What class????

[scottfamily]

Evening all, myself my wife and 2 kids ( oldest 5) are looking to travel Birmingham new st to Edinburgh Waverley on cross country trains. What facilities are available on standard class given that we'll need to entertain the kids for 5 hours. Is there wifi or power points etc ? What food could we buy?is it worth taking the hit on first class? Can I upgrade on the train if I have advance tickets?? Cheers!

 

[Mojo]

In Standard class on Voyager trains (the majority of trains) you will struggle to find a table seat if you are joining at Birmingham, unless you have one reserved. There is no Wifi but there are powerpoints for mobile 'phones & laptops.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I'm afraid Cross Country haven't installed wi-fi to their trains yet, and that the food offer onboard is rather poor. Cross Country offer an at-seat trolley service on the Birmingham to Edinburgh trains, which includes a small number of sandwiches, with no hot food on offer.

Trolley menu- http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/SiteImages/Assets/3/Our_Menu_Sep_09.pdf


First Class food is also a basic affair, with the complimentary offer being highly inferior to that offered on Virgin Trains services via the West Coast, although prices are alot cheaper to reflect this on the Birmingham to Edinburgh ticket flows.

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/SiteImages/Assets/3/First_Class_Menu_February_2010.pdf

Advance tickets can't be upgraded to First Class on the train, and you would be charged the full First Class anytime single for each fare paying passenger in your family. (Everyone minus your child under 5)- £214.50 single for each adult, £107.25 for the child over 5.. well over £500 :cry:

I'm sure many other members can fill in any gaps i've left, I hope i've helped.

 

[GodAtum]

A menu is available here: Menu

The total cost for advance singles is £38.75 for first advance sinlge is £135.00.

 

[scottfamily]

Cheers for the guidance guys,£500 is a bit steep to upgrade! Are virgin trains any better equipped? I see that they are more expensive and I'm struggling to see any cheapo advance tickets, am I doing something wrong??

 

[mickey]

Advance tickets can't be upgraded to First Class on the train, and you would be charged the full First Class anytime single for each fare paying passenger in your family.

Unless it's a weekend, in which case the standard 'weekend upgrade' fee will apply.

 

[voyagerdude220]

Unless it's a weekend, in which case the standard 'weekend upgrade' fee will apply.

Please note that Cross Country don't allow holders of Advance tickets to upgrade to First Class for the cost of weekend first- They would still be required to pay the full amount for the First Anytime Single on the train.

You used to be able to upgrade advance purchase tickets when Cross Country was still part of Virgin Trains.

Also to note is the fact that VT still allow their advance ticket holders to upgrade.

 

[Deerfold]

Also to note is the fact that VT still allow their advance ticket holders to upgrade.

That I didn't know, being only an occasional user of VT (about once a year to each of Birmingham and Manchester). How much would it be to upgrade on a Saturday from Manchester to Euston? I've got a 20-odd quid ticket for a date in April. However if it's not too busy I probably won't bother as I'm likely to fall asleep anyway.

 

[mickey]

Please note that Cross Country don't allow holders of Advance tickets to upgrade to First Class for the cost of weekend first- They would still be required to pay the full amount for the First Anytime Single on the train.

So why don't they mention this on their website?
http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/Special_offers/weekend_upgrade_offer.aspx

You can purchase the Weekend Upgrade on board the train provided you hold a valid Standard ticket and subject to space being available in First Class.

(my emphasis)

 

[voyagerdude220]

That I didn't know, being only an occasional user of VT (about once a year to each of Birmingham and Manchester). How much would it be to upgrade on a Saturday from Manchester to Euston? I've got a 20-odd quid ticket for a date in April. However if it's not too busy I probably won't bother as I'm likely to fall asleep anyway.

All Weekend First upgrades on Virgin Trains are £15 throughout the VT network.

This means that even if you wished to upgrade Glasgow-London, it would still only be £15, with Manchester to London being the same price.

I think it's very good value, especially when you can benefit from the weekend at-seat services on Pendolino's.- I think it's offered on most day time Pendolino services apart from those north of Preston, although i'm not 100% sure on that.

So why don't they mention this on their website?

My source-

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/Ticket_options/Weekend_upgrade.aspx

"Also note it is not possible to purchase an upgrade in conjunction with all types of ticket, customers holding Standard Advance tickets cannot purchase the First Class upgrade. We would suggest that you purchase an Advance First ticket for your journey if you are looking to travel in First Class"

The only time I've personally double checked this with a XC TM was Christmas 2008, so things may have possibly changed, but I doubt XC would revert back to the original rule it changed itself.

I'm very confused as to why there appear to be 2 different versions of the weekend upgrade offer on the website though..

 

[janb]

My source-

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/Ticket_options/Weekend_upgrade.aspx

"Also note it is not possible to purchase an upgrade in conjunction with all types of ticket, customers holding Standard Advance tickets cannot purchase the First Class upgrade. We would suggest that you purchase an Advance First ticket for your journey if you are looking to travel in First Class"

The Manual concurs with this. You can't upgrade on CrossCountry holding a Standard Advance ticket.

 

[yorkie]

But if the train isn't very busy, the TM may not refuse your money, so it's still worth asking. I'm not sure how many times I've asked, but I've never been refused.

 

[royaloak]

So you are saying that the XC guards dont stick to the rules then?

 

[yorkie]

So you are saying that the XC guards dont stick to the rules then?

I'm pretty sure I've upgraded on XC on Advance tickets, one occasion that springs to mind is a trip to Penzance to be behind a Valenta, so well worth the upgrade (if it was an MTU at that end we'd not have upgraded), I am sure we had AP tickets. Nick W, Metcam, and Jordy were on that trip, maybe they can confirm. I'd describe the guard as friendly, good, and applying common sense. The coach we occupied was never more than about 25% full, while Standard was busy. Although that was 2008 and is probably safe to reveal which service it was on now, I would not do so at the time on a public forum as I would not want managers to tell staff off for applying common sense and providing a good service.