Joanne Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 I've just looked at train tickets in anticipation after getting the green light for time off for BETT. Previous years it has been cheaper to go 1st class than scum class, but this time (possibly because I'm way organised) the 1st class tix are way more expensive than scum tickets. Scum tickets are £84 return (bargain!) and then 1st class would be like... £400+. SO MY QUESTION! When does the price of first class drop? Why am I afraid of scum class? Can you still get food served to you on scum class? I thank you.
elsiegee40 Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 (edited) I've just looked at train tickets in anticipation after getting the green light for time off for BETT. Previous years it has been cheaper to go 1st class than scum class, but this time (possibly because I'm way organised) the 1st class tix are way more expensive than scum tickets. Scum tickets are £84 return (bargain!) and then 1st class would be like... £400+. SO MY QUESTION! When does the price of first class drop? The earlier you book the better. The earliest you can book ahead is 12 weeks. It's cheaper to use National Rail or Virgin Trains to book than TheTrainLine website. Why am I afraid of scum class? No idea. I don't have a problem with it. When you book online you can reserve seats with/without a table, with/without a power supply, in a quiet carriage or not, near the loo or near a luggage rack. Can you still get food served to you on scum class? No it isn't served to you. Well I haven't seen a trolley on the west coast line for years. I buy something nice from M&S or similar for the trip. There is a buffet car, but I don't use it. Edited October 7, 2016 by elsiegee40 1
Joanne Posted October 7, 2016 Author Posted October 7, 2016 Cool. I'll check prices on Virgin then. Am I assuming they will still be able to sell me the connection tickets? With... northern??? or whoever goes from Burnley - Preston!
elsiegee40 Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 (edited) Just buy the whole trip as a single journey. If you're travelling from a station that Virgin doesn't call at like Burnley then do it on one of the regional rail company sites like Northern. It doesn't actually matter much which as they'll all post to you or you can pick it up at a machine at your local station, unless.... If you want to bolt on a TravelCard to get you out and about round London on the day of your arrival, then you do it through one of the regional companies that serves London like SouthEastern where you will be able to buy a ticket from Burnley to London TravelCard Zones 1-6. Do it on the first day of the 12 weeks and you should get a very good price. Then a few days later book the return trip London TravelCard Zones 1-6 to Burnley. Daughter and son both do this for trips home from university - I think the record for my daughter Lancaster to Tonbridge was under £9 with a student railcard 12 weeks in advance! NB You will see a bewildering array of Travelcard options on the London regional rail websites, but if you are bolting it on to a longer rail journey then you must choose "London TravelCard Zones 1-6" as none of the others work. EDIT I just tried to do the Travelcard trick for Burnley Central and it doesn't work Will have a play with others. EDIT EDIT No I can't make it work on others either. It's worth a try on the day though. If you pick your rail company carefully you can get a bonus ... I frequently use Trans Pennine as you can earn Nectar points when you buy the ticket Edited October 7, 2016 by elsiegee40 1
Joanne Posted October 7, 2016 Author Posted October 7, 2016 I have an oyster card, so I'll be using that for the underground Thanks for the tips. I'll check it all out early November
CAM Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 Set the filter to cheapest fare and select the destination as London (All Stations). You will get routes to the cheapest London terminal instead of specifying a fixed destination and omitting the cheap fares. I had this on my line, I was setting the destination to London Bridge for £25 but when I searched London (All Stations) it found me a fare for London Victoria for £15.
mikeprice Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 Why am I afraid of scum class? . Well -if you keep referring to it as Scum class when you are there.......... 2
MrKJLS Posted October 7, 2016 Posted October 7, 2016 Why am I afraid of scum class? Can you still get food served to you on scum class? Skip to 1:55 - 1
Joanne Posted October 10, 2016 Author Posted October 10, 2016 Well -if you keep referring to it as Scum class when you are there.......... Hey, there's a reason I called it that and a reason I will be in there #Shameless #TakeTheGirlOutOfBurnley
Dos_Box Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 I have found that if you book to far in advance the prices are quite high. I would wait until mid-November/early December. You should see the price drop then. Just make sure you go off peak too! 1
hardtailstar Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Can you still get food served to you on scum class? Wait. what. You get food on trains??? Ive never seen this!!
Joanne Posted October 10, 2016 Author Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) Wait. what. You get food on trains??? Ive never seen this!! Yeah 1st class you get A FULL MEAL!!! It's WELL GOOD! One time I went in the morning and got 2nd Breakfast and the other time in the evening I got my tea. You get to choose what you want too... more choice than on an airplane. BUT the weekends you just get a measly box with crackers.... I need to remember this for this BETT journey home! I was dying of starvation last time. I asked if I could have another box and got one though Edited October 10, 2016 by Joanne
elsiegee40 Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Set the filter to cheapest fare and select the destination as London (All Stations). You will get routes to the cheapest London terminal instead of specifying a fixed destination and omitting the cheap fares. I had this on my line, I was setting the destination to London Bridge for £25 but when I searched London (All Stations) it found me a fare for London Victoria for £15. You need to be careful with this. I can get cheaper tickets priced to Victoria rather than London Bridge/Charing Cross/Cannon Street, but the small-print says they're only valid via Redhill... and if you go via Redhill then you go into Victoria which takes way longer!
Achandler Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Go First Class on a plane and you get 3 or 4 choices of meal normally. Warmed up proper plates, choices of wine and everything. Can't compare economy plane to First Class train and that say train is better Even on Transpennine Express First Class you get some freebies, but only usually a brew or two and muffins or crisps etc. Still you get a seat which is the biggest problem on TransPennine. 1
elsiegee40 Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Go First Class on a plane and you get 3 or 4 choices of meal normally. Warmed up proper plates, choices of wine and everything. Can't compare economy plane to First Class train and that say train is better Even on Transpennine Express First Class you get some freebies, but only usually a brew or two and muffins or crisps etc. Still you get a seat which is the biggest problem on TransPennine. The only TransPennine route I've done is Stockport to Buxton. No first class and two carriages that are more like buses than trains - diesel to chug up the hills.
Achandler Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 That's not TransPennine thats the normal First Northern! 2
hardtailstar Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Yeah 1st class you get A FULL MEAL!!! It's WELL GOOD! One time I went in the morning and got 2nd Breakfast and the other time in the evening I got my tea. You get to choose what you want too... more choice than on an airplane. BUT the weekends you just get a measly box with crackers.... I need to remember this for this BETT journey home! I was dying of starvation last time. I asked if I could have another box and got one though We dont get that on South Eastern trains! even in first class! 1
Dos_Box Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Yeah 1st class you get A FULL MEAL!!! It's WELL GOOD! One time I went in the morning and got 2nd Breakfast and the other time in the evening I got my tea. You get to choose what you want too... more choice than on an airplane. BUT the weekends you just get a measly box with crackers.... I need to remember this for this BETT journey home! I was dying of starvation last time. I asked if I could have another box and got one though On the Sunday journey back from BETT I always get a pasty and a drink from Euston to take on the train. It's become a little tradition tbh. Mind you, the pasty isn't cool enough to eat until you get to at least Milton Keynes!
Joanne Posted October 10, 2016 Author Posted October 10, 2016 No pasty for me... I'm gonna have to be careful what I eat going this time. My face was almost falling off by the time I got home... so much allergy!! Stupid body! Probably more like a packet of cooked chicken from an express supermarket
jinnantonnixx Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Have you seen the ticket-splitter sites? One amongst many.... Free split ticket tool for advanced & walk-on train tickets - MSE
dezt Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 I used Virgin Trains last weekend for the NFL from Preston, weekend upgrade to first class is £20, so if you get the cheap "scum class" tickets and upgrade to first class on a weekend it'll only cost about £44 in total, weekend only though. Coming home on the Monday the upgrade would have cost us the difference between the £20 ticket and the £250 first class ticket, so we decided to go to the shop and grab some food for the train, worked out cheaper.
john Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 Booking Specific trains is the way to go, I can do London to rural Yorkshire for about £30 return in "scum" class. That can be done when booking circa 4 weeks ahead but by choosing the specific train makes them quite cheap, if you do open trains you always pay more. Shorter booking is about £60, just looking at Christmas trains and I can get from London Kings X to rural yorkshire on VTEC for £16.50. As for advice, as has been said the TOC website is often the cheapest or has perks, for example Virgin Trains East Coast if you book online with them you get free wifi codes VS via 3rd party no free wifi codes. Standard Class has a trolley service and food car to buy food from and the refurbished seats on VTEC are not too bad even in standard class.
dry Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 Standard Class has a trolley service and food car to buy food from and the refurbished seats on VTEC are not too bad even in standard class. Just booked Kings Cross to Edinburgh via VTEC. They had a deal where it's £30 each way First Class or £15 Standard Class. First on the way to Scotland and Standard on the way back, so it's good to hear "scum class" (as it's been so eloquently put on this thread!) isn't too bad.
john Posted October 12, 2016 Posted October 12, 2016 Just booked Kings Cross to Edinburgh via VTEC. They had a deal where it's £30 each way First Class or £15 Standard Class. First on the way to Scotland and Standard on the way back, so it's good to hear "scum class" (as it's been so eloquently put on this thread!) isn't too bad. Its not bad, worse I've had is trolley not running due to staff shortage so you have to wander to the cafe bar, fine if you are not capable of walking perhaps broken leg etc understandable but in that instance ive seen the guard help and go get items for people in that position infact he did it the other night with an elderly lady he went down to it got her a coffee and a free biscuit which I thought was kind The new James Martin menu is nice if you can get one of the hot pots yum yum but they seem to be in short supply
CAM Posted October 13, 2016 Posted October 13, 2016 You need to be careful with this. I can get cheaper tickets priced to Victoria rather than London Bridge/Charing Cross/Cannon Street, but the small-print says they're only valid via Redhill... and if you go via Redhill then you go into Victoria which takes way longer! TOCs are sneaky anyway, you should always check. My station's ticket machine says £30 for a Z1-6 Anytime Travelcard at the weekends. You have to go into Other Fares to get Super-Offpeak Travelcards, one is Thameslink Only for £13 and the other Not Gatwick Express for £15 (which lets you board Southern trains on the same line).
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