Virgin seat reservations with no ticket

[drevil0208]

We are doing a UK/Ireland trip from overseas in February. We are flying into Glasgow, then rail/ferry to Belfast, Belfast to Dublin, then RailSail from Dublin to London via Irish Ferries Ulysses.

We will be buying the RailSail ticket from Irish Ferries and will pick up tickets at Dublin Ferry port. It looks like the RailSail ticket purchased from Irish Ferries is generic for the rail portion, and you do not get seat reservations for a specific train. We will most likely be catching the 12:38 from Holyhead changing at Chester. There are 3 of us and we would like a table in Coach D (the hybrid Standard/First coach, which I think should be Standard on a Saturday). When we are in Glasgow at the beginning of our trip, is it possible to make seat reservations for the Chester to London train without having tickets yet (we won't be picking them up until Dublin)?

I would prefer to book the SailRail hrough Virgin (that way we get seat reservations), but it seems to only show the Swift Fast Ferry and not the Ulysses? So it looks like we have to book through Irish Ferries to get the Ulysses..

Thanks!

 

[bengolding]

Really depends on the ticket staff. Those who stick to the rules no matter what excuse will only offer a reservation upon presentation of the ticket. In my experience, Glasgow Central Virgin staff are in this category and I must add they are a grumpy bunch too!

One option ofr you may be to call Virgin Customer Relations in Birmingham. They can make seat reservations over the phone. Just explain your issue and I'm sure they can reserve seats for you. I've done it over the phone in the past without any issue, but I did say that I already had a ticket, so you may have to say this just to get a reservation without the hassle of visiting a station.

 

[drevil0208]

Technically I would have paid for my ticket, I just wouldn't have picked it up yet.

 

[AlterEgo]

Technically I would have paid for my ticket, I just wouldn't have picked it up yet.

That is fine. Virgin will do the seat reservations over the phone for you. Just say you've bought a ticket.

 

[Michael.Y]

That is fine. Virgin will do the seat reservations over the phone for you. Just say you've bought a ticket.

Bear in mind the 12:38 HHD-CHE is an ATW service, usually a 2 or 3-car Class 175. As two ferries arrive in the hour before it departs (your Ulysses and the Stena Line Adventurer), this service, at least for the hour and a half or so to Chester, can get VERY busy, especially on weekends. We usually arrive at about 1210-1215, so if you want to guarantee yourself a seat / table for this leg of your journey, I'd get to the platform as soon as is humanly possible!

A little tidbit of advice from an ATW steward who had to share his little vestibule space with his trolley, six (count'em) passengers, all their luggage and a little bit of oxygen a couple of Fridays back!