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

What would you do ?

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

    Votes: 91 38.9%
  • I wont dare sit in it, I didnt pay for it.

    Votes: 122 52.1%
  • The 9:15 pancake has been delayed due to a signal failiure at Lysander Park.

    Votes: 21 9.0%

  • Total voters
    234
Soldato
Joined
2 Feb 2011
Posts
13,514
I'm going on holiday to York at the end of the month. Got first class tickets booked for the train ride there and back. Will be my second time in first class. The first time was on the way home from Blackpool, when they accidently allocated us first class seats even though we only paid for regular tickets.

I've never actually tried to sneak into first class though. I wouldnt have the nerve to try it.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2009
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24,796
[TW]Fox;19035550 said:
What you think is irrelevent - unless you have a seat reservation

Out of interest, what would you have done in the situation I found myself in once, in that I reserved a seat (something like number 82) and then upon getting on the train, found the coach only had 74 seats? :p
 
Caporegime
Joined
11 Mar 2005
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Location
Leafy Cheshire
wow £274 for a train ticket :eek: I hope your company paid!

Yes, Crewe to Euston on an open return, done it loads of times, works out cheap for the client since i can do some work during the trip which easily pays for the ticket cost. It's a great way to travel, however if the option was standard class or driving i'd drive it.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,534
Out of interest, what would you have done in the situation I found myself in once, in that I reserved a seat (something like number 82) and then upon getting on the train, found the coach only had 74 seats? :p

That seems completely bizarre, I guess I'd have spoken to the train manager about it?
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Sep 2004
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13,305
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South Yorkshire
Yes, Crewe to Euston on an open return, done it loads of times, works out cheap for the client since i can do some work during the trip which easily pays for the ticket cost. It's a great way to travel, however if the option was standard class or driving i'd drive it.

Do you ever find there is no seats in first, that is the only thing that annoys me about opens, especially if I had spent nearly £300 on a ticket.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Apr 2009
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3,973
Location
Warrington
I'd always get a seat reserved if I was planning a long distance train journey, so seats wouldn't be an issue. (Unless someone had thrown a brick through the window and the 4 seats reserved for my family were covered in glass and open to the outside - yes this did happen to me... I can't remember what happened next clearly, I think they just found alternative seats for us). I wouldn't sit in a first class seat that didn't belong to me - mainly from risk of embarrassment/fine, but also simply because it would be stealing a service I hadn't paid for... Probably in the same sort of severity as pirate films/games etc, but slightly worse imo.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2002
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17,854
Location
London
[TW]Fox;19036577 said:
Of course it would wash - Weekend First is a well known promotion.
I go home on that Paddington line about once a month (or two) and didn't know about it. I've probably seen it but ignored it, I'd never dream of paying anything except the absolute minimum on any train service. It's horrendously over-priced as it is. Having endured their £100/week commute from Newbury to Paddington, and now living in Ealing (on the same line) I think it's fair to say I've got a broad range of experience with their service and it's god-awful. Only yesterday I almost couldn't get onto the pitiful 3-carriage train from Oxford into Paddington at 12:20pm because it was so full!

What really gets me is that you can never get a discount on the line unless you're going to Plymouth (or somewhere really far) because it's a commuter line. I've gone to Brighton many a time for £3 each way, yet when I want to go home there's no point booking in advance because the price will always be £16!

/oh dear, seems I got onto a little rant.. :p
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,378
Only yesterday I almost couldn't get onto the pitiful 3-carriage train from Oxford into Paddington at 12:20pm because it was so full!

I've had that as well when commuting from Cardiff to Bristol. On the way back, any train between approx 4pm and 6pm consisted of 2 carriages which were already full of people standing up when it arrived at Bristol. If I was lucky I got to stand up the whole way, if I wasn't I had to wait 30 minutes for the next one because I literally could not get through the door.
 
Soldato
Joined
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London
My girlfriend does that every morning on her commute. I'd expect it at 8.30am on a work day, but this was the weekend. Why on earth they decide to run fewer trains with fewer carriages just because it's a Sunday I don't know...
 
Caporegime
Joined
28 Jun 2005
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48,104
Location
On the hoods
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.

On the flipside, In a few months time (i.e. easily enough to get cheap fares) I have to travel from Exeter to Atherton in Greater Manchester. Going by train takes 6 hours, with 3 changes and costs £112. Flying takes an hour and costs £37.

It's absurd.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,534
On the flipside, In a few months time (i.e. easily enough to get cheap fares) I have to travel from Exeter to Atherton in Greater Manchester. Going by train takes 6 hours, with 3 changes and costs £112. Flying takes an hour and costs £37.

It's absurd.

Thats not quite a fair comparison is it?

Flying doesnt take an hour, the FLIGHT takes an hour. And the plane doesn't land at the door of your destination any more than a train does.

There are numerous direct trains from Exeter St Davids to Manchester Picc.
 
Soldato
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15 Dec 2008
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2,681
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London
I'd sit in the carriage I've paid for... which would be First :p.

I do the London to reading and London to Newbury lines a fair bit - I wouldn't travel in normal class simply cos those lines get rammed.

You know they get rammed, you def want somewhere to sit, buy an appropriate ticket?
 
Associate
Joined
30 Dec 2005
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902
Location
Calgary
On the flipside, In a few months time (i.e. easily enough to get cheap fares) I have to travel from Exeter to Atherton in Greater Manchester. Going by train takes 6 hours, with 3 changes and costs £112. Flying takes an hour and costs £37.

It's absurd.

Try just doing the journey to Picadilly, a first class ticket, tomorrow, comes to £68, and then a ticket to Atherton is £3.50. You would probably be able to get it even cheaper booking it in advance.

Does show how retarded the booking system is though, doing them together does cost £111.50, standard class.
 
Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2005
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28,851
Location
Canada
On the flipside, In a few months time (i.e. easily enough to get cheap fares) I have to travel from Exeter to Atherton in Greater Manchester. Going by train takes 6 hours, with 3 changes and costs £112. Flying takes an hour and costs £37.

It's absurd.

Or you could book a ticket now and get it for around £50 return...

What did I say earlier about people comparing planes to trains?;)

And the plane actually takes around 4-5 hours (probably longer depending on where you want to go from and to).

So £37 to stand around for ages/faf around at security and end up cramped in a small seat, or £50 for a similar journey and have a nice seat for the entire journey where you ccan work/watch films/browse the net...

I know which one I'll choose (and regularly do)...
 
Man of Honour
Man of Honour
Joined
9 Nov 2004
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2,140
On the flipside, In a few months time (i.e. easily enough to get cheap fares) I have to travel from Exeter to Atherton in Greater Manchester. Going by train takes 6 hours, with 3 changes and costs £112. Flying takes an hour and costs £37.

It's absurd.

Well, if you take Exeter Central to Atherton it will. However, you can get a direct train from Exeter St David to Manchester Picadilly which takes 4:10 and costs £25.50 advance.

That's a much fairer comparison as I doubt your plane flies into Atherton! When you account for getting to the airports and security checks the total journey time might be much closer than you think.
 
Caporegime
Joined
11 Mar 2005
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32,197
Location
Leafy Cheshire
Do you ever find there is no seats in first, that is the only thing that annoys me about opens, especially if I had spent nearly £300 on a ticket.

Never had an issue, when I book an open return ticket I book my fallback train time I would like to catch, which is usually around 5 - 6pm, however I usually finish earlier which means I’m not getting on at a busy time so simply grab a seat.

Only time I’ve been cheesed off is when they had loads of overhead power line issues, I was sat in 1st expecting a nice meal and some wine to finish the day off and instead they declassified the whole train and I basically got nothing.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
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10,916
Location
London
Trains are a rip off anyway, so id sit in 1st class to get my moneys worth.

That just isn't how it works! You can't take what you want based on your own perception of value. The train company offers to provide you with a particular service for a particular price. You either accept the terms of the offer or you don't.

I certainly wouldn't risk a fine on a 30 minute journey. Standing up for half an hour isn't the end of the world..
 
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