[Furrball]

No such thing as a stupid question so . . .

Just want to check that there are no issues with Weekend First on an All Line Rover?

Having convinced my girlfriend to travel around the UK for 7 days on a train we will need to finish by doing Penzance to London so the 1st class upgrade is the preferred option given how busy standard class can get on some of those services.

Thanks

[bb21]

Below is the extract from The Manual regarding Weekend First upgrade on First Great Western.

Originally Posted by FGW Weekend First

Weekend First - First Great Western

Holders of all Standard Class tickets and passes (including Staff Travel facilities, UK and foreign) may travel in extra comfort on many First Great Western services on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays in First Class accommodation. Services which carry First Class accommodation include all High Speed services from London Paddington to the Cotswolds / Hereford, Cheltenham Spa, South Wales, the West Country and the South West of England; most local and semi-fast services from London Paddington to the area bounded by Banbury, Didcot Parkway, Bedwyn, Basingstoke; Reading – Gatwick Airport services; most services on the Thames Branches (Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Windsor & Eton Central, Greenford).

On FGW High Speed services, a range of complimentary refreshments is available on production of the travel ticket and Weekend First supplement ticket at the buffet counter (or trolley), when open.

FGW Weekend First is only available to purchase on board, and is subject to availability of accommodation.

Prices

Weekend First supplements on First Great Western are priced by journey. Prices are £5, £10, £15 or £20, depending on the journey being made. Please consult your ticket issuing system for specific prices (ticket type FWF).

Availability

When selling tickets for a journey which involves a change of train, one supplement is payable for the entire journey, rather than per leg, provided that the entire journey is made on First Great Western trains – for example, a journey from Exeter St Davids to Marlow (two FGW services) can be upgraded with one Weekend First supplement.

Please note that FGW Weekend First is not valid on trains operated by any other TOC.

Refunds

In circumstances when the journey has been completed but a customer has not been able to make use of his/her Weekend First upgrade (e.g. double-booked seat, short-formed train, absence of First Class accommodation, etc), a customer may apply for a refund on the Weekend First upgrade after the journey has been completed, but this may not be necessarily be accompanied by the appropriate travel tickets. Such applications should therefore be dealt with exceptionally and when it is established that the claim has been made as a result of a failure on the part of the Railway, a full refund of the Weekend First upgrade should be made.

In ‘normal’ cases such as where a customer has chosen not to use the Weekend First upgrade, refunds should be made in accordance with the usual policy (i.e. charge the administration fee where appropriate).

I don't see a problem.

[Flamingo]

Any ticket that is valid for a service on FGW can be upgraded to Weekend First on Sat, Sun or Bank Holidays. It's between £5 and £20, for Penzance-Pad, it would be £20.

Just to add, the upgrade is only payable on-board and you can't reserve a seat in 1st beforehand - find a seat in 1st as soon as you board and the TM (or rarely ATE) will come and find you.

Not relevant to the OP, but if booking Advance tickets, look at the difference in price between STD with Weekend First, or just booking an Advance 1st - often, it's cheaper to book 1st straight off than pay the Weekend First.

[Furrball]

Thanks for the replies. I did believe there would be no issue but wanted a second opinion before I told the g/f that it was OK!!

[AdamW]

Another related question, what do you get in 1st class on a weekend? I know you have to go the express cafe to get your compliamentary items, but what do they consist of? Is there a set value that you can go up to, or are you (I doubt this) given free reign?

Many thanks in advance

[island]

On FGW you get a hot drink of your choice and a biscuit.

It compares disfavourably to Virgin in my opinion, where if there is a trolley you will get several instances of a hot drink, a can of soft drink, a bottle of water, crisps, and a biscuit, all of which may be taken on each run, or if not, you get a hot drink at the shop and directed to a box containing the above items and told to help yourself.

[AdamW]

Originally Posted by island

On FGW you get a hot drink of your choice and a biscuit.

It compares disfavourably to Virgin in my opinion, where if there is a trolley you will get several instances of a hot drink, a can of soft drink, a bottle of water, crisps, and a biscuit, all of which may be taken on each run, or if not, you get a hot drink at the shop and directed to a box containing the above items and told to help yourself.

Oh well, not going to be too upset about it considering that a 1st advance was actually CHEAPER than a standard one.

[SickyNicky]

Originally Posted by island

On FGW you get a hot drink of your choice and a biscuit.

Does that depend on the service you travel on? I take the 22.45 from Paddington to Newport fairly often (but not in the past month or so) and although you have to visit the buffet they will cheerfully give you a bag full of goodies including biscuits, cake, crisps etc.

Or is that weekdays only, even though you have to collect it?

[island]

I presume it's just weekdays but haven't used FGW first class on weekdays.

[calc7]

Weekends/bank holidays I've never received anything more than from-sachet coffee and a couple of biscuits. That said, there doesn't seem to be a limit on how often you can visit the buffet (I probably managed 5 times in my 5 hours from London to Penzance).

[bignosemac]

If there's any of the non-perishable weekday 1st Class freebies (crisps, nuts etc) on the weekend FGW services then these will be offered in my experience.

[All Line Rover]

Originally Posted by SickyNicky

Does that depend on the service you travel on? I take the 22.45 from Paddington to Newport fairly often (but not in the past month or so) and although you have to visit the buffet they will cheerfully give you a bag full of goodies including biscuits, cake, crisps etc.

Or is that weekdays only, even though you have to collect it?

That's exactly what is served on weekdays, so it's definitely just on weekdays.

FGW's weekend offering is completely different. Crap, in a word. East Coast's weekend offering is the best, in that you can actually have some sort of meal. Virgin's is OK - just enough to keep you going on a 2-3 hour journey in the morning but you still need to eat something by the time you arrive at your destination. (If you're travelling from Glasgow to London you definitely need to eat something before boarding or buy something from The Shop, unless you fancy fainting somewhere between Rugby and Euston!).

[Flamingo]

Originally Posted by bignosemac

If there's any of the non-perishable weekday 1st Class freebies (crisps, nuts etc) on the weekend FGW services then these will be offered in my experience.

They are not issued to the trains at weekends, so it depends on the leftovers from Friday

[AdamW]

Originally Posted by Flamingo

They are not issued to the trains at weekends, so it depends on the leftovers from Friday

I'm hoping at least to get a cup of tea and a biscuit or two... or is that too much to be hoping for?

[All Line Rover]

Originally Posted by AdamW

I'm hoping at least to get a cup of tea and a biscuit or two... or is that too much to be hoping for?

I should point out that I'm not complaining. East Coast have the most expensive Weekend First prices and so for that reason you expect the best service. Virgin's Weekend First is excellent value - particularly on the EBW route and Scotland to London route. FGW's Weekend First is also good value for those making journeys such as Penzance to London.

But the catering in itself is not adequate for many of these journeys, meaning that you often have to buy something before boarding (in order to avoid the rip off on-board food/drink prices which are subject to VAT).