Southern weekend first

[James Wake]

Hi all,
On my train home tonight, the conductor threatened penalty fares for travelling in first class. I thought Southern did weekend first, but then went onto the website and it had been removed. Anyone have any further info on this? Seems a bit quiet and sneaky to me. If it's true, thank goodness I haven't tried to go in there today.

 

[Bungle965]

If you wish to upgrade your Standard Class ticket to First Class (Monday to Friday), you will need to do so before boarding the train. Our Conductors will only sell a new First Class ticket on board and will no longer be able to offer an upgrade. In addition, you may be liable to a Penalty Fare; however discretion will be applied if the ticket office was closed at the departure station.

From Southerns website
So you can upgrade on a weekday but only at a ticket offcie unless there is not one.But it does not seem to mention anything about weekend.
Sam

 

[yorkie]

Hi all,
On my train home tonight, the conductor threatened penalty fares for travelling in first class.

As far as I know Guards can't issue Penalty Fares on Southern (it's considered bad practice, though some TOCs such as EMT disregard that), so the threat cannot be carried out unless a Revenue Protection Officer/Inspector boards.

I thought Southern did weekend first, but then went onto the website and it had been removed. Anyone have any further info on this? Seems a bit quiet and sneaky to me. If it's true, thank goodness I haven't tried to go in there today.

No mention here either. If they used to offer it, they should announce the change rather than threatening people just because they've not checked the website since the last journey.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

From Southerns website
So you can upgrade on a weekday but only at a ticket offcie unless there is not one.But it does not seem to mention anything about weekend.
Sam

Looks like they removed a paragraph about the weekend, then forgot to amend the paragraph referring to weekdays.

You could try contacting them to point this out, though contacting Customer Services is a bit like banging your head against a brick wall. There's probably more chance of an appropriate person in a position to do anything about this matter reading this forum than getting a message through Customer Services.

 

[GodAtum]

Very confusing. I'm sure I checked a few months ago and there was still mention of weekend 1st upgrade.

 

[James Wake]

Very confusing. I'm sure I checked a few months ago and there was still mention of weekend 1st upgrade.

At least I'm not the only one. The amount of overcrowding that can occur on some weekends is huge. The 2132 from Victoria on a Saturday is only booked a 4 car, it was heaving until Redhill. I think Southern are making mistakes as I'm sure that it was a good source of extra revenue when RPIs or conductors could get there to issue the supplements. Maybe sarahj or johnnycache might know some more?

 

[tsr]

Weekend First may still be sold onboard from Avantix machines for routes where First Class fares exist - no change has been made officially, to the best of my knowledge, and the £5 First Class upgrades (ticket type WKU) still exist. As an aside, Southern do not officially permit any upgrades to First Class when onboard the train on weekdays, unless an excess was not possible prior to boarding.

As for the 2132 ex Victoria, to be perfectly honest it is entirely possible that the train will be sufficiently heavily loaded that people will be pushed into First Class by the volume of passengers, and simply remain there. It is deeply unfortunate but an uncomfortable truth. Anything running on routes via Redhill/Gatwick and formed of 4 coaches after about 1700hrs on any day of the week will often have the same problem, except sometimes in the winter months. Should First Class be checked in such circumstances at the weekend, I would very much hope that passengers would be able to buy an upgrade or leave without further penalty.

 

[ricoblade]

I was looking for this last week as we had to go to a wedding near East Grinstead on Saturday, returning Sunday.

We travelled from Retford and I used my last remaining East Coast points (boo!) to get free first class returns to/from KGX.

I couldn't find any mention of Weekend First so just booked first anyway but boy were we disappointed with Southern's first class - just a partitioned off area with what looked like the same seats as standard and they were rock hard. At least we had plenty of space on a busy Sunday morning service into VIC.

 

[James Wake]

I was looking for this last week as we had to go to a wedding near East Grinstead on Saturday, returning Sunday.

We travelled from Retford and I used my last remaining East Coast points (boo!) to get free first class returns to/from KGX.

I couldn't find any mention of Weekend First so just booked first anyway but boy were we disappointed with Southern's first class - just a partitioned off area with what looked like the same seats as standard and they were rock hard. At least we had plenty of space on a busy Sunday morning service into VIC.

You must have had a 377/6 or 377/7 unit, yes they are the same seats, armrests, just a door and on some seats antimacassars. We have debated long about how poor Southern's first class is, it is annoying for me as a regular commuter to see identical seats empty, but they just have the antimacassar over the seat. If I wanted to sit there, it would be another £1500 a year.

 

[GodAtum]

Does anyone know if Southern have got rid of their 1st class weekend upgrade?

 

[tsr]

Does anyone know if Southern have got rid of their 1st class weekend upgrade?

I haven't had to look for a couple of weeks, but I'm pretty sure Avantix machines can still issue them. There's not been any documentation to say it's been disposed of.

 

[sarahj]

I sold some a few weeks ago, £5.00 each or you need to move, they all paid!!.

 

[GodAtum]

I sold some a few weeks ago, £5.00 each or you need to move, they all paid!!.

Excellent! do you know why Southern removed any info about them from their website?