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RailUK First Class Lounge Guide

Polarbear

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Do you have a source for this? I would argue that the 'entitlement' is to travel in 1st class on trains. Access to the lounge is entirely at the discretion of VT and they can refuse who they want on whatever basis they want.

No, I’ve no authoritative source, but I did read somewhere that the 1st ALR entitles the holder to all the privileges of 1st class travel, including access to the lounges.

Although the lounge at Piccadilly is operated by Virgin, I would suggest that a ticket that allows almost unlimited access to first class travel on the national network would, by default, be valid in the lounges.
 
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PeterY

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No problems in Manchester today. I used the Euston lounge twice today , again no problems. I,d never insert an ALR into a gate line. My daughter thinks at the price, even with a senior card , they should be gold plated :D:D:D:D
 

sushiuk

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I travelled down on the Sleeper on 4/5 October and found the showers at Penzance to be excellent. Clean and spacious.
It was surprising that travelling back during the day on Monday 8th the lounge was not available to 1st class passengers.
We were travelling on the 10:00 and the lounge was open as the sleeper was an hour late arriving.
 

Butts

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Was glad to avail myself of somewhere comfortable to while away 90 minutes at Euston Station Tonight.

The concourse was rammed but suprisingly the Lounge not that busy. There was not that much on offer by way of snacks but plenty of cold drinks and a Coffee Machine on tap. My son purchased a couple of those overpriced £5 Pasties from the West Cornwall Pasty Company which we took in to eat - very nice. I was able to pop out for regular smokes and get an Observer to read on the journey back to the Midlands.

Cheap Southend Airport to S&D Ticket worth it's weight in Gold - nice clean free toilets as well !!!
 

Bungle965

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Had a quick pop in the Huddersfield first class lounge this afternoon, the lounge itself is lovely although the TV does appear to be a little dated.
In terms of complimentary items there were newspapers available although a notice was there to ask passengers to refrain from removing them from the lounge. Snacks and cold drinks appeared to have been done on the cheap with there being a couple of cans of coke in the fridge and a couple of bottles of water.
The biscuits also seem a bit bargain basement quality.
If they improved the offering of the complimentary items it would be an excellent place to wait while the TransPennine mainline descends into chaos.
Sam
 

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Polarbear

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Currently sat in the lounge at Euston & some fresh jam doughnuts have appeared. Some will disappear very quickly!
 

Mojo

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Presumably not in Birmingham New Street either?
Although don’t forget that there are arguably a number of journeys from New St where you could reasonably be travelling on Virgin Trains, or Crosscountry. So if you have a flexible ticket even where Crosscountry is the main operator, Virgin Trains could be used for part of the journey.
 

_toommm_

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Off up to Aberdeen from Manchester on 27th - wanting to upgrade on the LNER from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. Would the ticket office sell me an upgrade off the train so I can use the first class lounge? Also would it be £15 or £25?
 

Butts

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Are Cross Country Trains First Class tickets valid in the lounge at Newcastle?

Unless it's changed recently no one has ever checked my ticket in the Newcastle Lounge , so you could well blag it and feign suprise if challenged.

However it used to be a strictly "tea and biscuits" job - nothing to write home about.
 

_toommm_

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Unless it's changed recently no one has ever checked my ticket in the Newcastle Lounge , so you could well blag it and feign suprise if challenged.

However it used to be a strictly "tea and biscuits" job - nothing to write home about.

No ticket checks - I attempted to show my ticket to a member of staff near the door (assuming I would) but he just smiled and said don't worry about it (and I'm far from the typical First Class customer)
 

trainophile

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Although don’t forget that there are arguably a number of journeys from New St where you could reasonably be travelling on Virgin Trains, or Crosscountry. So if you have a flexible ticket even where Crosscountry is the main operator, Virgin Trains could be used for part of the journey.

I don't think I can blag that one with a ticket to Bournemouth :'( .
 

trainophile

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You easily could. Unless an Advance, in which case no amount of blagging would make any difference.

Ah, did I forget to mention that it's an Advance ticket as well as not being for VTWC? Nope, afraid I will just have to take my own snacks and bottles of water this time.

How could a ticket from New Street to Bournemouth include a Virgin train with 1st Class?
 

_toommm_

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Ah, did I forget to mention that it's an Advance ticket as well as not being for VTWC? Nope, afraid I will just have to take my own snacks and bottles of water this time.

How could a ticket from New Street to Bournemouth include a Virgin train with 1st Class?

Routes can be generated via Euston
 

trainophile

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Well we only have half an hour’s connection outbound so not really a problem hanging around New Street.

Had we been coming back on 1st Jan as originally planned we would have had two hours to wait, due to probably just missing the 2-hourly to Hereford, in which case it might have been worth getting a 1st ticket to the Airport so we could access the Lounge, but we changed it to return on 2nd, as apart from the reduced train services we decided we didn’t fancy an early start after a late NYE. Got another night in the same Travelodge in Bournemouth for £22, and changed our XC tickets for a rather annoying £57, but will be worth it.
 

34D

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Ah, did I forget to mention that it's an Advance ticket as well as not being for VTWC? Nope, afraid I will just have to take my own snacks and bottles of water this time.

How could a ticket from New Street to Bournemouth include a Virgin train with 1st Class?

New street to Coventry and then change.
 

trainophile

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New street to Coventry and then change.

Fair enough, but not with an Advance :| . Just got back, and I can report that Birmingham New Street concourse is freezing! So we went to wait on the platform, as there's generally 40 minutes turnaround on the HFD-BHM route and you can sit on the train, except today it was not the same train going back, and they didn't open the doors until 10 minutes before departure. I'm home now, but just getting the feeling back in my fingers!

(Sorry, this post is not about Lounges - back to topic... )
 

VT 390

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Will I be able to get in to the London Paddington lounge with an advanced first class ticket to Great Malvern?
 

Mag_seven

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Will I be able to get in to the London Paddington lounge with an advanced first class ticket to Great Malvern?

Unfortunately the GWR website seems to be silent on what types of First Class ticket are valid in the Paddington lounge but I would think that you would be OK.
 

Butts

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Will I be able to get in to the London Paddington lounge with an advanced first class ticket to Great Malvern?

As Bungle says you will and it's well worth it.

Depending on the Day/Time there will be sarnies,crisps,biccies, hot drinks, a fridge full of pop, decent toilets and free newspapers.

Just hope your Transport is an HST and not one of "The Ironing Board Express" variety.
 

VT 390

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Just hope your Transport is an HST and not one of "The Ironing Board Express" variety.
Unfortunately it's a class 800 but it is 9 coaches instead of 5 which is what it's booked for which is good as this service usually gets busy around Oxford.
 

richardderby

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As Bungle says you will and it's well worth it.

Depending on the Day/Time there will be sarnies,crisps,biccies, hot drinks, a fridge full of pop, decent toilets and free newspapers.

Just hope your Transport is an HST and not one of "The Ironing Board Express" variety.
Also apparently wine on Wednesday and Friday in the Paddington lounge, and wine Wednesday evening on board trains after 6pm in first class (according to their website.)
 

Butts

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Also apparently wine on Wednesday and Friday in the Paddington lounge, and wine Wednesday evening on board trains after 6pm in first class (according to their website.)

I didn't know that was still going (not having travelled on Wed/Fri recently)
About a year ago I did quaff almost a Bottle of a passable Rose whilst waiting for a departure and a bit more on the Train.

If memory serves me correctly you help yourself in the Lounge and they were not slow to replace "empties".
 

vlad

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Also apparently wine on Wednesday and Friday in the Paddington lounge, and wine Wednesday evening on board trains after 6pm in first class (according to their website.)

They used to offer wine every evening. It helped pass the time waiting for the sleeper....
 

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