Seating reservation system

[Pumbaa]

Question to all of those in the know:

How does the seating reservation system allocate the reservations? Obviously you've got all the options like table, quiet zone etc, but does each seat have a value attached to it, and you get given one with the nearest value attached to it? More interestingly though, does it jump all over the train, or does it try and systematically seat people from one end to the other?

Just curious to know how it works really. I requested a window seat, at a table, forward facing on a VT 0917 service from EUS to LIV. I was allocated K12, which is rear facing and in airline style. Kudos to the system though, as it did manage to give me a seat next to the window.

Cheers, Maks.

 

[rail-britain]

The train is broken down into seat types, pretty much as you have described
The seat are then allocated randomly

A good example of this is if you go to the NXEC website and make bookings there
You are given your seat number before you confirm payment
I use this quite often when travelling on VT and keep refreshing the screen until it finds a seat I like!

09:17 Euston to Liverpool
K12
This is a forward facing seat, don't know why you think this is rear facing
This is one of the better seats, although if it is Mon-Fri can be annoying being next to the Kitchen

 

[Pumbaa]

Ah my mistake - didn't look properly on V-Flyer. I tried refreshing the NatEx page a few times. It didn't want to know though. It only showed the seat number on the final confirmation screen, with the payment details all entered, and all I had to do was accept T and Cs and press Finish. I had 4 sections of the journey; this was the first. Should I have spotted my allocated seat earlier?

Being next to the kitchen is a bug-bear for me; I'd much rather be in a quiet coach. And it's a Weds morning on a Breakfast service.