Avanti Meal Deal

[Butts]

Travelling in an empty Standard Premium Coach J from Sandwell and Dudley to Euston.

So glad I didn't shell out an extra £20 odd (More than double SP fare) for 1st Class which having only coach k is relatively packed.

Just got a meal deal from onboard shop for £6.50 and as there is no. booze to be had in 1st Class this is as good as I would have got in there.

Plus also funded my Travelcard the saving by using SP.

1st Class is not. worth it at Breakfast Time on Avanti.

 

[Blindtraveler]

The meal deal is definitely good value for money, although I wish they'd list the full range of hot and cold sandwiches and other items on their website. I wish they do some hot train meals of the prick and ping microwave variety, not everyone wants a sandwich or a microwaved bacon, roll or burger. But I completely agree with you about the value for money or otherwise of Avanti at breakfast time on weekends, it's been years since I've done it on a weekday, but I assume they still do the full breakfast in first of a weekday morning?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Just got a meal deal from onboard shop for £6.50

What exactly do you get these days for your £6.50?

 

[Fundee on Tay]

Same as what you’d get in a shop: sandwich, snack, drink. Can upgrade to an alcoholic drink for £2 which I think is a decent deal.

 

[Jimini]

Aye it's a decent deal. My only (first world problem) gripe is that the shop's so far away from SP! Let's bring the trolley back eh

 

[occone]

The Avanti cheeseburger absolutely slaps, it's always a treat to get one if I end up on a Pendolino (just as well I can keep it down on those vomit comets too!)

 

[paul@skegby.org.]

Aye it's a decent deal. My only (first world problem) gripe is that the shop's so far away from SP! Let's bring the trolley back eh

Is there no delivery at seat service, ie QR code scan similar to LNER?

 

[Butts]

What exactly do you get these days for your £6.50?

Had a BLT Sandwich Kit Kat and Cappuccino -on BA that would be at least £2 more as a benchmark.

 

[Butts]

Aye it's a decent deal. My only (first world problem) gripe is that the shop's so far away from SP! Let's bring the trolley back eh

Getting from C to J with the train tilting is a pain and just as well its in. a bag.

 

[Butts]

Same as what you’d get in a shop: sandwich, snack, drink. Can upgrade to an alcoholic drink for £2 which I think is a decent deal.

Talking of upgrading it says that on Voyager Trains at the weekend you can take your ticket to the Buffet and get what you like virtually including Alcohol with a 1st Class Ticket.

It also says you can go back for top ups , this sounds like a good deal to me if they are true to their word.

 

[Fundee on Tay]

Talking of upgrading it says that on Voyager Trains at the weekend you can take your ticket to the Buffet and get what you like virtually including Alcohol with a 1st Class Ticket.

It also says you can go back for top ups , this sounds like a good deal to me if they are true to their word.

Got a free upgrade to LNER first class a few weeks back for a journey from Dundee to London. My was it worth it! Two free meals and as many hot drinks, cold drinks, beers and nips as I wanted!

 

[Butts]

Got a free upgrade to LNER first class a few weeks back for a journey from Dundee to London. My was it worth it! Two free meals and as many hot drinks, cold drinks, beers and nips as I wanted!

Sounds good to me !!

 

[Travelmonkey]

I did 1st class on one of their voyagers last week, was slightly annoying not to get booze (I quite like the Forrest to First gin) although I belive its a licencing issue, you can't get a pint before 11am in most pubs but you can pick up booze in tesco anytime.

Although I did enjoy my breakfast and 2 coffees,

*photo of my breakfast comprising 2x bacon 1x sausage 1x tomatoes, 4x hash browns & scramble eggs and corrisant,*

 

[Howardh]

Aye it's a decent deal. My only (first world problem) gripe is that the shop's so far away from SP! Let's bring the trolley back eh

Very good point, SP used to be first-class so there was little need to get to the "shop"; but now it's just glorified standard you can be, what, 6 or 7 coaches away from "C" and it's a very long wobbly walk, especially carrying a hot brew back. "C" needs to be where "E" is, more central!

 

[Travelmonkey]

Very good point, SP used to be first-class so there was little need to get to the "shop"; but now it's just glorified standard you can be, what, 6 or 7 coaches away from "C" and it's a very long wobbly walk, especially carrying a hot brew back. "C" needs to be where "E" is, more central!

As someone who's quite wobbly even getting to coach E is a stretch,

 

[Willie Bee]

Got a free upgrade to LNER first class a few weeks back for a journey from Dundee to London. My was it worth it! Two free meals and as many hot drinks, cold drinks, beers and nips as I wanted!

What's the secret to getting a free upgrade or is it, as I am pretty sure, simply luck of the draw .. If it's on good looks, that's me definitely out of contention.

My wife and I have travelled on LNER first class from Dundee to Edinburgh and Edinburgh to Newcastle a few times and enjoyed the experience, but getting a free upgrade would be even better

 

[route101]

With the redesign of the shop on the 390s, it seems there is less stock in the fridge compared to the self service fridges.

 

[Fundee on Tay]

What's the secret to getting a free upgrade or is it, as I am pretty sure, simply luck of the draw .. If it's on good looks, that's me definitely out of contention.

My wife and I have travelled on LNER first class from Dundee to Edinburgh and Edinburgh to Newcastle a few times and enjoyed the experience, but getting a free upgrade would be even better

I was travelling with my partner who is a wheelchair user - the passenger assist booking assigned us to Coach M due to the wide gap further down the platform at Dundee so they could get the ramp set up.

 

[danshrimp]

The new coffee machines are welcome, though a shame that the hot chocolate I used my Club Avanti free hot drink on was horrifically weak, literally just a cup of hot milk.

As others have said the prices are good and the quality is overall decent (I'm not much of a sandwich person but Avanti's are always nice and fresh), but it would be nice to have a tad more ambition. Ideally they'd expand the hot food available (LNER's selection would be a start, that covers a few more bases) or at least find a way of not microwaving the food inside the plastic bag so it's immediately soggy. There's a lot that could be learnt from France's TGV bar - for a start their burgers are microwaved in a cardboard container which is better for the environment, sturdy enough to hold it, but allows the flow of air so the bun remains dry while cooking!

although I wish they'd list the full range of hot and cold sandwiches and other items on their website

Interesting, looks like the website page has changed in the last few days. Until then they were listed, as below, to the side of the main menu. I wonder if the reduced capacity of the new shop - and therefore the lower chance of getting exactly what you want at any given time - is making them want to be a little more coy about the menu. Doesn't give you a lot of confidence.

A

 

[Blindtraveler]

Definitely less stock on board these days compared to previous so a retrograde step for me

 

[Butts]

Definitely less stock on board these days compared to previous so a retrograde step for me

Another "enhancement" ?

Still better than forking out on the ridiculous 1st Class Ticket Prices rather than Standard Premium with buy before you travel or onboard with the savings.

 

[VItraveller]

Definitely less stock on board these days compared to previous so a retrograde step for me

If you don’t mind me asking, how do you order the food when onboard and collect it, particularly if you far away from the shop.
I’ve always been tempted when travelling with Avanti to get something but haven’t braved walking through the train yet.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I always walk through to the shop, there is an ordering service if you connect to the train Wi-Fi. But quite frankly I can't be bothered with on-train Wi-Fi most of the time these days. So I just grave the obstacle course of suitcases and self-closing doors and baby buggies claim my prize of a usually pretty drinkable cup of coffee and something to nibble on

 

[D6130]

I did 1st class on one of their voyagers last week, was slightly annoying not to get booze (I quite like the Forrest to First gin) although I belive its a licencing issue, you can't get a pint before 11am in most pubs but you can pick up booze in tesco anytime.

AIUI, licensing laws don't apply to trains. I think some TOCs have a policy of not serving alcohol before a certain time in the morning to avoid potentially-disruptive behaviour from a small minority of passengers.

 

[Travelmonkey]

AIUI, licensing laws don't apply to trains. I think some TOCs have a policy of not serving alcohol before a certain time in the morning to avoid potentially-disruptive behaviour from a small minority of passengers.

Guessing same logic to officially "dry trains" when there is big events on,

 

[Travelmonkey]

I was travelling with my partner who is a wheelchair user - the passenger assist booking assigned us to Coach M due to the wide gap further down the platform at Dundee so they could get the ramp set up.

One advantage of being/having a wheelchair user friend/relative, I know one of my friends was very pleased with a 5 car IET on his previous trips on LNER & GWR, and that's even with his 50%off

 

[DelW]

I did 1st class on one of their voyagers last week, was slightly annoying not to get booze (I quite like the Forrest to First gin) although I belive its a licencing issue, you can't get a pint before 11am in most pubs but you can pick up booze in tesco anytime.

I take it you're not a Wetherspoons customer? Plenty of pints being sunk there well before 11am!

 

[route101]

I take it you're not a Wetherspoons customer? Plenty of pints being sunk there well before 11am!

1O30am for off sales of booze in Scotland, always weirds me out that you can buy booze from the shop before that time.

 

[Kieran_MF135]

One advantage of being/having a wheelchair user friend/relative, I know one of my friends was very pleased with a 5 car IET on his previous trips on LNER & GWR, and that's even with his 50%off

If there day return it 50% off but I always use what is cheaper for me

 

[Andy Pacer]

I take it you're not a Wetherspoons customer? Plenty of pints being sunk there well before 11am!

I was surprised to find a 10am start for alcohol in Leicester Square Wetherspoons recently.