Avanti First Class north of Wolverhampton

Travelling on a Pendolino from Euston to Crewe via Birmingham today, Sunday 10 March in First Class using an All Line Rover.
Excellent service to Birmingham New Street, where we were told there would be no staff from Wolverhampton. The Steward swiftly provided a cheese board with wine .
Is this usually the case? I think I'd be a bit annoyed if I actually was going all the way to Edinburgh.

PS: Just been told that they have had to isolate the water so no service fron the shop. Why they can't sell anything that doesn't involve using a tap is unclear...

The Avanti first class service is extremely hit or miss. When staff are unavailable it is rarely posted on JourneyCheck, so even if you have a flexible ticket you can't really make an informed decision on which train to take. It's rather frustrating as the service is fairly decent when everything is working

There's no way I'd use it if I had to pay the full public rate though, as trying to get compensation out of Avanti when no (or only limited) catering is provided is like pulling teeth.

Indeed. I remember in November last year, when I got my Senior Railcard, I decided on a First Class day trip to York, but was put off by the price. Then I realised the 7 day rover was only about £200 more, so it seemed like a bargain!

Jan Mayen said:

PS: Just been told that they have had to isolate the water so no service fron the shop. Why they can't sell anything that doesn't involve using a tap is unclear...

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food regulations mean they can’t sell food/drink if there’s nowhere for the staff to wash their hands (or that’s what they have told me before anyway)

MalaiseForever said:

food regulations mean they can’t sell food/drink if there’s nowhere for the staff to wash their hands (or that’s what they have told me before anyway)

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This is correct and the toilet doesn't count!