Avanti West Coast first class

[Starmill]

Not particularly. Avanti have been maintaining a high price on 1st class tickets for a number of years. If there is a workaround to that, I haven't found it. Like others, it is SP normally at best for me, as that is where the value lies.

Indeed. If you wish to travel First and not Standard Premium, I suggest:
a) check you're using the full range of discounts to which you're entitled - sounds like you're already aware of the railcards available
b) search trainsplit for First Advance
c) consider taking Liverpool - London trains as part of your overall journey bearing in mind they aren't all Pendolinos
d) search on Seatfrog, repeating step c above

Bear in mind many trains only have 18 seats in First, you are unlikely to be finding anything particularly cheap. At the end of the day, if you wished primarily to save money, you simply wouldn't be travelling in First at all, and Avanti are well aware of that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Jun 2026 ==

Similar distance to St Pancras to Bedford, which is also over £50.00 but without any semblance of good first class at seat service. Numerous other examples of similar pricing are available.

Indeed and no ability to even buy a can of diet coke or a bag of crisps on the train on Thameslink, which is shocking. It's not exactly difficult to offer a vending machine on the train but we don't do it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Indeed and no ability to even buy a can of diet coke or a bag of crisps on the train on Thameslink, which is shocking. It's not exactly difficult to offer a vending machine on the train but we don't do it.

There are generally vending machines on stations these days. How many bags of crisps and cans of Coke do you need for an hour?

That you can make shorter distance journeys on long distance trains and take advantage of their higher provision is a bit moot.

 

[Huntergreed]

On Avanti first just now - boarded at Carlisle and am now almost at Oxenholme, no sign of staff to order food or drink whatsoever. I know there must be some staff as the passengers who are on from Glasgow have plates and glasses, but an extremely poor show considering the price difference!!

 

[voyagerdude220]

On Avanti first just now - boarded at Carlisle and am now almost at Oxenholme, no sign of staff to order food or drink whatsoever. I know there must be some staff as the passengers who are on from Glasgow have plates and glasses, but an extremely poor show considering the price difference!!

That's rather poor considering how much Avanti charge for First Class.

Back in Virgin Trains days (I've never paid the extra to travel First since Avanti took over) Virgin were always very consistent and reliable with providing the advertised First Class service.

 

[Huntergreed]

That's rather poor considering how much Avanti charge for First Class.

Back in Virgin Trains days (I've never paid the extra to travel First since Avanti took over) Virgin were always very consistent and reliable with providing the advertised First Class service.

To be fair, this seems to just be bad luck - almost all of my first class experiences on Avanti have been excellent! I eventually just walked into coach K where the staff were on their phones and asked for what I wanted which I received. Hardly first class service, but got what I wanted so I’m not too unhappy!

 

[voyagerdude220]

To be fair, this seems to just be bad luck - almost all of my first class experiences on Avanti have been excellent! I eventually just walked into coach K where the staff were on their phones and asked for what I wanted which I received. Hardly first class service, but got what I wanted so I’m not too unhappy!

Fair enough but not bothering to offer food/drink to people like yourself who had joined the train at Carlisle when they weren't busy sounds very poor to me.

 

[Trackman]

I keep tabs on a regular journey I do on the WCML.
See if I can dig some fare stats out, I would say first class has increased by 200% in the last 10 years.

On Avanti first just now - boarded at Carlisle and am now almost at Oxenholme, no sign of staff to order food or drink whatsoever. I know there must be some staff as the passengers who are on from Glasgow have plates and glasses, but an extremely poor show considering the price difference!!

Did they not walk through?

There are generally vending machines on stations these days. How many bags of crisps and cans of Coke do you need for an hour?

Not cheap though, I remember a brew machine at Lime st, and it wanted 70p for a coffee, this was circa 1997. I was warned beforehand and thought it was a wind-up.

“Standard Premium” and take your own food and drink. I gave up with First Class. Overcrowded and inconsistent service for too much money.

Best advice on this thread.

 

[TravellingPhil]

One good way of getting value out of first class on Avanti is using them as part of an Interrail trip. The only time I ever use first on Avanti is on the outbound/inbound days as part of a bigger trip across Europe.

Avanti do let first class Interrail ticket holders use their proper first class service, and that includes lounges.

The cheapest one you can get is four days for £275 if under 27 years old, £323 if over 27, although always worth holding out for sales. With some of Avanti’s first class fares, the Interrail ticket is already giving you good value before you’ve even left the country!

(Edited to show correct Interrail prices)

 

[A S Leib]

It depends on how much travel with Avanti you do anyway, but you could keep getting cheap qualifying (75+ miles, e.g. Carlisle to Preston, Motherwell or Edinburgh; maximum of two per day) advance tickets with Club Avanti, with the 9th qualifying journey giving a complimentary standard premium return ticket and a first class one after 21 journeys.

Indeed and no ability to even buy a can of diet coke or a bag of crisps on the train on Thameslink, which is shocking. It's not exactly difficult to offer a vending machine on the train but we don't do it.

My last experience with a train which only had vending machines for catering had all of them out of service (not empty) for a six and a half hour journey; not a problem unique to the UK.

The cheapest one you can get is four days for £275, although always worth holding out for sales. With some of Avanti’s first class fares, the Interrail ticket is already giving you good value before you’ve even left the country!

£323 is the non-sale first class global four-day Interrail pass for 28-59-year-olds. If getting a first class, Eurostar's first class (premium? I can't remember exactly what it's called) fares can make Avanti's seem reasonable, whilst having the excuse of more constrained capacity.

 

[AlterEgo]

Fair enough but not bothering to offer food/drink to people like yourself who had joined the train at Carlisle when they weren't busy sounds very poor to me.

Agreed. They should bave a host by the door to greet passengers and note joinees so they can walk through shortly after departure.

 

[D1537]

When searching for tickets in the past, I've never quite worked out why Avanti's FC fares seem to be massively higher than Standard pretty much all day, whereas on most flows LNER's outside the peak are far more reasonable.

A little while back I was searching for tickets for a relative who wanted to go from London to Hexham, and for the FC part of the journey (KX-Newcastle or EUS-Carlisle), LNER was half the price of Avanti.

(Indeed, if I forced the search to go via Carlisle, it still offered me Kings Cross-Newcastle-Carlisle-Hexham as being cheaper...)

 

[AlterEgo]

When searching for tickets in the past, I've never quite worked out why Avanti's FC fares seem to be massively higher than Standard pretty much all day, whereas on most flows LNER's outside the peak are far more reasonable.

A little while back I was searching for tickets for a relative who wanted to go from London to Hexham, and for the FC part of the journey (KX-Newcastle or EUS-Carlisle), LNER was half the price of Avanti.

(Indeed, if I forced the search to go via Carlisle, it still offered me Kings Cross-Newcastle-Carlisle-Hexham as being cheaper...)

Avanti now have Standard Premium which is priced at roughly the level first class often used to be, there's your answer. First class has to an upgrade on SP, therefore and not just an upgrade on standard. That is part of the reasoning for introducing SP in the first place.

 

[Watershed]

First on Avanti is purely about rinsing those with more money than sense. You‘re literally just paying for the catering (which is highly inconsistent and average at best) and a crappy lounge (with limited opening hours) if you’re lucky.

SP is where it’s at for somewhat reasonable value.

 

[Haywain]

And, further to what has been outlined above by @AlterEgo, many booking sites cannot show a fare for Standard Premium as it doesn't fit in with the existing classes of travel and is only available for journeys on Avanti services, and not connecting trains.

 

[Starmill]

When searching for tickets in the past, I've never quite worked out why Avanti's FC fares seem to be massively higher than Standard pretty much all day, whereas on most flows LNER's outside the peak are far more reasonable.

A little while back I was searching for tickets for a relative who wanted to go from London to Hexham, and for the FC part of the journey (KX-Newcastle or EUS-Carlisle), LNER was half the price of Avanti.

(Indeed, if I forced the search to go via Carlisle, it still offered me Kings Cross-Newcastle-Carlisle-Hexham as being cheaper...)

As noted above some trains now have as few as 18 seats in First. The numbers on flexible First tickets (First off peak, First BritRail, First ALR etc) and free passes won't have altered by very much because to those groups prices didn't shift. Proportionately this means that the number of seats to offer to advance ticket holders is much lower than it was.

 

[Starmill]

And, further to what has been outlined above by @AlterEgo, many booking sites cannot show a fare for Standard Premium as it doesn't fit in with the existing classes of travel and is only available for journeys on Avanti services, and not connecting trains.

It appears Avanti are introducing it for a very limited range of connecting stations in July.

 

[jfollows]

First on Avanti is purely about rinsing those with more money than sense. You‘re literally just paying for the catering (which is highly inconsistent and average at best) and a crappy lounge (with limited opening hours) if you’re lucky.

SP is where it’s at for somewhat reasonable value.

That’s also a good point - I don’t use the lounges even when I’m entitled to, I don’t see the point, for many stations I’d rather be on the platform watching the trains and at Euston I’d rather go to the pub, but for some people there is some kind of value to them.

 

[D1537]

As noted above some trains now have as few as 18 seats in First. The numbers on flexible First tickets (First off peak, First BritRail, First ALR etc) and free passes won't have altered by very much because to those groups prices didn't shift. Proportionately this means that the number of seats to offer to advance ticket holders is much lower than it was.

This was on a weekday, when I believe there is more than one carriage of First. But it's interesting, I've just repeated the search I did before, and indeed Avanti SP and LNER FC are pretty much - in this case - on the same price point. For example the 11:30 Euston-Carlisle was £114 SP with Avanti, and the 11:33 Kings Cross-Newcastle £110 FC with LNER.

 

[sh24]

Some London-Glasgow services on a Friday are First and Standard with no SP offer so there clearly is demand and at a very high price point too.

 

[Trackman]

I keep tabs on a regular journey I do on the WCML.
See if I can dig some fare stats out, I would say first class has increased by 200% in the last 10 years.

got one:
09/07/2016 (14:20) Euston-Picc £42.00
09/07/2026 (14:33) Euston-Picc £135.00

So its a 209.52% increase.

 

[Starmill]

This was on a weekday, when I believe there is more than one carriage of First.

It varies, except on 805/807, when there's almost always just one first class vehicle, which is only slightly larger than on a Pendolino.

 

[Starmill]

For example the 11:30 Euston-Carlisle was £114 SP with Avanti, and the 11:33 Kings Cross-Newcastle £110 FC with LNER.

Though you're comparing a route with one fast train an hour against one with two fast trains an hour there, so I'm not sure it's going to be that useful.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

got one:
09/07/2016 (14:20) Euston-Picc £42.00
09/07/2026 (14:33) Euston-Picc £135.00

So its a 209.52% increase.

Those are First Class advance singles, yes? Walk-up fares even more? Presume ten years ago, 'Standard Premium' wasn't a thing?

 

[voyagerdude220]

got one:
09/07/2016 (14:20) Euston-Picc £42.00
09/07/2026 (14:33) Euston-Picc £135.00

So its a 209.52% increase.

Similarly I used to regularly buy Advance First Class tickets Preston to Glasgow Central with 16-25 Railcard discount around 10-15 years ago for no more than £25-£30, very often booking just the day before travel and this would be possible on 90%-100% of Virgin services on this route.

[This year] On both Monday 15th June and Wednesday 24th June First Advances on Avanti vary between £49 and £56 with Railcard discount.

 

[Trackman]

Those are First Class advance singles, yes? Walk-up fares even more? Presume ten years ago, 'Standard Premium' wasn't a thing?

Should have stated, first class advance single.
The prices hiked up before SP.
I was just going with the thread on the extortionate price of first class tickets


Just for fun, a walk-up anytime first return within a month was approx £124.50 in 1996.
Standard was £26.50ish. (I think it could have been less)
This was in the BR West Coast days before VT.

 

[Harpo]

I used Avanti first class on Friday morning. No hot water so a tortuous six carriage walk to get a coffee. Hot food offer was limited to a bap, bagel or tea cake. The barriers at both origin and destination were open and in two hours on board, no ticket check in FC.

As others suggest, going Standard Premium and taking your own food and drinks is cheaper and infinitely more reliable. It’s also far more peaceful than being interupted by half a dozen ‘do you want?’s because Avanti doesn’t work on just taking a single order as a restaurant does.

 

[A S Leib]

I haven't had any reliability issues with first class on Avanti, but all of my such journeys have been the first Euston to Glasgow or last Glasgow (or Edinburgh) to Euston of the day; maybe they're more consistent with service?

 

[sh24]

got one:
09/07/2016 (14:20) Euston-Picc £42.00
09/07/2026 (14:33) Euston-Picc £135.00

So its a 209.52% increase.

That's cheap! I was looking for 10 days time and First was £260, SP over £200.

 

[A S Leib]

got one:
09/07/2016 (14:20) Euston-Picc £42.00
09/07/2026 (14:33) Euston-Picc £135.00

So its a 209.52% increase.

Adjusted for inflation, the Bank of England gives £42 in 2016 as £59 now, so 'only' around 125% more expensive than it may have been expected in 2016.

 

[Trackman]

That's cheap! I was looking for 10 days time and First was £260, SP over £200.

Prices are for July 9th though.
Is this for Euston-Picc? Should be cheaper tickets, especially for SP.