Biggest Standard/First class fare differential?

[deltic]

Looking at fares from London to Manchester this Friday

06.55 London Euston - Manchester Picc

Standard £113.00 - First £67.50 - ever seen a standard class fare twice as high as first?

 

[button_boxer]

Looking at fares from London to Manchester this Friday

06.55 London Euston - Manchester Picc

Standard £113.00 - First £67.50 - ever seen a standard class fare twice as high as first?

That's not that unusual - both those fares are Advances so it's simply a matter of the lower tier standard class tickets having sold out before the first class ones.

 

[headshot119]

But what fares are you comparing here? Are they both walk on tickets? Or is one a walk on fare, and the other an advance?

 

[deltic]

But what fares are you comparing here? Are they both walk on tickets? Or is one a walk on fare, and the other an advance?

both are advance tickets - I seen plenty of cases where first is cheaper than standard but never to this degree

 

[PeterC]

I imagine that many firms these days won't pay expenses for a first class ticket but will pay for standard class so the cheap standard fares sell out first. Also a lot of non enthusiasts may filter for standard class only when searching for fares.

And yes most admin departments would, in my experience, insist on standard class as that was in the rule book even if a cheaper first class fare was available.

 

[Merseysider]

The only available 1st SOR from Bolton to Man Airport, routed TPE only, undercuts the only standard SOR available, at £10.90 compared to £12.40.

And quite why anyone would buy the 1st Any Permitted SOR from Picc to Man Airport at £14 is beyond me, as the TPE only undercuts this by £4.50, and are the only operator on the route to offer first class :roll:

 

[Starmill]

The only available 1st SOR from Bolton to Man Airport, routed TPE only, undercuts the only standard SOR available, at £10.90 compared to £12.40.

And quite why anyone would buy the 1st Any Permitted SOR from Picc to Man Airport at £14 is beyond me, as the TPE only undercuts this by £4.50, and are the only operator on the route to offer first class :roll:

It's been discussed at length before... it's if you want to come back using Northern or ATW you'd need that. Crazy, I know. Also the TPE only ticket from the Airport does not offer free tram travel in the city centre - very very very cheekily.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Looking at fares from London to Manchester this Friday

06.55 London Euston - Manchester Picc

Standard £113.00 - First £67.50 - ever seen a standard class fare twice as high as first?

Bletchley-Slough - Anytime Return 52.00, First Anytime Return 96.80 - almost twice as much. Outrageous given that you don't get a massive amount more than a slightly bigger seat/avoiding a bit of overcrowding if you're on 350s and Turbos.

In my view the multiplier should be 1.5 or 1.6 on the relevant Standard fare, including off-peak, as it tends to be in Europe. If it was I'd travel First a lot more often.

Neil

 

[Merseysider]

It's been discussed at length before... it's if you want to come back using Northern or ATW you'd need that. Crazy, I know. Also the TPE only ticket from the Airport does not offer free tram travel in the city centre - very very very cheekily.

If you wanted to come back using another TOC, the clever person would ask for a £7 1st single one way and a £4.80/£4.10 Std single the other way.
The not-so-savvy person pays £14

And that could be because offering tram travel at the end would take a bite out of TPE's revenue for the ticket. Alternatively it may just be an oversight.

 

[DelayRepay]

I imagine that many firms these days won't pay expenses for a first class ticket but will pay for standard class so the cheap standard fares sell out first. Also a lot of non enthusiasts may filter for standard class only when searching for fares.

And yes most admin departments would, in my experience, insist on standard class as that was in the rule book even if a cheaper first class fare was available.

My workplace goes one further - we have to book our tickets through a portal which doesn't even show first class fares. It is madness that in the interests of saving money I am obliged to buy a more expensive ticket.... Also I can claim for on-train wi-fi and refreshments so in theory if there was only a small difference in price a first class ticket could still work out cheaper overall.

I also have to pay more for tube travel because my employer says an Oyster Journey History statement isn't acceptable proof of expenditure...

 

[All Line Rover]

Bletchley-Slough - Anytime Return 52.00, First Anytime Return 96.80 - almost twice as much. Outrageous given that you don't get a massive amount more than a slightly bigger seat/avoiding a bit of overcrowding if you're on 350s and Turbos.

In my view the multiplier should be 1.5 or 1.6 on the relevant Standard fare, including off-peak, as it tends to be in Europe. If it was I'd travel First a lot more often.

Neil

The largest price differential I've come across for First Class over Standard Class is Oxenholme to Carlisle (VT / TPE). SVR* £16. FOR £101. Over 6x the price!

On the same route, the cheapest Standard Class VT 'Advance' fare costs £3, whereas the cheapest First Class VT 'Advance' fare costs £28. Over 9x the price. Crazy!

Milton Keynes to London, which is the same distance but on a busy commuter route, costs 'just' £72.40 for an FOR (2x FDS), and only £48 for an FOR restricted to Virgin Trains.

A similar, if not identical, situation occurs throughout Virgin Trains' network, such as Coventry to Milton Keynes. When the £16 SSR is valid, the cheapest available First Class ticket is still the £115 FOR. There are also very large price differentials between the Standard Class and First Class 'Advance' ticket tiers.

*The SVR is equivalent to the FOR because the SVR is unrestricted and there is no SOR or SDR.

 

[Starmill]

Well if we are doing general First Class Fare trivia, here's one I rather like:

London Terminals - Manchester Stations FOR £459

London Terminals - Falkirk Stations FOR £423

Both tickets routed Any Permitted.

 

[deltic]

My workplace goes one further - we have to book our tickets through a portal which doesn't even show first class fares. It is madness that in the interests of saving money I am obliged to buy a more expensive ticket.... Also I can claim for on-train wi-fi and refreshments so in theory if there was only a small difference in price a first class ticket could still work out cheaper overall.

I also have to pay more for tube travel because my employer says an Oyster Journey History statement isn't acceptable proof of expenditure...

We on the other hand only have to provide a receipt so no-one knows what class you have travelled So as long as the first advance is cheaper than the standard open single no one is the wiser.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well if we are doing general First Class Fare trivia, here's one I rather like:

London Terminals - Manchester Stations FOR £459

London Terminals - Falkirk Stations FOR £423

Both tickets routed Any Permitted.

Same for the Standard fare. I suspect this would bar travel via Glasgow, i.e. you have to go EC via Edinburgh, due to the Fares Rule. Or is Falkirk a routeing point?

If not, passengers for Glasgow know now what they should be buying

Neil

 

[bb21]

Those buying FOR are unlikely to be worried about price differences of this magnitude I would suspect.

 

[Starmill]

Who is to say via Manchester and on EC to Edinburgh are mutually exclusive?

You can definitely use it both ways. At more than £400 I should think so too! Anyway bb21 is of course correct, its a crazy fare and a small % saving can be made by buying to more than double the distance.