£1 tickets London Euston to Manchester

sockospice

Queen.For.A.Day wrote: »

Does anyone know if you can buy one of these cheap tickets, and then upgrade to First Class on the train?

You used to be able to do this on Virgin Trains, but now I'm not so sure.

As far as I know you can upgrade the print at home tickets on a weekend, for £15, the same as you would any other advance purchase tickets, but you'd probably be best clarifying with the train manager before you board. Although it says in the t&cs that the ticket is only valid for the seat booked, I'm not sure whether upgrading would negate that. Probably it would depend on the train manager on the day.

On a weekday, it wouldn't be worth upgrading as it would be to the price of a first open single anyway.

Lugh_Chronain

Nick1969 wrote: »

Sorry whats a P@H ticket? I had to print off my tickets as part of the special offer above and Im not sure if I need to show that print off on the train?

Thanks for your help

P@H is the ticket you have printed off already. You only need to present this along with your payment card.

Queen.For.A.Day wrote: »

Does anyone know if you can buy one of these cheap tickets, and then upgrade to First Class on the train?

You used to be able to do this on Virgin Trains, but now I'm not so sure.

You could try getting free first class in the dining car Queen.For.A.Day as suggested by Martin:

Some longer journeys still have first class dining cars as well as the standard buffet. These are often open to all diners, whatever class their ticket is. So go in and order a meal; while it's a bit more expensive, you can effectively travel in first class luxury for a second class price and some grub.

It's worth knowing, they do have the right to kick you back to where you belong (i.e. second class!) once you've finished eating, but it rarely happens.

phebe3

I tried this monring but think I may have missed the boat! Ah well,, will keep my eyes open!

Nagapriya

I actually discovered this deal independently and got a return to London for £14 from Manchester. The cheapest other advance deal available to me was around £50. It is worth noting that these deals don't seem to be available for Sundays.

Best wishes
Nagapriya

Lugh_Chronain

There not available for Saturdays either.

phebe3, have you tried clicking on the Find Later Trains button? You may still be able to book tickets albeit a little latter than expected.

Butterfliesarepretty

good deal but I was looking for trains leaving at seven or eight in morning from manchester and there are none, so can't have a day trip!

Nick1969

I did this journey, arrived back yesterday. You just take your copies of your printed off ticket onto the train and ensure that you have THE payment card.

In front of me were sitting some girls who had paid with their EGG card, one of those that were cancelled. They cut it up. The ticket man on the train said that he had to see that card, nothing else. So please let this be a warning to anyone whose card is about to expire etc. They had passports on them which helped their case and they had to go to the ticket office, they were badly shocked...

Only downside to this was that the majority of seats travelled backwards fast to London. It was like a fairground ride - Bonus then is that you travel forwards back to Manchester. (someone had vomitted travelling backwards and we had to sit amongst the smell)ew. It turned my stomach.

If you are travelling with under 5s I would recommend you pay for a seat as theres no room otherwise.You are crammed in. Also we were travelling as a family of 4. We were sat in seperate seats, even my 3 year old wasnt next to an adult. Fortunately we were amongst people in similar situs so we all swapped round. Hope this helps someone! :T

jonnno

Just arrived back from this today. Travelled Mancheser to Euston return and would definitely recommend it. We were also travelling as a family of 4 and were separated but swapped with people around us who were understanding.

We were booked on the 9:15am train from Manchester yesterday morning but ended up arriving late due to parking at Piccadilly which was full. I tried ringing Virgin to see whether they would change the tickets to the next train (a bit hopeful I know) but they said no - we would have to pay the full fare. BUT when we arrived at the station (20 minutes after the train had left!) we went to the Virgin desk and they understood that parking at Piccadilly is near impossible mid-week (we've never had a problem at weekend) so she transferred us to the next train free of charge. So thank you Virgin train lady!

Lugh_Chronain

Although it says so in the T’s & C’s I don’t think that generally the ticket inspectors mind where you sit unless of course all seats on the allocated coach are booked up. When I went up to Manchester and back a few weeks ago there weren’t many people traveling in the allocated coach due to either small amount of bookings in the first place or people who had booked and just not turned up. There was one woman who complained that someone was sitting in her seat and eventually went and parked herself in one of the empty seats, when the ticket inspector came round he didn’t seem to mind and never made an issue about the situation. Anyway, in other words if there are empty seats and your not happy where you’ve been allocated sit somewhere else if there’s a empty seat available or as Nick1969 has pointed out ask someone if you can swap. Unless the ticket inspectors has had a bad day I very much doubt that he/she will mind or make an issue out of this. You could always explain yourself if they do.

Nick1969

People didnt mind swapping in our case as they were split from their friends and family too,so it worked out well for us all.It only takes that one person to be brave enough to ask.LOL

We used our tesco clubcard points deals and booked the hilton for our stay so it was a great half term treat for us.