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1st class not available on XC?

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hst2cornwall

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This has got me baffled. I'm trying to book advance 1st class for a trip to Truro in october. As mentioned in my previous post on cheap 1st class tickets, I prefer to travel like this because I have a guide dog, and need plenty of room/table etc etc. Anyway, it seems that when I go onto thetrainline, and redspottedhanky the 1st class ticket is only vallid on FGW and not XC. I will be travelling from Worcester with FGW to Cheltenham, then going for a XC service and probably changing at Exeter for the FGW HST through to Truro. So wy can I only travel 1st from exeter to truro, and not on the cheltenham Exeter leg? Its worth mentioning I'm travelling on a saturday, and I know the best way is to buy standard advance tickets, then try and get a 1st class upgrade on the day, but then I won't have chance to book journey care in advance which we need for the changes. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance
 
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bb21

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Between Exeter and Cheltenham, they are all Voyagers so First Class should be available.

If you're booking Advances, maybe they haven't become available for October yet?
 

LexyBoy

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Advances have been released, but there are no XC Advances on this flow.

Looking at the individual legs you can for example book a 1st Advance between Cheltenham and Exeter, but at nearly £100 it's a rip-off and I'd advise booking a walk-on ticket if you're travelling this route.

The cheapest route appears to be on a FGW Only Advance ticket; some of these are available with only one change, at Westbury, so it would be quite convenient, although of course the first class provision will be somewhat lacking on the first leg! (which I guess is worked by a 150).

Oh, and don't use Thetrainline! They always charge more than booking at the station.
 

hst2cornwall

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Advances have been released, but there are no XC Advances on this flow.

Looking at the individual legs you can for example book a 1st Advance between Cheltenham and Exeter, but at nearly £100 it's a rip-off and I'd advise booking a walk-on ticket if you're travelling this route.

The cheapest route appears to be on a FGW Only Advance ticket; some of these are available with only one change, at Westbury, so it would be quite convenient, although of course the first class provision will be somewhat lacking on the first leg! (which I guess is worked by a 150).

Oh, and don't use Thetrainline! They always charge more than booking at the station.

Your right about it being a 150 and to honest that would be pretty vile on a Saturday i would think? Its an option though. So it might be an idea to try and book standard seats from cheltenham, and try and get an HST rather than a voyager, then 1st class with FGW from say Exeter and book them both either directly online, or at my local booking office. As I mentioned I need to get the booking in asap so I can sort out journey care for the changes and I'm going on Oct 13th. Oh and I know the advance tickets aren't available for the 13th yet, I tryed a few earlier dates and got the same results, (No 1st class available on XC). I'd would change onto the FGW at Bristol, but the ones I want never seem to stop there.
 

LexyBoy

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XC Advance 1st tickets are available from Cheltenham to Truro, booking these and singles each way between Worcester and Cheltenham could be an option if you can find reasonably priced tickets for the XC leg.
 

hst2cornwall

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XC Advance 1st tickets are available from Cheltenham to Truro, booking these and singles each way between Worcester and Cheltenham could be an option if you can find reasonably priced tickets for the XC leg.

Worcester to Cheltenham is never a problem, not often busy unless it gold cup week. So you reckon go down the booking office and see what they've got, or try crosscountry directly? The XC service on the winter timetable around 10.00am from Cheltenham is usually the HST, then I try for the FGW from Exeter 12.10 ish if that helps. Thanks for all the help.
 

LexyBoy

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Worcester to Cheltenham is never a problem, not often busy unless it gold cup week. So you reckon go down the booking office and see what they've got, or try crosscountry directly? The XC service on the winter timetable around 10.00am from Cheltenham is usually the HST, then I try for the FGW from Exeter 12.10 ish if that helps. Thanks for all the help.

I'd check online when tickets for the 13th become available, if it's too expensive then we may be able to advise cheaper options.

Then either book online or at the station, whichever's more convenient.
 

hst2cornwall

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I seem to remember when I checked yesterday tickets were available for the 6th October, so I'll check next week and see. I'll post back here with what I find out. On a separate note, 1st class is always too expensive in my oppinion, but I'm usually happy to pay the extra for the room/relaxed atmosphere etc. Thanks for the advise.
 

voyagerdude220

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In my experience, Advance First Singles on XC are almost always extortianately priced, regardless of how far in advance you book.

Just to let you know that XC no longer allow you to buy weekend first upgrades in conjunction with Standard advance singles. You would have to have a standard off peak or anytime ticket to use weekend first, or alternatively buy an advance first single which may be just as expensive as it would've been during the week, despite the non existant food/drink offer.
 

yorkie

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Ah, so that explains why FC is so empty at weekends! I got an HST a while back that was absolutely wedged throughout standard but there were only about 5 people in 1st.

Do some TMs allow the upgrade with Weekend 1st (presumably they'd rather have your money?) or do they have to rigidly apply the rules?

This will reduce revenue for XC, as leisure passengers are not going to pay £hundreds for 1st Anytime tickets!
 

All Line Rover

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In my experience, Advance First Singles on XC are almost always extortianately priced, regardless of how far in advance you book.

It's not often I have something nice to say about XC, but in this respect I beg to differ. Although XC prices are extortionate during the peaks (which are very rigid peaks, with no "in between" prices), they do have excellent First Class prices if you are travelling off-peak and are able to book well in advance.

For example, if travelling from Birmingham to Manchester or Oxford on Wednesday 10th July, £21.50 First Advance tickets are available on the 09:31 to Manchester and 09:33 to Oxford and on subsequent services. That's £14.20 with a Railcard, which is not bad at all.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just to let you know that XC no longer allow you to buy weekend first upgrades in conjunction with Standard advance singles. You would have to have a standard off peak or anytime ticket to use weekend first, or alternatively buy an advance first single which may be just as expensive as it would've been during the week, despite the non existant food/drink offer.

I agree with you on this. On the odd occasion I've had a flexible ticket and upgraded to First (once or twice I even had a flexible First ticket at the weekend), I've nearly always been the sole person in the First Class carriage. If numerous people on board the train are willing to pay £10-£20 to upgrade, even though they have an Advance ticket, why don't XC want their money!?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This will reduce revenue for XC, as leisure passengers are not going to pay £hundreds for 1st Anytime tickets!

The majority of weekend travellers are leisure travellers, of which the majority of those have Advance tickets! XC's policy makes no sense at all. Almost everyone in First on Virgin at the weekends seems to have a Standard Advance ticket or a cheap First Advance ticket that was available at short notice.
 
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voyagerdude220

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It's not often I have something nice to say about XC, but in this respect I beg to differ.

For example, if travelling from Birmingham to Manchester or Oxford on Wednesday 10th July, £21.50 First Advance tickets are available on the 09:31 to Manchester and 09:33 to Oxford and on subsequent services. That's £14.20 with a Railcard, which is not bad at all.

Hi ALR,

I should've mentioned I was more thinking about longer distance journeys. E.g. Manchester Picc to Bristol Temple M with my railcard If I randomly look on the 4th September, several weeks in advance the cheapest FC one for the 10:07/11:07/12:07 is £59.40, against £18.80 standard.

Looking for the same date to Bournemouth however highlights my point perfectly IMO. e.g. 10:27 Man Bmh 15:11- £26.75 Std- Good value. Or First Class- £119.80 .. Erm.. over 3 times more expensive. :(
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Ah, so that explains why FC is so empty at weekends! I got an HST a while back that was absolutely wedged throughout standard but there were only about 5 people in 1st.

Do some TMs allow the upgrade with Weekend 1st (presumably they'd rather have your money?) or do they have to rigidly apply the rules?

This will reduce revenue for XC, as leisure passengers are not going to pay £hundreds for 1st Anytime tickets!

Yep. I completely agree Yorkie. It baffles me.

They don't even allow standard anytime ticket holders to upgrade for free anymore. VT still do (how long that lasts though with the franchise announcement coming up is anyone's guess).

I've no idea whether some TMs happily take upgrades on advance stds. I remember one Christmas travelling down to Somerset on advance stds originally intended for my Dad. On the way down the TM hesitated but offered me the upgrade. On the way back, the TM point blank refused.
 

All Line Rover

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Hi ALR,

I should've mentioned I was more thinking about longer distance journeys.

...Looking for the same date to Bournemouth however highlights my point perfectly IMO. e.g. 10:27 Man Bmh 15:11- £26.75 Std- Good value. Or First Class- £119.80 .. Erm.. over 3 times more expensive. :(

That's a consequence of the fact that XC don't want you to travel with them, which they've openly admitted on numerous occasions. :lol: For that and many other journeys you'd be much better off travelling via London - in this case, £46 for a Virgin-priced First Advance.

Although I'm never happy about TOC's charging high prices, I can't argue against what XC are doing. They have two First Class carriages every hour between Birmingham and Reading. Virgin have twelve First Class carriages every hour between Manchester and London. There's no comparison.
 

furryfeet

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So why do XC not want you to travel with them ? Surely the aim is to put "bums on seats" even in first class, in order to pay the fixed costs of running a train. If the 1st class carriages are empty then all the 2nd class passengers have to pay more to compensate !
 

hst2cornwall

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I've never travelled 1st with XC only FGW, but I'm more interested in the fact that I can get a table, more space and no annoying kids than any free food/drink offers. I've noticed this aswell that XC do offer god deals on advance tickets for the shorter roots but not on the longer ones which seems a bit back to front. So back to my journey, which I do regularly, getting from worcester to cheltenham is much of a muchness, The problem comes when trying to find a nice quiet roomy option for my buck to get me anyway near the FGW HST to Truro. I remember ringing rail enquirees once and they suggested Worcester to Reading (HST) then direct to Truro (Another HST) That would do it?
 

LexyBoy

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I've never travelled 1st with XC only FGW, but I'm more interested in the fact that I can get a table, more space and no annoying kids than any free food/drink offers. I've noticed this aswell that XC do offer god deals on advance tickets for the shorter roots but not on the longer ones which seems a bit back to front. So back to my journey, which I do regularly, getting from worcester to cheltenham is much of a muchness, The problem comes when trying to find a nice quiet roomy option for my buck to get me anyway near the FGW HST to Truro. I remember ringing rail enquirees once and they suggested Worcester to Reading (HST) then direct to Truro (Another HST) That would do it?

That would do it; you'd need seperate tickets as it's not a permitted route on a through ticket. It's also quite a lot longer - you might want to schedule a lunch break in the glorious county town of Royal Berkshire to liven up your journey.

Worcester-Reading is £97 First Anytime Return Route: Via Evesham. There are no Advances on this route. Make sure you do get an HST though, 1st would be wasted on a Turbo!

There seem to be a decent number of £54 1st Advances available (I looked at the 2nd Oct) for Reading-Truro.
 

hst2cornwall

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That would do it; you'd need seperate tickets as it's not a permitted route on a through ticket. It's also quite a lot longer - you might want to schedule a lunch break in the glorious county town of Royal Berkshire to liven up your journey.

Worcester-Reading is £97 First Anytime Return Route: Via Evesham. There are no Advances on this route. Make sure you do get an HST though, 1st would be wasted on a Turbo!

There seem to be a decent number of £54 1st Advances available (I looked at the 2nd Oct) for Reading-Truro.

OOH and I could sample the delights of the travelling chef aswell?
 

ainsworth74

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You would have to travel on one of the early morning services but yes it would be possible. You can find a list of the services that offer a travelling chef (and where it's available to) towards the bottom of this page.
 

Butts

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From my experience XC do have the cheapest Advanced 1st Fare from Edinburgh to Birmingham which are readily available compared to Virgins more expensive but quicker journey.
 

calc7

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From my experience XC do have the cheapest Advanced 1st Fare from Edinburgh to Birmingham which are readily available compared to Virgins more expensive but quicker journey.

I think I'd rather be in STD on a Pendo/Super Voyager than fork out so much more for 1ST on XC personally (unless it's a HST).
 

Butts

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I think I'd rather be in STD on a Pendo/Super Voyager than fork out so much more for 1ST on XC personally (unless it's a HST).

Almost agree but not quite (time is the main factor) plus XC are tightwads on the freebies no alcohol or crisps, however I'd still take their voyager 1st against a pendelino 2nd:p
 

calc7

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Almost agree but not quite (time is the main factor) plus XC are tightwads on the freebies no alcohol or crisps, however I'd still take their voyager 1st against a pendelino 2nd:p

For the same price, so would I, but I find the STD Advances on the Scotland-Preston-Birmingham corridor quite cheap (especially with a split at Preston)
 
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