Glasgow Queen St - Inverness First class - worth it?

[Bittern]

I'm thinking about doing a return from Glasgow to Inverness First Class. Is it worth the £80 odd?

I would like to get a seat to myself for the entire journey. I admit, I don't like sitting next to strangers on trains, especially on long journeys, and First class would guarantee I would get to enjoy the journey alone.

This is the only positive I can think of, having never travelled First class before. The closest I've came is sitting in the First Class section of a 158 doing a Queen Street - Anniesland service.

So, would it be worth it?

 

[jamesontheroad]

You'll be in 170, so you will indeed have 2+1 seating, a modest recline and a bit of space. You'll also have free hot drinks from the trolley, although not enough to justify the extra cost

The only suggestion to avoid the extra cost is to get hold of a ScotRail Advance card. Advance is the loyalty club for ScotRail season ticket holders or full-fare sleeper passengers. If you have a season ticket anywhere on the ScotRail network or have recently made a full price journey on the sleeper, you can join. Advance members get free upgrades to first class at the weekend, subject to availability of seats.

 

[yorkie]

£31.10 extra on Avantix 03. Worth it? No way, unless you are extremely rich!

If you can make it a weekend you can get Weekend First for £5.30 each way. It may be worth it if the trains are busy in Standard.

 

[monkey]

The only suggestion to avoid the extra cost is to get hold of a ScotRail Advance card. Advance is the loyalty club for ScotRail season ticket holders or full-fare sleeper passengers. If you have a season ticket anywhere on the ScotRail network or have recently made a full price journey on the sleeper, you can join. Advance members get free upgrades to first class at the weekend, subject to availability of seats.

....does anyone know what the "ticket number" is - cos you're required this to join? I'm assuming this isn't the fasaticket reference?

 

[glynn80]

....does anyone know what the "ticket number" is - cos you're required this to join? I'm assuming this isn't the fasaticket reference?

It is the number marked with the letter "G" in this diagram

 

[monkey]

^^ah, thanks glynn (especially for the fast reply!)

 

[voyagerdude220]

I've only ever travelled FC with FSR between Edinburgh & Glasgow (whilst using VT FC tickets i hasten to add) and it's definately worth the extra £1-£2 extra for the FSR add onto my VT ticket, but certainly not the extortionate sums of money which FSR charge for FC, as they unsurprisingly don't sell AP FC singles because of the small number of FC seats available.

I once travelled Edinburgh-Aberdeen-Inverness then returned Inverness-Edinburgh direct one day with really cheap AP singles (£6.60 YP each way) and asked the conductor, how much the upgrade would cost (as i was considering the upgrade because of the long journey times in total)- it was around £90 to upgrade!

As i hadn't travelled FC with FSR at all at that point, i didn't know that the FC seats weren't actually a major improvement on those featured in SC, although they certainly don't have the very annoying rock hard head padding/ rest element which SC seats certainly do.

So basically to summarise, I wouldn't pay anytime first class fares for FSR FC at all. You may get a nicer seat, private compartment, free drink and a tiny muffin, but thats about it.

 

[Bittern]

£31.10 extra on Avantix 03. Worth it? No way, unless you are extremely rich!

If you can make it a weekend you can get Weekend First for £5.30 each way. It may be worth it if the trains are busy in Standard.

Well it would be a Saturday. So what do I do? Buy a standard class and ask the conductor to upgrade it on the train?

 

[voyagerdude220]

Well it would be a Saturday. So what do I do? Buy a standard class and ask the conductor to upgrade it on the train?

That's precisely how you upgrade using weekend first.

Although some TOCs have restrictions on whether you can use standard class AP tickets with weekend first, XC the most notable as VT don't and VXC never did but i'm not too sure about FSR tbh.

I'm sure Yorkie will confirm.

 

[yorkie]

On the train. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr3744bcc35ce7410024862c7ece4649/details.html

 

[JustinStacey.x]

No. I travelled standard class this journey, it was on a 170, and the service was not very busy at all. given it is a 170, I think standard class is comfortable enough.

I think I did sit next to someone, but to be honest no one really pays attention to bookings and as soon as seats freed up we all agreed on where we wanted to sit! I'm not a people person lol but I found it fine. I honestly don't think first class will benefit much here.

 

[kkong]

....does anyone know what the "ticket number" is - cos you're required this to join? I'm assuming this isn't the fasaticket reference?

Ssssh, don't tell anyone, but you can put any ticket number you like on the web application form. They are not unique (how could they be with only five digits).

Edit: Upgrading with Weekend First is not permitted when travelling on Advance tickets.

 

[moonrakerz]

Upgrading with Weekend First is not permitted when travelling on Advance tickets.

This would seem to contradict that: (My highlighting)

"Holders of most standard class tickets can upgrade to the added comfort of First Class on selected train companies on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.............
You can upgrade on the train - on a first come, first served basis. If you have a seat reservation and miss your selected service, you can still use it on another service for the same journey on the same date at no extra charge, as long as you're not travelling on an Advance tickets."

See:http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr3744bcc35ce7410024862c7ece4649/details.html as already quoted

 

[glynn80]

Upgrading with Weekend First is not permitted when travelling on Advance tickets.

This would seem to contradict that: (My highlighting)

"Holders of most standard class tickets can upgrade to the added comfort of First Class on selected train companies on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.............
You can upgrade on the train - on a first come, first served basis. If you have a seat reservation and miss your selected service, you can still use it on another service for the same journey on the same date at no extra charge, as long as you're not travelling on an Advance tickets."

The prohibition is clearly stated on the First Scotrail website (http://www.scotrail.co.uk/travelinfo/ticketsandfares62ac.html?pageid=00000000003&ms=sub):

Weekend First tickets are available on Saturdays and Sundays to holders of Anytime Day Single, Off-Peak Return, Off-Peak Day Return and Super Off-peak Return tickets only.

 

[monkey]

Ssssh, don't tell anyone, but you can put any ticket number you like on the web application form. They are not unique (how could they be with only five digits).

Edit: Upgrading with Weekend First is not permitted when travelling on Advance tickets.

...lol... k... haha...

 

[moonrakerz]

The prohibition is clearly stated on the First Scotrail website (http://www.scotrail.co.uk/travelinfo/ticketsandfares62ac.html?pageid=00000000003&ms=sub):

As I said, the bit I quoted seems to contradict that !

 

[glynn80]

As I said, the bit I quoted seems to contradict that !

In what way?

 

[kkong]

As I said, the bit I quoted seems to contradict that !

Trust me, you cannot use Weekend First with Advance tickets on ScotRail.

To be fair, their website is a bit short on detail, as of course you *can* use Weekend First with Anytime Day Returns and Anytime Returns, which it doesn't mention!

 

[me123]

So, would it be worth it?

No, no, no, no, no, no! I've never really seen much benefit in upgrading to First Class on Scotrail as things stand. You get little extra, and merely sit in the ends of the train with the suits. Don't bother. The Standard Class on a 170 (possibly ex-Hull Trains stock) up to Inverness is quite sufficient.

That said, if you can get Weekend First, it may be worthwhile. You can get a free upgrade as part of the Advance club, but it only costs an extra fiver (well, £5.30) if you want to sample it at weekends.

 

[moonrakerz]

In what way?

From NationalRrail website:

"You can upgrade on the train - on a first come, first served basis. ................ If you have a seat reservation and miss your selected service, you can still use it on another service for the same journey on the same date at no extra charge, as long as you're not travelling on an Advance tickets."

Therefore: if you do NOT miss your selected service you can travel with an upgraded Advance ticket.


As kkong has pointed out they have missed off at least two types of other tickets that can/could/might/should be used !

Could I point out that I didn't actually say that you could travel on an Advance ticket - I merely said that the messages appear to be contradictory - as kkong has pointed out !

 

[glynn80]

From NationalRrail website:

"You can upgrade on the train - on a first come, first served basis. ................ If you have a seat reservation and miss your selected service, you can still use it on another service for the same journey on the same date at no extra charge, as long as you're not travelling on an Advance tickets."

Therefore: if you do NOT miss your selected service you can travel with an upgraded Advance ticket.

I fail to see the connection but to be honest it is not a matter of much relevance considering First Scotrail have already clearly stated on their website that you cannot upgrade with Advance tickets, which I think we can safely assume has been translated to First Scotrail guards.

 

[Bittern]

Does anyone know how packed the 07:06 QS - INV gets?

 

[me123]

I've been on it on a Saturday all the way. Nice and quiet all the way, although there were some footy fans going up for a Cally Thistle game getting wasted at 7am :roll: Nevertheless, a lot of people got on/off at Stirling and Perth and the ride up to Inverness was relatively quiet on the whole.

I would make a reservation just in case, but there shouldn't be a major problem.

 

[Bittern]

Thanks. I'll be doing it on a Saturday as well.

 

[90019]

Nice and quiet all the way, although there were some footy fans going up for a Cally Thistle game getting wasted at 7am :roll:

I did Edinburgh - Inverness on a saturday recently and the train was almost empty. Oddly enough there were some football fans on my train as well, but they weren't too bad and were only in one part of one coach.

 

[tighcorrie]

I travel this route once a week on business. There are but 3 direct trains a day Glasgow/Inverness. Mostly they are the kind of set that often has only one 1st class compartment, occasionally two. This means there are usually only 7 1st class seats on the whole train and all in one place. Business people like me use them and they are crowded, and seat reservations are a must. It's unlikely you'll get the seats to yourself unless you're lucky. First train of the day is sometimes good for that.

If you want a good 1st class experience on this route go from Edinburgh (more trains) or time it right and change at Stirling onto the National Express London/Inverness which has at least 2 carriages devoted to 1st class. But it goes at around 5.20pm. This will meet your objectives and might therefore be better value for money.

Hope this helps!

 

[Bittern]

Well I did the trip yesterday. I did Standard Class which was good enough after reading this thread. Plus, I couldn't justify the £80 odd for first compaired to the £50 for standard. It was very nice. Lots of great scenery and Inverness herself is beautiful! Got lots and lots of pictures (even some of the trains at Inverness). Great trip. Thanks for the advice everyone!

http://s579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/DayinInverness/