Avanti West Coast: Standard Premium

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting, but personally I find the "auction" style of Seatfrog a really annoying gimmick. I don't like the competitive element, where you don't really know how much it's going to cost, or if you're guaranteed to "win" an upgrade. I've scored a couple of successes on it with LNER, but I'd far rather just be quoted a price, and decide whether I want to pay it or not.

Same for me.

Clearly Seatfrog has a role, but so does Standard Premium (or at least some other form of "weekday First" upgrade).

 

[Jimini]

It appears Standard Premium is the same price as Weekend First was but available all week, yes. Personally I consider it good value.

We travelled on Avanti a couple of weekends ago and it was a 2x5 voyager set, so there wasn't any Standard Premium space available. Now they've ditched Weekend First, it would have been a cool £52 each to travel from London to Coventry in FC

 

[Bletchleyite]

We travelled on Avanti a couple of weekends ago and it was a 2x5 voyager set, so there wasn't any Standard Premium space available. Now they've ditched Weekend First, it would have been a cool £52 each to travel from London to Coventry in FC

It wasn't entirely unknown for Weekend First not to be offered on Voyagers either, it's just there isn't enough 1st for it.

 

[Bayum]

Hello from Standard Premium on today's 10:20 EUS-MAN (the first off-peak departure).

Standard class is rammed (every seat reserved), so have upgraded to Standard Premium.

One consideration that I'm not sure has been discussed - the First Class PA system still plays in Standard Premium carriage G, so we are told about the First Class menu offering that won't be served.

I can see this resulting in disappointment/confusion - I wonder if they will be able to disconnect the carriage from the First class PA?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Aug 2021 ==

So we're now at Milton Keynes and the guard hasn't taken payments yet. So some bloke has just got off here without paying at all!

Maybe they’re hoping they can entice you to upgrade further by telling you what you’re missing for just a little bit more moolah!

 

[Blinkbonny]

I mentioned this in the Trips section a couple of weeks ago whilst having a moan about the current Avanti First Class experience:

Yup, sure enough, on way home the now customary spreading cheese and four crackers. Top notch catering!

Meanwhile First Class carriage and a half slowly fills up, including obligatory idiot on permanent phone call.

In search of space and silence l move down a carriage. One person sitting alone in Standard Premium!

Brief panic that my First Class ticket may not be valid for it !

Who knows?

It's worth reporting the follow-up. Sat quietly enjoying my journey when upon leaving Wolverhampton the new Guard announces that he is about to come through checking tickets. He explicitly states if you are sitting in Standard Premium please have a payment of fifteen pounds ready, there is a charge for sitting there. He is quite insistent upon getting this message across - so much so that I begin to feel uneasy if I should be in there, First Class ticket or not!

Common sense tells me that I should be valid, but whenever did common sense come into it?

I decide to remove all doubt by moving forward back into the First Class proper. Who knows I might even get another small bottle of Becks?

At the door, I bump into the Guard who of course wants to see my ticket. I explain the situation, fully expecting him to say "No, you're all right, mate. Stay where you are."

Not a bit of it. "You're best off in the Front two," he says.

Now he may have just been desirous that I didn't miss out on that second bottle of Becks. But he certainly didn't confirm that my ticket was valid in Premium.

 

[island]

Interesting, but personally I find the "auction" style of Seatfrog a really annoying gimmick. I don't like the competitive element, where you don't really know how much it's going to cost, or if you're guaranteed to "win" an upgrade. I've scored a couple of successes on it with LNER, but I'd far rather just be quoted a price, and decide whether I want to pay it or not.

If you want to be sure of your upgrade, you can of course pay for it in the traditional fashion.

 

[alistairlees]

I mentioned this in the Trips section a couple of weeks ago whilst having a moan about the current Avanti First Class experience:


It's worth reporting the follow-up. Sat quietly enjoying my journey when upon leaving Wolverhampton the new Guard announces that he is about to come through checking tickets. He explicitly states if you are sitting in Standard Premium please have a payment of fifteen pounds ready, there is a charge for sitting there. He is quite insistent upon getting this message across - so much so that I begin to feel uneasy if I should be in there, First Class ticket or not!

Common sense tells me that I should be valid, but whenever did common sense come into it?

I decide to remove all doubt by moving forward back into the First Class proper. Who knows I might even get another small bottle of Becks?

At the door, I bump into the Guard who of course wants to see my ticket. I explain the situation, fully expecting him to say "No, you're all right, mate. Stay where you are."

Not a bit of it. "You're best off in the Front two," he says.

Now he may have just been desirous that I didn't miss out on that second bottle of Becks. But he certainly didn't confirm that my ticket was valid in Premium.

Your 1st Class ticket is valid in Standard Premium, just as it is valid in Standard.

 

[Ianno87]

If you want to be sure of your upgrade, you can of course pay for it in the traditional fashion.

Seatfrog offers a "Buy it now" option to skip the auction, although usually quite a bit more expensive than the Reserve price for the Auction.

I don't see the problem with the auction. You bid up to whatever you think it's worth and no higher. And often you'll pay less than you would have done for a upgrade via traditional means.

 

[Trackman]

We travelled on Avanti a couple of weekends ago and it was a 2x5 voyager set, so there wasn't any Standard Premium space available. Now they've ditched Weekend First, it would have been a cool £52 each to travel from London to Coventry in FC

Someone was banging on about this twitter a few weeks ago. First was empty and obviously no Standard Premium .. upgrade? Nope. I think they are missing a trick by not offering Weekend First on Voyagers.

 

[williamn]

Seatfrog offers a "Buy it now" option to skip the auction, although usually quite a bit more expensive than the Reserve price for the Auction.

I don't see the problem with the auction. You bid up to whatever you think it's worth and no higher. And often you'll pay less than you would have done for a upgrade via traditional means.

I generally go in straight away with what my upper limit is and often if you do that you get it straight away (there are certain price points at which you automatically 'win' the upgrade').

Probably a subject for another thread but I'd love to know when Avanti will bring back its normal 1st class offering catering-wise. Not sure how much longer Covid can be an excuse. I am now travelling with my own glass as they're still using plastic for everything (not great for the environment) and somehow wine just tastes nicer out of a glass!

 

[jon0844]

So we're now at Milton Keynes and the guard hasn't taken payments yet. So some bloke has just got off here without paying at all!

I travelled from Glasgow to Euston recently (so start to finish) and tickets were checked with money taken just the one time on the trip. I can't remember when it was done exactly, but it was maybe around half way or longer (certainly quite a while after the crew change at Preston). Another member of staff had come through to check tickets once before, but did not do any upgrades.

I suppose you could get lucky if you weren't on the train for long.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I travelled from Glasgow to Euston recently (so start to finish) and tickets were checked with money taken just the one time on the trip. I can't remember when it was done exactly, but it was maybe around half way or longer (certainly quite a while after the crew change at Preston). Another member of staff had come through to check tickets once before, but did not do any upgrades.

I suppose you could get lucky if you weren't on the train for long.

I've certainly had free Weekend First more than once before as a result of them not bothering to collect it (or in one case a guard actually saying they couldn't be bothered, though it wasn't on Avanti).

 

[plugwash]

I think this is fairly typical of on-board revenue collection at the moment. It seems very hit and miss. On some services it's back to pre-COVID standards, on others you won't see anyone at all.

Even pre covid on board ticket checking was hit and miss. I'm fairly sure I've made it from my local station near Stockport to the street outside Euston without a single ticket check (either on trains or stations) before (and yes I did have a ticket).

 

[Scotrail314209]

I've certainly had free Weekend First more than once before as a result of them not bothering to collect it (or in one case a guard actually saying they couldn't be bothered, though it wasn't on Avanti).

Had that a few times on Virgin.

Though I think it might’ve been down to the train being very busy due to it being a Sunday.

Birmingham to Preston was free

 

[Butts]

I was looking to go down to Birmingham in October but the introduction of SP has put the kibosh on using the Train.

It used to be quite easy to get reasonably priced Advanced 1st Class Tickets with a Railcard on this journey from Edinburgh or Glasgow and even Falkirk sometimes.

The SP price (where available) is more than the 1st Class used to be (even with a railcard).

1st Class is north of £70 .......

Just hope LNER don't introduce this.

Flying with Easyjet £50 return !!

 

[mmh]

Even pre covid on board ticket checking was hit and miss. I'm fairly sure I've made it from my local station near Stockport to the street outside Euston without a single ticket check (either on trains or stations) before (and yes I did have a ticket).

I've gone from North Wales to Euston without a ticket check many times over the years. At least once I've done it without having a ticket. (Which isn't the great fare dodge some might think it is, as generally people need to buy a ticket to return. So the revenue loss is, or was, a single pound or so. Except from me it wasn't, as I was making the journey at least once a month, so I bought a return.)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Aug 2021 ==

Someone was banging on about this twitter a few weeks ago. First was empty and obviously no Standard Premium .. upgrade? Nope. I think they are missing a trick by not offering Weekend First on Voyagers.

The problem there is they have no way of knowing how many people with walk-up first class tickets there will be. If they've filled the limited first class seats on a Voyager with cheap upgrades and advance tickets, they'll end up refunding the walk-up ticket holder.

 

[williamn]

I was looking to go down to Birmingham in October but the introduction of SP has put the kibosh on using the Train.

It used to be quite easy to get reasonably priced Advanced 1st Class Tickets with a Railcard on this journey from Edinburgh or Glasgow and even Falkirk sometimes.

The SP price (where available) is more than the 1st Class used to be (even with a railcard).

1st Class is north of £70 .......

Just hope LNER don't introduce this.

Flying with Easyjet £50 return !!

Is Standard Class out of the question for you? Can see returns for about £70 on a not very thorough search.

 

[Butts]

Is Standard Class out of the question for you? Can see returns for about £70 on a not very thorough search.

Certainly when it's £50 return by Air.

It's not so much the price but the time without a cigarette.

If I'm being mollycoddled in 1st Class that somewhat ameliorates the journey.

Standard Premium you get the seat and that's it - like a "Beggars 1st Class"

 

[Kite159]

Is Standard Class out of the question for you? Can see returns for about £70 on a not very thorough search.

But standard doesn't give free alcohol

 

[D6130]

But standard doesn't give free alcohol

....but, if you travel standard class and take your own alcohol, you'll still save money overall!

 

[williamn]

....but, if you travel standard class and take your own alcohol, you'll still save money overall!

You can even bring your own real glass rather than the plastic one Avanti will give you 'due to Covid'.
(I got a very odd look from the guy serving wine in First when I asked if he could just pour it into my own glass).

 

[Djgr]

There was a comment in Rail by Chris Green basically saying that he didn't think having three classes was sensible (I believe it was he who killed off Virgin's version because it suffered from similar flaws as Avanti's version).

 

[Furrball]

Euston to Glasgow today in standard premium

Only ticket check was just south of Carlisle and their was no request for payment

 

[philosopher]

Euston to Glasgow today in standard premium

Only ticket check was just south of Carlisle and their was no request for payment

Coincidentally I was on a Euston to Glasgow train today. I did think about upgrading to standard premium but in the end upgraded to first class through the Seatfrog app. £25 for complimentary food and drink plus a better seat versus £30 for only a better seat only is no contest.

I did have a look at the standard premium carriage before the first stop at Crewe and about a third of the seats were taken, which was probably similar to the level of occupancy in first class.

Tickets were checked immediately after departure in first class and presumably in standard premium.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Has anyone got any idea how busy Standard Premium has been recently? (I'm not bothered about any particular route)- likewise occupancy levels of "normal" First Class?

I'm also curious how busy First Class is on Super Voyagers, particularly at weekends- as pre-Covid when I frequently travelled in First on a Sunday, myself and the majority of others upgraded using Weekend First.

I notice Avanti are now offering "Advance Standard Premium" fares-

There is a huge difference in price on Sunday morning fares Manchester to London Euston in September 12th (both 08:05/08:20 departures)- Standard Class- £25.70/First Class £97.50

Strangely on Sunday 19th Standard on 08:05/08:20 departures Manchester to London Euston no advances available on either train, so cheapest singles:
Standard- £66.10/ Premium £91.10 (£25 supplement same as onboard?)/ First Class £139.50.

 

[yorkie]

I've heard of trains being much busier in 1st than standard premium but this is anecdotal and it's early days yet.

 

[Furrball]

Travelling GLC-EUS last Monday there were at most 2 other people in standard premium. On Saturday there was maybe 1/3 of the bays occupied with varying numbers of passengers

 

[Falcon1200]

On the 0810 Euston-Glasgow today I would estimate around 10-12 passengers in Standard Premium when I passed through (north of Preston). Fairly quiet in First Class, maybe 10 or so in my coach too, but given the seeming lack of Advance First Class fares now I'm not surprised.

 

[BHXDMT]

Has anyone got any idea how busy Standard Premium has been recently? (I'm not bothered about any particular route)- likewise occupancy levels of "normal" First Class?

I travelled on the 1145 Wolverhampton (WVH) - Euston (EUS) last Wednesday, 9 Coach Pendolino originating in Blackpool. First was rammed and Standard Premium was probably 3/4 full. Standard was full. I doubt you can read much into it as they were only running 1 train an hour via Birmingham so the trains were busy anyway.

1935 EUS - WVH (terminating Crewe) on Thursday, Standard Premium was again at least 3/4 full, First was almost full til Milton Keynes, then busy but not full after (11 Coaches).

 

[StarCrossing]

Has anyone got any idea how busy Standard Premium has been recently? (I'm not bothered about any particular route)- likewise occupancy levels of "normal" First Class?

In my recent experience, standard premium has been slightly less busy than first class, but on busy trains both have been busy and on quiet trains both have been quiet!