Stuck in a seat I don't want and seatfrog with railcard

[Howardh]

OK, I have a backward-facing window seat on a Vitginvanti pendo next week; couldn't choose the seat via the app it was given to me. Rang them up this morning to ask if any aisle seats were available, but all booked up. Fair enough.

So - couple of questions; Do Virgin have an unreserved coach on London > Scotland services?
If so, can I jump on early, grab a seat in there even thought I have a reservation elsewhere (advance train-specific ticket)?

And as the OT suggests, this seatfrog is new to me, might give it a go on the day and see if I can upgrade to first, however there seems to be no way to bid and get your railcard deduction Has anyone here bid AND managed to get heir railcard deduction?

Cheers!

 

[causton]

On Pendolinos, Coach C is unreserved, as well as Coach U on an 11-car train.
I don't think you'll have a problem sitting in the "wrong" seat.

Seatfrog doesn't have railcard discounts - similar to Weekend First rates, it is a flat fare.

 

[Howardh]

On Pendolinos, Coach C is unreserved, as well as Coach U on an 11-car train.
I don't think you'll have a problem sitting in the "wrong" seat.

Seatfrog doesn't have railcard discounts - similar to Weekend First rates, it is a flat fare.

Thanks, the call centre helper said there wasn't an unreserved coach! I'll make a dash for that and hope I get a suitable one. Which coach will it be - "C"?

 

[Puffing Devil]

Thanks, the call centre helper said there wasn't an unreserved coach! I'll make a dash for that and hope I get a suitable one. Which coach will it be - "C"?

The one with the Shop in it; only half a car of seats. Much better to head for U if you have a bigger train.

 

[Howardh]

The one with the Shop in it; only half a car of seats. Much better to head for U if you have a bigger train.

No complaints there, nearer the beer!! But is U always unreserved - I'll head for that, but not sure if it's nine or eleven coaches (1930 Weds Euston - Wigan and beyond)

 

[causton]

No complaints there, nearer the beer!! But is U always unreserved - I'll head for that.

U is always unreserved as long as it exists, as you have the risk of a 9 car pulling into the platform.

Personally, I head for C, as there will usually always be a seat in A, B or C.
Coach U is full of people who have stood next to the First Class carriages and run up the train realising Standard starts a third of the way up!

That is boarding at intermediate stations though, if you turn up early you will probably be able to choose either.

 

[tom73]

Hello. I used Seatfrog for the first time recently and was very impressed. A little surprised by your comment about no Railcard discount on your Seatfrog upgrade as you have presumably already had your discount applied on your original ticket. The Seatfrog upgrade price applies to all and you are free to move to an unreserved seat as I did. I found loads of space in Azuma 1st Class on a 09:33 departure to Leeds from King's Cross.
What i did was monitor the "current price" on Seatfrog for a couple of days prior to my journey, remained firmly at £12 and only in the final 10 seconds before bidding closed did I jump in with my £13 bid, similar to how I usually win eBay auctions. In my case, if that £12 had gone over £20, that would have been it for me. Excellent service from the First Class crew. Full English and three coffee refills during the journey.

 

[Howardh]

Hello. I used Seatfrog for the first time recently and was very impressed. A little surprised by your comment about no Railcard discount on your Seatfrog upgrade as you have presumably already had your discount applied on your original ticket. The Seatfrog upgrade price applies to all and you are free to move to an unreserved seat as I did. I found loads of space in Azuma 1st Class on a 09:33 departure to Leeds from King's Cross.
What i did was monitor the "current price" on Seatfrog for a couple of days prior to my journey, remained firmly at £12 and only in the final 10 seconds before bidding closed did I jump in with my £13 bid, similar to how I usually win eBay auctions. In my case, if that £12 had gone over £20, that would have been it for me. Excellent service from the First Class crew. Full English and three coffee refills during the journey.

Thanks, I'll give it a go but I'm waiting for a reply from seatfrog r/e railcards. Certainly the original standard price had the discount.

 

[Puffing Devil]

If you're boarding at Euston then you have the benefit of the train loading indication on the departure boards - I normally head for the least full carriage. Real Time Trains combined with Open Train Times maps will get you to the front of the stampede.

 

[ag51ruk]

Thanks, I'll give it a go but I'm waiting for a reply from seatfrog r/e railcards. Certainly the original standard price had the discount.

As mentioned previously, there is no railcard discount on Seatfrog - you have already purchased a ticket with the railcard discount, anything you bid on seatfrog for the upgrade is the price you pay with no further discount

 

[Howardh]

As mentioned previously, there is no railcard discount on Seatfrog - you have already purchased a ticket with the railcard discount, anything you bid on seatfrog for the upgrade is the price you pay with no further discount

That's fair enough. Might just pop in the ticket office on the day and ask how much an upgrade is and flash the railcard. But I'll see what seatfrog comes up with, £20 would be great!

 

[Howardh]

If you're boarding at Euston then you have the benefit of the train loading indication on the departure boards - I normally head for the least full carriage. Real Time Trains combined with Open Train Times maps will get you to the front of the stampede.

I've never seen that - is there a picture/screenshot available?

 

[mirodo]

I've never seen that - is there a picture/screenshot available?

from https://www.stevenknightmedia.com/t...mation-for-virgin-passengers-at-london-euston

 

[Martin66]

I've never seen that - is there a picture/screenshot available?

 

[Howardh]

Thanks for that - in my case next Weds I anticipate most coaches will be "full" as they can't find another seat for me, so I may well have to rely on the unreserved coaches. At least it should indicate if there's a "U" coach running!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

from https://www.stevenknightmedia.com/t...mation-for-virgin-passengers-at-london-euston

That's interesting - it shows there to be reservations in C on the 14.07. Or is that an older picture from the days when both U and F were the unreserved ones and C was reservable...?

 

[island]

That's fair enough. Might just pop in the ticket office on the day and ask how much an upgrade is and flash the railcard. But I'll see what seatfrog comes up with, £20 would be great!

I can tell you right now – an upgrade will cost the difference between the price of your ticket and the price of a walk-up first class ticket for the journey you want to make. You’ve not mentioned your actual journey, but if it’s Euston to Glasgow, the walk-up fare’s £161.35 with a Railcard, assuming you’ve a Railcard that applies to the ticket.

 

[Puffing Devil]

That's interesting - it shows there to be reservations in C on the 14.07. Or is that an older picture from the days when both U and F were the unreserved ones and C was reservable...?

The website posting says 2015 - I have no idea if C was reservable then.

 

[snail]

The website posting says 2015 - I have no idea if C was reservable then.

It wasn't.

 

[snail]

What i did was monitor the "current price" on Seatfrog for a couple of days prior to my journey, remained firmly at £12 and only in the final 10 seconds before bidding closed did I jump in with my £13 bid, similar to how I usually win eBay auctions. In my case, if that £12 had gone over £20, that would have been it for me. Excellent service from the First Class crew. Full English and three coffee refills during the journey.

In the last 24 hours you will be often be offered a fixed price if you bid. Last one I did, highest bid was £23 or buy now at £70. I bid £24 and was then offered the seat immediately for £28 which I took. It was an early morning service to Euston so worth it for the breakfast service.

 

[Howardh]

In the last 24 hours you will be often be offered a fixed price if you bid. Last one I did, highest bid was £23 or buy now at £70. I bid £24 and was then offered the seat immediately for £28 which I took. It was an early morning service to Euston so worth it for the breakfast service.

Thanks, I'll watch out for that!
At the moment 1st is available for £139 (Euston/Wigan 1930) so that's £100-ish for me; but I bet there aren't many takers at that price!
Edit - Standard's £88!!

 

[RAPC]

The 19:30 is the first off-peak for Warrington / Wigan / Preston so it is usually rammed. It has also recently had U used for reservations as it is so busy. When C is the only unreserved coach, they usually ask people to stick to their reserved seats with so little being available.

On this service there is normally a fair bit of demand for the upgrade seats. You will do well to get it for less than £40 based on recent experience.

As a regular 19:30 and Seatfrog user, I stopped trying to get the upgrades as the prices we consistently high. Instead I started catching the 20:30 where I could 1st advance fares for a few quid more than the off-peak half of a return.

 

[Howardh]

OK - I've now put two bids in (one out and one return) for tomorrow. If I win what's the status if I miss my scheduled Piccadilly-London train due to the lateness of my previous train (1154 > Bon/Picc) the Avanti is 1235? Will that upgrade still stand as my normal ticket would be?

 

[Haywain]

OK - I've now put two bids in (one out and one return) for tomorrow. If I win what's the status if I miss my scheduled Piccadilly-London train due to the lateness of my previous train (1154 > Bon/Picc) the Avanti is 1235? Will that upgrade still stand as my normal ticket would be?

According to the Seatfrog T&Cs the upgrade is only valid on the train it is issued for, so the answer to your question appears to be no.

 

[Howardh]

According to the Seatfrog T&Cs the upgrade is only valid on the train it is issued for, so the answer to your question appears to be no.

Thanks, looks like I would have to approach the guard and ask directly, wouldn't like to sit in first and then move sheepishly into standard!
Lost the first bid so returning cattle class, but hope I can get outbound for £13.