is quite a steep rise I must admit.

[thetrout]

If you go from Exeter St Davids - London Waterloo You can upgrade to First on a weekend or bank holiday for ^5 with SWT^▸ (South West Trains)...! However, you don't get any complimentary items Worth it for Long Distance though!

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm sure SWT^▸ (South West Trains) will be pleased that The Times used a picture of one of their trains for this article...not!

Timmer, when I'm posting such items from the press: I see, I grin, but I (sometimes regretfully) refrain from comment!  

[Timmer]

I'm sure SWT^▸ (South West Trains) will be pleased that The Times used a picture of one of their trains for this article...not!

Timmer, when I'm posting such items from the press: I see, I grin, but I (sometimes regretfully) refrain from comment!  

Hehe, yes I just couldn't help myself on this occasion Chris, because it just goes to show that often the media don't always do their homework before publishing an article. Its not British Rail anymore where you could stick any train picture to highlight your article...the railways are now run by different companies 

[thetrout]

Sort of reminds me when Virgin XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) used to run the 16:30 Plymouth - York Service as a HST^▸ (High Speed Train)...! Except, It was a Midland Mainline HST...!

[John R]

Actually it was FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s fault, because they had removed the Swansea train that ran 5 minutes previously with the new franchise timetable (thus saving around ^2m if I recall as to continue with that service would have required a further HST^▸ (High Speed Train) set.)


Thus all the Bridgend passengers had to take the local service, which of course was already pretty full.

[Cornish Traveller]

  Good news for long distance Weekend First users - from January the top rate will be reduced to ^20 according to NFM^▸ (National Fares Manual) 05 ! 

[Timmer]

Good news for long distance Weekend First users - from January the top rate will be reduced to ^20 according to NFM^▸ (National Fares Manual) 05 ! 

Are they planning to change the zone boundaries as well?