All Line Rover
Established Member
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- 17 Feb 2011
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For travel from April 2016, Virgin Trains West Coast has slashed the cost of first class 'advance' fares on all routes. The lowest price tier is available on almost all services, regardless of whether they are peak or off-peak.* Standard class advance fares remain at existing prices.
At the time of writing, the following fares apply to a peak* time return journey from Stoke-on-Trent (SOT) to London Euston (EUS) on Wednesday 20 April 2016:
SOT 06:48 to EUS 08:23: 1ST £35 / STD £95 [first arrival of the day from SOT]
EUS 17:20 to SOT 18:48: 1ST £35 / STD £95
So a first class return journey, on two of the busiest peak* services available, costs the same price as a standard class off-peak return. Whereas standard class travel costs almost triple.
These are not 'seat sale' fares (a promotion running from 01 March 2016 to 03 March 2016, with fares which, for non-Railcard holders, are even cheaper). They are regular advance fares, albeit at price tiers costing around 25% of the price tiers normally available on peak* services.
This has got to be the most bizarre pricing structure for advance fares currently in existence, particularly when services such as those mentioned in my example are almost full when first class advance fares are priced at substantially more expensive levels (the 17:20 from Euston is a 9 car Pendolino). Could these extremely cheap first class fares be a short term initiative to encourage passengers to try first class?
*Pedant notice: I am aware that a 'service' cannot be peak or off-peak. I am going on the basis of the restrictions applicable to tickets between the stations in question and London Euston.
At the time of writing, the following fares apply to a peak* time return journey from Stoke-on-Trent (SOT) to London Euston (EUS) on Wednesday 20 April 2016:
SOT 06:48 to EUS 08:23: 1ST £35 / STD £95 [first arrival of the day from SOT]
EUS 17:20 to SOT 18:48: 1ST £35 / STD £95
So a first class return journey, on two of the busiest peak* services available, costs the same price as a standard class off-peak return. Whereas standard class travel costs almost triple.
These are not 'seat sale' fares (a promotion running from 01 March 2016 to 03 March 2016, with fares which, for non-Railcard holders, are even cheaper). They are regular advance fares, albeit at price tiers costing around 25% of the price tiers normally available on peak* services.
This has got to be the most bizarre pricing structure for advance fares currently in existence, particularly when services such as those mentioned in my example are almost full when first class advance fares are priced at substantially more expensive levels (the 17:20 from Euston is a 9 car Pendolino). Could these extremely cheap first class fares be a short term initiative to encourage passengers to try first class?
*Pedant notice: I am aware that a 'service' cannot be peak or off-peak. I am going on the basis of the restrictions applicable to tickets between the stations in question and London Euston.
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