Virgin Anytime Return - Weekend First

[Sheepy1209]

Can anyone confirm whether the free Virgin Weekend First upgrade for holders of Anytime Return tickets has been withdrawn?

There's a thread on here from 2012 that seems to confirm it still applied then, but the link from that thread to Virgin's FAQ doesn't mention it anymore, and I've had this reply from customer service:

Thank you for your e-mail.

I would like to inform you that with an Anytime Return ticket you can travel only on standard class service. If there is no standard class coach then you can contact the station staff and take their authorization to travel on first class.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Sharon

The thread I'm referring to is http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67572

It's no big deal for me as I'll be buying an anytime return (Preston-Crewe) anyway, as it's my only option at the time and day of my outward trip (even the Preston-Stockport via Crewe option seems to have gone in the recent routeing guide changes).

Ta

 

[Goatboy]

What is it with the terrible grammar from customer service operations lately? Travel ON First Class? Authorization with a z?

 

[John @ home]

Can anyone confirm whether the free Virgin Weekend First upgrade for holders of Anytime Return tickets has been withdrawn?

It is still present in the current issue of "The Manual - The official source of retail information for the rail industry".

Virgin Trains Weekend Upgrade

Standard Class Anytime Single/Return (Ticket types SOS/SOR only)

Customers travelling using this product on a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday can upgrade to First Class on Virgin Trains services FREE OF CHARGE. This includes Railcard and Privilege discounted Anytime tickets.

The wording in NFM 17 (2 January 2014 - 17 May 2014) is identical. The last change in wording was in September 2013 when the words "This includes Railcard and Privilege discounted Anytime tickets" were added.

 

[andrewkeith5]

It is still present in the current issue of "The Manual - The official source of retail information for the rail industry". The wording in NFM 17 (2 January 2014 - 17 May 2014) is identical. The last change in wording was in September 2013 when the words "This includes Railcard and Privilege discounted Anytime tickets" were added.

Oh, so are Off Peak tickets excluded? I've never heard of such an exclusion before - and it seems a little odd!

 

[poshfan]

What is it with the terrible grammar from customer service operations lately? Travel ON First Class? Authorization with a z?

The authorization with z is of course American spelling. These American spellings seem to be creeping in more and more. Years ago at school I was told off for writing jail instead of gaol, but these days the English spelling is virtually defunct (thanks mainly to Monopoly) and other words will likely follow.

I work in computer software and we are told we must always use American spelling in any text that appears in software or manuals because "it helps sales in the US", but it really annoys the patriots amongst us.

Another example of bad grammar that seems to be becoming more popular especially on East Coast is the on board announcement that "we will shortly be arriving into Leeds/York/etc." But so far I haven't heard that "This train is ready to depart out of Kings Cross."

 

[John @ home]

are Off Peak tickets excluded?

Yes. The limitation of free weekend upgrades to fully flexible tickets is longstanding. See, for example, this Manual entry from 1999. At that time the facility was offered by the holder of the East Coast franchise.

Page H4:

SOS/SOR (not SDS/SDR) ticket holders, also certain annual season ticket holders, may use GNER Weekend First accommodation without payment of any supplement - see Retail Manual Part 2 (GNER Section) for details.

SOS = Standard Open Single
SOR = Standard Open Return
SDS = Standard Day Single
SDR = Standard Day Return

 

[Sheepy1209]

Don't get me onto Americanisms and bad grammar. I work for an American company and have to live with it every working day!

Re the original post, I've just checked fares again and realised that for the journey I'm making an off-peak return IS available, so the question becomes irrelevant for me - but it does no harm to keep the current status of this obscure option in the forum.

Frustratingly there are advance tickets from Preston which could get me there and back for £13 - but I'm starting from Blackpool and they're not available from here - and there's only a day return fare for Preston-Blackpool so I wouldn't save much if anything. Might as well have the flexibility..

The BPN - CWE (EDIT: CRE of course, D'oh!) return will cost £37.30, which contrasts with the £12 it's costing me to get from Crewe to Euston and back with LM. I'm meeting my daughter on the same train at Nuneaton so need to split the journey this way.

 

[High Dyke]

...Years ago at school I was told off for writing jail instead of gaol, but these days the English spelling is virtually defunct (thanks mainly to Monopoly) and other words will likely follow.

The local paper for Newark in Nottinghamshire, the Newark Advertiser still uses the word 'gaol' in its court reports.

Sorry no beneficial information for me to contribute to the thread. However it does provide information that i may find useful.

 

[gnolife]

The BPN - CWE return will cost £37.30, which contrasts with the £12 it's costing me to get from Crewe to Euston and back with LM. I'm meeting my daughter on the same train at Nuneaton so need to split the journey this way.

Question 1: You do know that Blackpool North to Crowle is actually £47.90, right?
Question 2: How are you getting from Crowle to Crewe?
Question 2A: How much is that going to cost?

 

[andrewkeith5]

Yes. The limitation of free weekend upgrades to fully flexible tickets is longstanding. See, for example, this Manual entry from 1999. At that time the facility was offered by the holder of the East Coast franchise. SOS = Standard Open Single
SOR = Standard Open Return
SDS = Standard Day Single
SDR = Standard Day Return

Ah, gotcha! Didn't realise there were free upgrades available, I thought they were all paid

 

[Sheepy1209]

Bugger - I know it's CRE, just like I know BNS is nowhere near Birmingham!

(I also know how to pronounce Crowle, having come from that neck of the woods many years ago - and it sounds a bit like Crewe! (at least that's how my Dad said it, but he did have an interesting dialect))

 

[island]

The authorization with z is of course American spelling.

This is a common misconception. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the -ize forms as the primary spelling and -ise as an alternative. Somehow it has gotten into people's heads that one is American and the other is British, when in fact -ize is proper British English spelling.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
To the original point: here is an official public source saying weekend first is free on anytime tickets on Virgin, expand the prices section and scroll down to Virgin's entry.

 

[RochdalePioneers]

Languages evolve - you think the authorized spellings are the same as they were in the past? And are we trying to standardise a language which bodges together other languages so badly that the only consistent rule is that all other rules are broken?

Anyway, as a northerner I'm always striving to get world t' talk proper like what we do.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[snail]

This is a common misconception. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the -ize forms as the primary spelling and -ise as an alternative. Somehow it has gotten into people's heads that one is American and the other is British, when in fact -ize is proper British English spelling.

A good explanation. Except for the word 'gotten', which is only used in American English!

-ize endings were in common usage in the late 18th century, which is why they were adopted in American English.

 

[anme]

This is a common misconception. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the -ize forms as the primary spelling and -ise as an alternative. Somehow it has gotten into people's heads that one is American and the other is British, when in fact -ize is proper British English spelling.

Indeed - at school I was taught the -ize spelling for most cases (there are a few words that are -ise), but Microsoft Word uses -ise in all cases when British English is selected. I think the Microsoft spellchecker is the reason why British people who care about this kind of thing now use -ise.

 

[tony_mac]

I am sure we have had the z/s discussion more than once before
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_spelling

But, the reply suggests that it was written in an overseas call centre - apart from the grammar, how many trains have no standard class?

Perhaps tweeting them will get a better response - they are less likely to write nonsense when they know lots of others will be reading it, so the twitter people should know what they are talking about.

 

[boyaloud]

Don't get me onto Americanisms and bad grammar. I work for an American company and have to live with it every working day!

Re the original post, I've just checked fares again and realised that for the journey I'm making an off-peak return IS available, so the question becomes irrelevant for me - but it does no harm to keep the current status of this obscure option in the forum.

Frustratingly there are advance tickets from Preston which could get me there and back for £13 - but I'm starting from Blackpool and they're not available from here - and there's only a day return fare for Preston-Blackpool so I wouldn't save much if anything. Might as well have the flexibility..

The BPN - CWE (EDIT: CRE of course, D'oh!) return will cost £37.30, which contrasts with the £12 it's costing me to get from Crewe to Euston and back with LM. I'm meeting my daughter on the same train at Nuneaton so need to split the journey this way.

You could perhaps check BPN - MAN (perhaps TPE advances - often very cheap even at peak times), then MAN to SOT (Stoke) with Virgin (OP day rtn ~£9.50 adult price). You'd pick up the LM service there, 20mins-ish further on!