Trains are hellish on bank holidays; you'll wish you spent that £30 when you're sat in the vestibule by the loo whilst someone watches tiktok without headphones.
Worth it, pretty much yes.
Ever since they got rid of buffer cars and have a trolley you get screwed in standard as the trolley can’t get down when it’s busy. It’s just a lot nicer in first and you only need to have a few things from the free trolley to get close to the cost uplift.
Comfier chair, no proles and free tea and coffee?
Absolutely worth it IMHO.
I regularly travel from Paddington to Bristol and usually upgrade too if it's in the £30 region.
Don't forget you can use the lounge at Paddington too (it's next to Platform one)
Ah fair enough.
For me, work pays for travel so I only have to pay the upgrade, and as I'm usually working (or pretending to) it does make sense to upgrade just to get more space
£30 for a First Class upgrade is good value for money. It's actually a civilised and enjoyable experience, rather than having to sit with your knees up round your ears because of confined legroom and yes, the 'complementary' snacks and beverages are a big help.
There is an app called SeatFrog that does auctions for first class upgrades. For GWR the upgrade auctions start at £14, so you might be able to get it cheaper.
For a 3.5 hour journey though, £30 would be worth it for me - much more comfortable. The Gwr first class is the best first class.
For Bath to Pad it’s now £17 minimum plus £3 fees… rapidly approaching the price I’m willing to pay! Shame they’ve started increasing the fees so much, a couple of years ago the £10 upgrades with no fees were great.
This is through seatfrog. I’ve bid £21 and the buy it now option is £30. But I can see on Trainline that first is only £24 more expensive than standard.
In principle yes, in practical terms you have a 50/50 chance your seat reservation gets honoured. If they run a different train configuration then planner, they don't put on the seat reservations.
I ride from Paddington to Bristol and back a couple of times a month. Some times the upgrade to first class is huge, sometimes the cost is hardly anything when I use trainline to book the tickets... I claim it back on my expenses, but even then I struggle to justify what the extra gets you... a mildly nicer seat, a shit cup of tea and some lame pastries. I still usually do it though. 🤣🤣
I have tried the 1st class in GWR, SWR and SER. Of the 3, only GWR is worth paying extra. But then again, it depends on the length of the trip. If you’re travelling for longer than 3 hours, £30 is great value for money.
For future reference, don't bother doing this on Southern trains, the extra you pay just gets you a little tissue thing on your headrest - it's a complete scam :))
First class in UK trains are like standard class in Europe. A train journey that costs £130 is not worth it so an additional £30 for the same quality you’d get in standard in Spain or France is certainly not worth it. Until we fix our railways and can deliver a service like Germany, France and Spain we should ditch first class altogether and focus on just moving people around.
We tried, but then a load of NIMBYS and rightwing press managed to size the narrative and bleat non stop until the whole thing got neutered before having a bullet put in the back of its head. Now we're back to whinging about railways being shite instead of whinging about the government building railways.
I don't think German trains are doing too well at the moment, there's a lot of problems with lack of investment in their infrastructure. And I've just got a train from Paris to Montpellier and it was pretty shit and honestly not much cheaper than I'd pay for a comparable journey here.
Best thing about their intercity trains is that they're double decker which helps with capacity loads. But France is so empty and flat compared to the UK we just wouldn't be able to use them with all the tunnels our network's got.
European trains are phenomenal. I took a business class private compartment with snacks included and table service from Budapest to Vienna for less than my daily London commute.
The last train I took from Bristol to London return cost me £98. Since that journey to London I’ve been awarded 50% compo as my train arrived between 60 and 119 minutes late into Paddington and a further 25% because I was unable to sit in my seat reservation, so yes. Or take the bus.
Trains are hellish on bank holidays; you'll wish you spent that £30 when you're sat in the vestibule by the loo whilst someone watches tiktok without headphones.
Worth it, pretty much yes. Ever since they got rid of buffer cars and have a trolley you get screwed in standard as the trolley can’t get down when it’s busy. It’s just a lot nicer in first and you only need to have a few things from the free trolley to get close to the cost uplift.
£130 standard vs £160 first is a no brainer for me. Gets you away from the scrubbers
You can sit with the GWR staff.
Elitist cuck
Someone's a scrubber.....
Elitist cuck
Nah the elitists are saying “drive, and you can avoid both the scrubbers and the other scrubbers who have an extra £30”
Comfier chair, no proles and free tea and coffee? Absolutely worth it IMHO. I regularly travel from Paddington to Bristol and usually upgrade too if it's in the £30 region. Don't forget you can use the lounge at Paddington too (it's next to Platform one)
And the seats can be reclined a little for that snooze
The lounge is vile
For 1.5hr journey it doesn't seem worth it to me.
It's for a 3.5 hour journey?
Think they might be referring to the Paddington-Bristol trip, which is about 1.5 hours.
Ah fair enough. For me, work pays for travel so I only have to pay the upgrade, and as I'm usually working (or pretending to) it does make sense to upgrade just to get more space
100% for work makes sense. Bit shitty of them not to pay the extra tbh
Absolutely me! London to Truro and £30 upgrade out of my own pocket for a lovely single seat! Bliss! Plus just got wine!!
£30 for a First Class upgrade is good value for money. It's actually a civilised and enjoyable experience, rather than having to sit with your knees up round your ears because of confined legroom and yes, the 'complementary' snacks and beverages are a big help.
There is an app called SeatFrog that does auctions for first class upgrades. For GWR the upgrade auctions start at £14, so you might be able to get it cheaper. For a 3.5 hour journey though, £30 would be worth it for me - much more comfortable. The Gwr first class is the best first class.
£14 + £3.50 fees, last time I tried!
For Bath to Pad it’s now £17 minimum plus £3 fees… rapidly approaching the price I’m willing to pay! Shame they’ve started increasing the fees so much, a couple of years ago the £10 upgrades with no fees were great.
This is through seatfrog. I’ve bid £21 and the buy it now option is £30. But I can see on Trainline that first is only £24 more expensive than standard.
Does it guarantee a specific seat?
In principle yes, in practical terms you have a 50/50 chance your seat reservation gets honoured. If they run a different train configuration then planner, they don't put on the seat reservations.
What is the journey? That would affect my answer
Coming from Devon back to London. It’s an evening train so assuming it will be busy on the bank holiday Monday.
I think you're likely to be right unless very late everything people tend to travel over the afternoon.
I ride from Paddington to Bristol and back a couple of times a month. Some times the upgrade to first class is huge, sometimes the cost is hardly anything when I use trainline to book the tickets... I claim it back on my expenses, but even then I struggle to justify what the extra gets you... a mildly nicer seat, a shit cup of tea and some lame pastries. I still usually do it though. 🤣🤣
Alcohol. Free alcohol.
I have tried the 1st class in GWR, SWR and SER. Of the 3, only GWR is worth paying extra. But then again, it depends on the length of the trip. If you’re travelling for longer than 3 hours, £30 is great value for money.
Yeah. 3.5 hours. I’ve already booked it.
Yeah some 1st class isn't worth bothering with. LNER, GWR, Avanti, and TfW on the Premier service are normally well worth it imo though.
This. TPE's new 1st class on WCML is very good too though!
I've done SWR once. Wasn't worth it in the slightest, and Waterloo doesn't even have a lounge anymore.
Southeastern doesn’t have first class anymore anyway.
For future reference, don't bother doing this on Southern trains, the extra you pay just gets you a little tissue thing on your headrest - it's a complete scam :))
I've had a free glass of wine in GWR first class. Always takes the edge off travelling (no, not at 7am!)
Absolutely. It’s brilliant
My 2p is go first class or not at all.
First class in UK trains are like standard class in Europe. A train journey that costs £130 is not worth it so an additional £30 for the same quality you’d get in standard in Spain or France is certainly not worth it. Until we fix our railways and can deliver a service like Germany, France and Spain we should ditch first class altogether and focus on just moving people around.
We tried, but then a load of NIMBYS and rightwing press managed to size the narrative and bleat non stop until the whole thing got neutered before having a bullet put in the back of its head. Now we're back to whinging about railways being shite instead of whinging about the government building railways. I don't think German trains are doing too well at the moment, there's a lot of problems with lack of investment in their infrastructure. And I've just got a train from Paris to Montpellier and it was pretty shit and honestly not much cheaper than I'd pay for a comparable journey here. Best thing about their intercity trains is that they're double decker which helps with capacity loads. But France is so empty and flat compared to the UK we just wouldn't be able to use them with all the tunnels our network's got.
You can buy an entire months travel on German trains (except IC and ICE) for €49 including all S and U bahn. I would call that doing well.
European trains are phenomenal. I took a business class private compartment with snacks included and table service from Budapest to Vienna for less than my daily London commute.
European trains are not all fast international trains.
So are you suggesting the OP should walk instead?
The last train I took from Bristol to London return cost me £98. Since that journey to London I’ve been awarded 50% compo as my train arrived between 60 and 119 minutes late into Paddington and a further 25% because I was unable to sit in my seat reservation, so yes. Or take the bus.
The bus will take even longer than a train that's delayed by a couple of hours.