Poll: Traveling by Train - 1st class seat dilema!

[daz]

Book in advance on popular routes and it isn't expensive. I'm going to Heathrow later this month and my First Class return to London is less than it would cost me in petrol before even thinking about the airport parking..

Reading -> London line is a commuter line and you will struggle to get advance discounts.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

You can upgrade to 1st class for a flat rate of £10 or £15 IIRC, so it's only worth it on long journeys.

In this dilemma, I would have stuck with cattle class. On one occasion after clubbing, around 5AM, two of us sneaked into 1st class only because no one else was on the train. We got away with it. Didn't do it again though.

 

[JBod]

I've seen quite a few people fined for sitting in First Class over the years. I have never seen them given the option of "get out or be fined".

Then again I live a few stops from the end of the line so I always get a seat in cattle class Down side is 2 hours each way to work door 2 door.

 

[Amp34]

Reading -> London line is a commuter line and you will struggle to get advance discounts.

I assume he's going from Plymouth to Paddington, then to Heathrow so doing the Reading>Paddington route...

However I realise it's not that simple...

 

[gambitt]

I've done this before a few times and when the ticket inspector comes around I bribe him with a tenner

 

[Castiel]

I travel first class and claim it on expenses, but if I paid for standard, I would travel in standard.

Anything else is simply dishonest and I like to think I have some integrity.

 

[xolotl]

Trains are a rip off anyway, so id sit in 1st class to get my moneys worth. Any inspector comes along and me no speek the engleesh sorry bye bye

Really? Unless you get up in the morning and decide to travel half way across the country the same day you can get some very cheap tickets.

For example a few recents tickets I've got with a railcard:

Coventry - Manchester £5.20
Coventry - Euston £4.95

Try doing that any cheaper or quicker than those trains.

 

[gambitt]

Coventry - Manchester £5.20
Coventry - Euston £4.95

Try doing that any cheaper or quicker than those trains.

Where do you get prices like those? Or is it just for very select routes?

 

[Amp34]

Book in advance and with a rail card. Probably not that special TBH as they are only 1.5-2 hour journeys I assume. £10-20 will get you to one side/end of the country to the other (single) on many routes and times.

 

[xolotl]

Where do you get prices like those? Or is it just for very select routes?

It is heavily dependent on routes but there's a few general tips to save loads of money:

Stay with the same TOC, both the journeys listed are direct journeys. TOCs tend to offer big discounts on their own tickets but if it's a combined route its harder to get cheap tickets. For example Coventry to Nottingham (LM/VT then XC) never has dicounted tickets.
Book in advance. Tickest become availble 12 weeks in advance so start looking early.
Get a railcard, if you can it'll save you 33% off all journeys.

Additionally if you're looking to save even more money you can try split ticketing but that takes a bit of effort.

The complexity of the ticketing system means there are some really good deals out there. The given example of Coventry-Euston for £4.95 and a journey time of 1 hour is a brilliant deal. Nice relaxing journey and it's impossible to do it quicker or cheaper. Incredible really. However, if you turn up on the day you'll get shafted as the same journey is about £30 normally.

 

[JBuk]

I'd go with 1

 

[oxygene]

All I see is:
"I saw a car I liked, but didnt own. I stole it to get home more comfortably. Am I in the wrong? Wouldnt you all do the same?"

 

[RomanNose]

Sometimes first great western will allow you to sit in first class if it is really busy, I find the best place to go is next to the door when it's really packed.

 

[Cosimo]

I'd be in first class telling the ticket inspector that you hadn't paid the correct fare.

 

[Dr House]

I pay extra to travel First on Great Western trains specifically to avoid the overcrowded standard class therefore it really narks me when people like yourself think you can walk in without paying the correct fare

The main appeal of First, and why its worth the extra, is because it's quiet, peaceful and tranquil a lot of the time.

What fox said.

its basically theft to sit in first class and not pay for it.

 

[xarr]

1) I sit in it until an inspector asked me to pay extra or move.

This, the upgrade would have cost you £5 and you can do it on the train.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3973

You can upgrade to 1st class for a flat rate of £10 or £15 IIRC, so it's only worth it on long journeys.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/first_class_upgrade.html

On most trains you can do a weekend/bank holiday First Class upgrade. The price varies (£5-£35 roughly) so sometimes its not worth it but I have done it a fair few times, sometimes for a more comfortable journey (the leg room is worth it when its a long journey) or sometimes because its busy and I don't have a reserved seat.

To all those bemoaning the "theft" as long as the op paid the £5 upgrade fee (or was willing to pay it) from Paddington to Reading they are fine.

 

[BunnyKillBot]

All I see is:
"I saw a car I liked, but didnt own. I stole it to get home more comfortably. Am I in the wrong? Wouldnt you all do the same?"

I would agree with you, if it wasnt for the fact that always, always, the cattle carts are packed full to the brim with people standing in the between-carriage spaces, and there are only 1 or 2 suited and booted individuals playing solitaire on their laptops with their monocles in the entire first class carriages. So to fix your analogy up a bit:

All I see is:
"6 of us with two cars were travelling home from the north to the south. Driver 1 had a comfy jaguar while Driver 2 had a renault clio. Driver 1 didnt want us eating crisps in his car, so the 5 of us packed into the clio while the jaguar driver drove by himself"

Its basically a massive finger given to anybody who is lower class than richard branson.

Ontopic, i have not done it, but i probably would. Can the inspector issue an on the spot fine or do they just move you on?

 

[oxygene]

Can the inspector issue an on the spot fine or do they just move you on?

Depends. I saw a girl cleavage her way out of a fine for not buying a normal ticket yesterday. Spose it varies as to what you can get away with.

 

[mp3duck]

I'd move to first class in a heart beat!
You can normally pay a small upgrade price if asked!

I've done this everytime I've taken the train to Liverpool (only got asked once, and had to pay £10)

 

[Phemo]

All I see is:
"I saw a car I liked, but didnt own. I stole it to get home more comfortably. Am I in the wrong? Wouldnt you all do the same?"

Not at all. I'd always sit in the class I'd paid for since I know my luck and wouldn't want to chance getting a fine, but stealing a car is hardly comparable to sitting in a different class on a train. One involving physical theft and damage, causing inconvenience to the owner and the other doesn't really inconvenience anyone except for the person who could potentially get a fine. Sure it's immoral but it's not the same thing as a physical theft at all.