Train from London to Penzance

People in the US have been having trouble with GWR but say that https://www.lner.co.uk works fine and the prices are the same. (Any train company can sell tickets for the others).

Note that if you do go 1st Class that it is only certain trains that have Pullman dining. If the train is two 5 car units joined together, I think that the Pullman dining might only be in the 1st Class at the eastern (London) section of the train. If 9 cars with no join, it does not matter. Also note that some trains might split at Plymouth with maybe only the front 5 cars section going into Cornwall.

Check out these videos to get an idea of what to expect:> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0ac-B2j3Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp69Hvew2pg

£214 is the price of an Anytime First Class Single, ie the most expensive one way ticket you can buy..

If you are looking at a weekend then Advance tickets are only available up to the weekend of 9/10 Sept. If a weekday then they may have already sold out.

The answers to your questions are: no, bigger seats and free snacks, depends on your priorities, yes, no, no, yes, there will be unreserved carriages, & yes.

I was able to use my credit card to buy tickets from GWR, though I downloaded their app and it just did not work, they even said if you are not from the UK, it might not work, so I opted to pick the tickets up at the station. I was doing Bristol to Falmouth, not London to Penzance.

As for cost? That is a long trip, those number seem reasonable for what I saw, and a check for a trip next week shows prices ranging from 78 GBP to 165 GBP for standard, depending on time of day. I don't think three months put is any guarantee of lowest price, they will fluctuate based on demand. You can do some looking for dates between now and then and see if the price is ever lower, but ~70 GBP is probably as low as it gets without a promotion of some kind.

No, all seats are not four top tables, the majority are standard seating. If I recall, the site will assign you seats based on whether you prefer forward or rear facing, airline or four top table, window or aisle, and quiet car. But no, unless there is a reservation option I did not see, you can't pick a specific seat from a map. As for whether first class is worth it? Not a difference like an airline, I can't recall ever opting for first class, I'm fine in standard, but that is me.

Indicating that there are only four seats open though seems odd, it might be narrowing things down within the train, heck, for next week, the day I picked, there are still seats on 10 trains or so...in June, so that seems fishy.

If this is a weekday then tickets are available until 29 September.
I can see weekday trains with standard class as low as £43, and first class advance as low as £77.
There are some trains, for say Monday 11 and Monday 18 September, where first class is actually cheaper than 1st class. Some where standard is £90, and 1st is £77.
£214 is as high as 1st class goes,
On a weekday before 1000 and between 1600 and 1900 the maximum standard class fare (which it is unlikely you would ever pay) is £164.50, between 10am and 11am is £109, and between 1100 and 1600 and after 1900 is £79.
At a weekend £79 is the maximum standard class fare- this is a walk up fare, called a Super Off Peak Single. The £109 fare is a walk up fare called an Off Peak Single.
In Standard (which is 2+2 config) you can get airline style seats with fold down tray tables for two, or a bay of 4 with a flat table between.
First Class is 2+1 configuration, so you can get a bay of 2 with table between and facing seats.
You will likely only be able to choose your seats on GWR website, but on any other train company site can choose your configuration and the computer will give you best available match.
If you get a Two Together Railcard for £30 and travel after 0930 you will get 34% off these fares, including 1st class. On a journey of this length that will pay for itself, bar 70 pence as the lowest fare of £43 becomes £28.35 each.
Your £214 1st class highest fare would become about £140 each

The key word is Advance - with a capital A. Those are the cheapest tix but they do sell out. They have to be used on the specific train you choose.

Advance (capital A) tickets selling out does not mean the train has sold out - you’ll still be able to buy off-peak or anytime tickets.

By the way, if you have trouble with the GWR site (it was glitchy for me the other day) then you can buy the same tix from any train company such as LNER or Avanti.

It’s a long journey and will be expensive. I’d definitely choose first class if you can get a good price. For comparison I often travel between Plymouth and London, a shorter journey on the same line, and reckon £75-£100 for Advance first class is a good price.

The date that I need to travel is Tuesday, September 19, preferably 10am or after.

On the 1004 train advance standard (before railcard) is £94.50, advance 1st £77.

On the 0904 advance standard is £43, 1st £77.

On the 1103 £73/£103, 1203- £73/90.

So I would pick advance 1st on the 1004- which is £101.60 for the two of you +£30 for your railcard. That also gives you light snacks and drinks in the 1st class lounge at Paddington beforehand , and access to the 1st class lounge at Penzance afterwards- which includes showers if you want them.

Advance tickets for GWR are normally released 24 weeks prior to travel for weekdays and 12 weeks for weekends.

The lowest price for Advances are £50 first, £35 standard so a few tiers have already gone, if they were available.

I checked the LNER website and it said that they have no tickets available yet for my date of September 19.
I checked the Trainline website and they had only 4 seats left (supposedly) in 1st class for 77 pounds. Standard class was more expensive at 98 pounds. Why?
I checked GWR website and the same rates that I saw before were still there- standard ticket at 77 pounds and first class at 214 pounds.
Should I go ahead and book the Trainline tickets now?
Thank you for your help.

Trainline charges a fee. They don't run any trains. They are a reseller.

I'm looking at GWR now- 5 fares are offered on the 1004-
£77 1st Class Advance Single 4 left;
£94.50 Standard Class Advance Single
£109 Off Peak Single Standard
£164.50 Anytime Day Single Standard [this and the £109 are both walk up fares available up to departure so you'd be daft to book that fare]
£213.90 Anytime Day Single 1st Class [walk up]

So I don't know what you are seeing. Because LNER are not open for their own bookings that far out, they are not offering other companies bookings, same with Scotrail and Avanti. This is a very long time ahead, substantially longer than the majority of people would be booking.

But my local company, Northern, also has the same fares on their website. I could buy them now. I also checked yesterday at my local station and I could walk down there and buy any of these fares (including the advance 1st at £77) from the machine there, including the rather cheaper standard class advance fares on the other trains.

In short there are two companies you can book with now, or to be more exact who I can book with and it is unclear why it is presenting apparently differently in the US. But clearly I cannot buy on your behalf!! Not for the first time with these questions I wish I could.

If you must book with Trainline then so be it, but there is zero need to do so that I can see.

As to why 1st class is cheaper than Standard on a particular train, this will simply be that the quotas of lower priced Advance Standards have sold out but not the Firsts. Many people never bother to look at the 1st class tickets. These misalignments though don't last long usually.