Are rover tickets eligible for a first class upgrade?

[spookywestie]

Hello all,
While trying to use Virgin Train's weekend upgrade I was told I could not upgrade to 1st as the West Midlands rover ticket I was using was 'an already discounted ticket'. Is this correct?
Thanks in advance.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hello all,
While trying to use Virgin Train's weekend upgrade I was told I could not upgrade to 1st as the West Midlands rover ticket I was using was 'an already discounted ticket'. Is this correct?
Thanks in advance.

Another guard making up rules (and doing themselves out of commission!!).

From NRE:

Upgrades are priced between £10 and £25 on Virgin Trains routes, you should talk to the Train Manager for prices for your journey.

Under-16s go from £5 each way on top of their Standard ticket and under-5s travel for free.

On weekends and Bank Holidays, upgrading to First Class on Virgin Trains is free of charge if a Standard Class Anytime ticket is held.


From virgintrains.co.uk:

If you’re more of a treat-yourself-on-the-day type of person, just ask your Train Manager for an upgrade onboard. They’ll be happy to bump you up to First Class and you can pay them then and there.


No exclusions are listed.

Sigh, sigh, and again sigh.

 

[gray1404]

Out of interest between which stations were you trying to obtain an upgrade between?

 

[Merseysider]

Virgin displayed a similar attitude a while back at Euston when I'd just come in from Gatwick. I was part of a group of 3, and we all wanted to upgrade our Manc advances an hour before travel to use the lounge, being exhausted after an 8 hour flight.

Would have been £45 to them, but they wheeled out all kinds of bull about the upgrades not being available before travel, not on advances, not valid in the lounge anyway, blah blah blah despite the train we eventually boarded being nearly empty.

So next time, we just booked a connecting flight up to Manc with BA

I wouldn't bother complaining. Take your business elsewhere.

 

[spookywestie]

Another guard making up rules (and doing themselves out of commission!!).

From NRE:

Upgrades are priced between £10 and £25 on Virgin Trains routes, you should talk to the Train Manager for prices for your journey.

Under-16s go from £5 each way on top of their Standard ticket and under-5s travel for free.

On weekends and Bank Holidays, upgrading to First Class on Virgin Trains is free of charge if a Standard Class Anytime ticket is held.


From virgintrains.co.uk:

If you’re more of a treat-yourself-on-the-day type of person, just ask your Train Manager for an upgrade onboard. They’ll be happy to bump you up to First Class and you can pay them then and there.


No exclusions are listed.

Sigh, sigh, and again sigh.

Thanks for the info, I did check up beforehand to see if there were any restrictions regarding certain tickets and as there were not listed, I assumed all tickets were valid. I was going to argue my case, but I decided to just move into standard as I was not 100% sure that I was in the right.

Out of interest between which stations were you trying to obtain an upgrade between?

Crewe to Birmingham New Street.

Virgin displayed a similar attitude a while back at Euston when I'd just come in from Gatwick. I was part of a group of 3, and we all wanted to upgrade our Manc advances an hour before travel to use the lounge, being exhausted after an 8 hour flight.

Would have been £45 to them, but they wheeled out all kinds of bull about the upgrades not being available before travel, not on advances, not valid in the lounge anyway, blah blah blah despite the train we eventually boarded being nearly empty.

So next time, we just booked a connecting flight up to Manc with BA

I wouldn't bother complaining. Take your business elsewhere.

I suppose it's less work for the staff, and it doesn't benefit them in anyway if you pay Virgin more money.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

iKB notes that passengers holding Off-Peak, Off-Peak Day, Super Off-Peak and One Day Travelcard tickets can get the Virgin Trains (west coast) weekend first upgrade prior to travel, all other standard class ticket holders should purchase onboard. There is no mention of access to first class lounges.

 

[Bletchleyite]

iKB notes that passengers holding Off-Peak, Off-Peak Day, Super Off-Peak and One Day Travelcard tickets can get the Virgin Trains (west coast) weekend first upgrade prior to travel, all other standard class ticket holders should purchase onboard. There is no mention of access to first class lounges.

I was similarly under the impression that Weekend First did not include lounge access.

 

[AlterEgo]

I was similarly under the impression that Weekend First did not include lounge access.

According to Virgin you do get Lounge access:

Don't forget, you can kick back in our First Class lounges an hour before boarding. Please, check the opening hours before you head over, as times vary. Find out more about our First Class lounges.

https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/first-class/weekend-travel

(last paragraph in the expandable purple box)

 

[Polarbear]

Veering vaguely in the direction of the original topic, I do wonder why some TOC's don't offer 1st class options on some of their rovers in any case? In BR days, the regional rovers such as the London Midland Rover (and others) had both 1st & 2nd class versions.

 

[Clip]

According to Virgin you do get Lounge access:

Don't forget, you can kick back in our First Class lounges an hour before boarding. Please, check the opening hours before you head over, as times vary. Find out more about our First Class lounges.

https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/first-class/weekend-travel

(last paragraph in the expandable purple box)

And nothing there for the OPs journey in question either.

 

[boxy321]

In a similar way, it's not possible to buy a single-day only 1st class West Midlands nnetwork pass (all trains, metro and buses). The standard class ticket is £6.50 after 9:30 so very cheap.

To go 1st you must buy the one week (or more) ticket costing £45.30.

Quite strange really as Virgin will happily sell a 1st class standard train ticket to New St. for less than a tenner from Coventry. Maybe they're worried people on a single day version will just ride up and down all day from Coventry to Wolverhampton and back in 1st munching the shortbread?

 

[spookywestie]

After asking Virgin Trains directly, they have once again confirmed it was the mistake of the guard.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
As for the first class lounges, I have bought a 1st class upgrade before and was granted access without a problem.

 

[AlterEgo]

And nothing there for the OPs journey in question either.

No, but the list provided isn't an exhaustive one, and is caveated with:

To find out more about the full range of upgrade options, have a chat with your Train Manager.