Upcoming family trip in July and will be taking a train from Bath area to either Edinburgh or Glasgow. Question is if we should book first class for the extra legroom?
Husband is 6'6" and teen son is 6'4" and I don't want them cramped in their seats for a possible 6 hour trip.
It looks like the company will be Cross-country Trains.
Thanks
A tricky one because there are different train companies in the UK. We took a Virgin Trains trip from London to Edinburgh and because it was on Saturday and considered off peak the First class seats we're only a little more than regular. We were able to reserve seats facing forward with a table, we got the use of the first class lounge at the station, and we're given drinks/snacks. During the week it costs way more but you get an actual hot meal served. We thought it was well worth it.
You just need to research the available routes and see what ticket prices are for different dates/times.
My youngest and I travelled First Class with Virgin from London Euston to Glasgow Central last Friday. We were orginally going to return on the Sunday where an upgrade to First can be paid to the conductor for £25 for an adult from Glasgow to London however it is a much reduced service and you are only provided with a packed lunch and soft drinks but due a change of plans we had to return on Monday so I decided we'd slum it on the way back.
I decided to opt for First Class because we had a family rail card which reduced the price, there was lounge access at Euston station (I hate packed London stations), food and drink were included in the price and wi-fi was free and as I had no intention of allowing my son to tether to my mobile phone for 6.5 hours this was a major attraction for me.
The seats were fine, we had a table with power. Wi-fi worked well and there was an entertainment system called Beam with a variety of films, programs, games etc much like aircraft entertainment screens. However you can't stream your own Netflix of Prime as this is prohibited so if you want to watch a film of your own choice make sure you donwload it beforehand.
The food was poor and service was slow. The lounge at Euston was small, packed, hot and dirty with a couple of jars of cookies, some fruit and tea, coffee and cold drinks available. We only had 30 minutes to change trains so grabbed some fruit and a cold drink and waited on the concourse.
The train itself is very comfortable however it is difficult to pour a drink wen the train tilts which it does often in order to maintain an average speed of 125mph.
Whilst at Glasgow Central I enquired how much a upgrade to First would be to which the reply was £200! I can assure everyone that this is certainly not worth it.
The seats in standard class were smaller, again we had a table with power however it anyone had sat next to me it would have been a tight fit. Contrary to the claim on their website the wi-fi in standard class was free (at least on that particular route). We bought our own food from M&S at the station, which was much better than what we had been served in First Class.
In summary is First Class on Virgin worth the extra cost? No. The only benefit is a slightly larger seat, I found no difference in leg room between First and Standard class, I'm 6'3" and didn't find either journey uncomfortable.
Obviously I cannot comment for Cross-Country Trains but the reviews I've read of them don't bode well.
I've only travelled on Cross country a few times so my experience with them is limited. But legroom wasn't an issue, even though their seats weren't that great. However, if legroom is important to you, you should book seats at a table facing each other, that is the best way to ensure good legroom, in both 2nd and 1st class.
Agree with JC. I would only opt for first class if you weighed around 300lbs. The extra width would be worth it. Again, at 6-2 I find that there is not a significant difference in leg room especially if you have seats facing each other. Second class is not coach class on the airlines. Second is closer to business class for comparison.
Agree with JC. I would only opt for first class if you weighed around 300lbs.
How very dare you!
(Caveat.....in light of recent posts I'm taking the piss. Unfortunately it's come to this)
First class is worth it if the differential between the standard class and first class is not that great and things like the food, wifi etc are taken into account.
For me if the journey extra is £20 to about £30 on a trip from Glasgow to London, worth it, above £30, nah.
I have a rule of thumb for European train travel. Any trip greater than 3 hours I buy first class. Recently I traveled from London to Edinburgh on LNER in first class. I have to say I was disappointed in the meal (all cold items and small portions, it was a lunch), dirty seat and tray table (universally tray tables are always dirty and I used Clorox wipes to swab them but the seat being so dirty surprised me), and the restroom door locks were practically impossible to figure out. Also, the man behind me was shouting into his cellphone for about half the trip. But, the ride was 4.5 hours and I was glad for the extra room. The lounge at Kings Cross was nice with snacks and some drinks, plus the platforms are easy to access from the lounge.
It is sometimes possible to book "Quiet" carriages on UK trains.
Cellphones and loud talking are supposed to be forbidden in them.
LNER no longer has a quiet car for first class. The man behind me really got on my nerves and I was glad he got off at York.
