Do Avanti west coast do weekend first?

WesternLancer · 28 Jun 2026

Do Avanti still do weekend first upgrades or is it essentially that you would do the Standard Premium and pay that on board?

Journey is Glasgow Carlisle so other operator is TPE and I think they do do weekend first which then includes their menu offer. But they only have one smaller first class carriage.

Just weighing up options for later today. Using an already bought rtn portion of an off peak rtn ticket valid any route any operator.

Thanks in advance.

RailUK Forums

Polarbear · 28 Jun 2026

My understanding is that you can upgrade to standard premium on Avanti, subject to availability. That gets a 1st class seat but no catering. That said, likely more chance of a seat between Glasgow & Carlisle than with TPE

p.d87 · 28 Jun 2026

WesternLancer said:
Do Avanti still do weekend first upgrades or is it essentially that you would do the Standard Premium and pay that on board?

Journey is Glasgow Carlisle so other operator is TPE and I think they do do weekend first which then includes their menu offer. But they only have one smaller first class carriage.

Just weighing up options for later today. Using an already bought rtn portion of an off peak rtn ticket valid any route any operator.

Thanks in advance.

No weekend first at Avanti. Standard Premium removed it. Also at weekends coach K is the only 1st class carriage so smaller than TPE .

teaspoon · 28 Jun 2026

I believe you can upgrade on board, but by paying the difference in fare, so hard to justify the cost versus a standard premium upgrade and stocking up in M&S - especially at the weekend when there's limited hot options.

Seatfrog is your other option for upgrades, but I've noticed that with their £3 fee, you can sometimes end up paying slightly more than what it would cost on board. (brfares lists the regular price)

Watershed · 28 Jun 2026

Avanti doesn't have any sort of Weekend First offering. Standard Premium upgrades are available all week at a fixed price depending on the journey. That said there are a few trains - especially morning trains popular with business travellers, and many Glasgow trains on Fridays - where all coaches are classified as first class and there's no Standard Premium offered.

If you want first class instead of SP, you can get a SeatFrog upgrade, but even the minimum bid on these tends to be fairly pricey. Alternatively you can pay the Train Manager the difference in fare which is typically an extortionate amount.

WesternLancer · 28 Jun 2026

p.d87 said:
No weekend first at Avanti. Standard Premium removed it. Also at weekends coach K is the only 1st class carriage so smaller than TPE .

Thanks.
TOE the better value then I think.

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Polarbear said:
My understanding is that you can upgrade to standard premium on Avanti, subject to availability. That gets a 1st class seat but no catering. That said, likely more chance of a seat between Glasgow & Carlisle than with TPE

Thanks.
Connection times mean I may well be on Avanti even tho the std premium is £4 more that the TPE weekend first
Sandwich shop it is I suppose

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jun 2026 ==

p.d87 said:
No weekend first at Avanti. Standard Premium removed it. Also at weekends coach K is the only 1st class carriage so smaller than TPE .

So two carriages to choose from on a 9 car pendino? For std premium

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jun 2026 ==

Watershed said:
Avanti doesn't have any sort of Weekend First offering. Standard Premium upgrades are available all week at a fixed price depending on the journey. That said there are a few trains - especially morning trains popular with business travellers, and many Glasgow trains on Fridays - where all coaches are classified as first class and there's no Standard Premium offered.

If you want first class instead of SP, you can get a SeatFrog upgrade, but even the minimum bid on these tends to be fairly pricey. Alternatively you can pay the Train Manager the difference in fare which is typically an extortionate amount.

Thanks. Travel is in fact within the next hour or so but handy to have the full answer there. Appreciated

VT 390 · 28 Jun 2026

WesternLancer said:
So two carriages to choose from on a 9 car pendino? For std premium

Its 2 Standard Premium carriages on all Pendolino, both 9 and 11 carriage, services (carriages J and H) on weekends as since refurbishment carriage G is standard class.

WesternLancer · 28 Jun 2026

VT 390 said:
Its 2 Standard Premium carriages on all Pendolino, both 9 and 11 carriage, services (carriages J and H) on weekends as since refurbishment carriage G is standard class.

Thanks.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Jun 2026 ==

On the journey the train manager immediately announced one of the standard premium carriages was declassified on the service.
I had boarded at train origin but already was sat in the other standard premium carriage.
I could have moved but opted not to as the carriage I was in was less busy.

But at ticket check the train manager opted not to charge me or anyone else walk up upgrades.

The reservation system was not working so I couldn’t tell how many standard premium passengers had pre paid. Perhaps most.

Thanks everyone for providing useful info.

Ralph Ayres · 28 Jun 2026

p.d87 said:
No weekend first at Avanti. Standard Premium removed it. Also at weekends coach K is the only 1st class carriage so smaller than TPE .

...and pretty cramped coach K is too. Travelling with my partner yesterday we decided to give the First Class catering a miss and opted for Standard Premium where roomy window tables for 2 were readily available rather than squeeze into paired airline seats where the aisle occupier has virtually no view out.

WesternLancer · 28 Jun 2026

Ralph Ayres said:
...and pretty cramped coach K is too. Travelling with my partner yesterday we decided to give the First Class catering a miss and opted for Standard Premium where roomy window tables for 2 were readily available rather than squeeze into paired airline seats where the aisle occupier has virtually no view out.

That’s another good tip!

Falcon1200 · 29 Jun 2026

Ralph Ayres said:
.and pretty cramped coach K is too.

Indeed - For my last Saturday journey on Avanti I didn't even bother trying to squeeze into Coach K and instead sat in Standard Premium, where, for much of the trip, I was the sole passenger.....

Harpo · 29 Jun 2026

Polarbear said:
My understanding is that you can upgrade to standard premium on Avanti, subject to availability. That gets a 1st class seat but no catering.

I’d suggest taking ‘no catering’ very literally. It can be a six (!) coach walk to the shop which becomes impossible on busier services. Take supplies on board with you.

Otherwise, standard premium is brilliant and almost as peaceful as continental travel, unlike Avanti first class.

Andy Pacer · 29 Jun 2026

Watershed said:
Avanti doesn't have any sort of Weekend First offering. Standard Premium upgrades are available all week at a fixed price depending on the journey. That said there are a few trains - especially morning trains popular with business travellers, and many Glasgow trains on Fridays - where all coaches are classified as first class and there's no Standard Premium offered.

Out of interest do they publish (or do "we" have) a list of the trains that carry no standard premium?

jfollows · 29 Jun 2026

Despite its title, see https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ass-seats-at-the-weekend.274909/#post-6968450

Do Avanti west coast do weekend first?

WesternLancer

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Polarbear

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p.d87

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teaspoon

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Watershed

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WesternLancer

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VT 390

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WesternLancer

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Ralph Ayres

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WesternLancer

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Falcon1200

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Harpo

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Andy Pacer

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jfollows

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