Avanti Standard Premium Expensive?

[Butts]

I travelled on the 0626 from Sandwell & Dudley to Euston this morning in SP - booked in Tuesday this week £78 with a Railcard.

The whole carriage H was full which caught me on the hop as I'm used to at least a 2 to myself normally - journey 1 Hour 40 minutes.

Yesterday I travelled nearly 4 hours in 1st Class from Glasgow to Liverpool on TPE booked at the same time for £60 and had the best seats in the house along with the perks.

Is one a rip off and the other a bargain ?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Standard Premium has (as far as I'm aware) been quite well accepted and is well used.
I'm fine to be in standard myself but looking though the window as the train pulls in it's usually quite busy.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think it's probably fair to say that intercity fares involving London tend to be more expensive than those not involving London, particularly Advances. There are some real bargains on the TPE North West-Scotland services at times - and the First Class is really very nice.

 

[Butts]

Perhaps it's because there was only one SP carriage in set of 9 ?

First Class was only about £25 more - if I hadn't been travelling onto Heathrow and getting a free breakfast in the Lounge I would have been tempted.

Does 1st Class on that route ever get full on a regular basis?

 

[185143]

Perhaps it's because there was only one SP carriage in set of 9 ?

First Class was only about £25 more - if I hadn't been travelling onto Heathrow and getting a free breakfast in the Lounge I would have been tempted.

Does 1st Class on that route ever get full on a regular basis?

If it's only an extra £25, especially if expenses may be involved (yes OK, I know a lot of employers will prohibit 1st class, but surely Standard Premium would be prohibited too?). Lounge access at both ends, breakfast onboard and a couple of brews, I'd imagine 1st probably does get a reasonable uptake.

Certainly TPE's Anglo Scot 1st as mentioned above is a far cry from how it used to be. If you were lucky you'd get a soft/hot drink and a snack box back in the 185/350 days, and that was assuming the trolley hadn't got stuck at the other end of the inevitably rammed train. Nowadays there's usually a dedicated host for 1st class dishing up hot meals and alcohol in the afternoon. The fares seem comparable to Avanti Standard Premium on the whole. Does that make Avanti SP overpriced, or TPE 1st too cheap? Probably a bit of both.

 

[Bishopstone]

If Standard Premium is often full, or fairly full, it’s difficult to argue that it’s over-priced.