Cannot you upgrade on the train itself?

Probably but I dread to think what the cost might be !

Cheers

Brian

I suppose it depends what time you are travelling. If its off peak there are generally fairly good fixed deals which do not charge the difference tween 1 and standard.

Brian L - steve 8482 will probably be your best bet to answer this question. I'm sure he'll be online soon to help you

The best fares for a First Class upgrade are usually obtained by dealing direct with the train operator concerned. For example, the best deals for discounted tickets for East Coast trains between Edinburgh and London are usually only found on their website for on-line bookings only and aren't available through Travel Centres or through other ticket sellers. So I would suggest you check which operator provides the service you want to book on and then check out their website for offers and deals as a starting point.

SM

Thank you Helen!

Anyway, I didn't realise an agents had been selling these tickets for ages, Holidayextras have now stopped doing them as well according to their website.

One word jumps out of the enquiry - Midlands. West Midlands by any chance? If you live in certain post code areas you can buy a new railcard with no age restrictions, you just need two named people to travel together to get the discounts. See http://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/ - sorry Helen, it's on trial and not available anywhere else!!

The normal way of getting First Class cheap is either Advance tickets (which have airline style reservation rules and can be a problem returning from airports because of flight delays) or by travelling at weekend on a company that does a flat fee Weekend first upgrade which yoy buy on the train. Otherwise bying a standard fare tciekt and trying to upgrade on baord is usually eye wateringly expensive.

Company specific, internet only offers tend to be dated so you'd have to be really lucky to find one that dropped into your plan.

Anyway, first thing is check whether there are any trains that suit your flights at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk . You can check fares but Advance prices are only shown in the 12 weeks or so before travel, see http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html for what's been released.

Which station would you be starting from, day of weeks , month?

Thanks all.
Holiday extras was OK yesterday but as said, it is now 'not available' !
Anyway, via a widely read car forum I was given the name of a company called Superbreak and have booked a ticket with them just in case they withdraw the offers any day now.
Was able to book First Class for both of us ~ £74 each return, any route, anytime ( not before 10am to London but not going there !) on 17/1/12 and 2/2/12 Melton Mowbray-Gatwick. I am content with that. Not quite the same as the Holidayextras type ticket but still remarkable value and does the job !
Thanks for all the information and ideas, stored for next time !

Brian

Actually that may be a better deal than you say! If you look at the T&Cs it says not valid into London before 10:00 Mon-Friday "unless you are travelling to/from a destination outside the UK and carrying supporting travel documentation (eg flight tickets)." So if you are using them in connection with an international flight there is no time restriction! Excellent. Pity they only cover certain airports.

But paying First Class and avoiding London doesn't make sense -the only way to get any real benefit in First would be to use London Intercity trains. The journey should be straight forward, Melton-Leicester (simple level change), Leicester - St Pancras with real First Class, down to the lower level, St Pancras-Gatwick.

These tickets are an old BR idea that ATOC still allow, until recently even the big tour operators used to sell them but gave them up, presumably because they were not "core market to their business". They were supposed to be sold as part of a package with either a hotel booking or an international journey although selling to someone who already has flight tickets seems reasonable to me. At one time you used to be able to take your existing flight/ferry/Eurostar tickets to the station and get these fares on demand - not sure whether that's still possible but now you mentioned it I'll do a bit of digging.

""But paying First Class and avoiding London doesn't make sense -the only way to get any real benefit in First would be to use London Intercity trains. The journey should be straight forward, Melton-Leicester (simple level change), Leicester - St Pancras with real First Class, down to the lower level, St Pancras-Gatwick.""

The reason for avoiding London was that we intend to get to Gatwick early evening for an overnight stay already booked and changing stations/platforms even at 'rush hour' complete with suitcases is something I am not going to repeat. Bedford to Gatwick is just a get the train and sit there as some are 'direct'. However we will have a look at times again as we can be flexible although St Pancras is not a station either of us are familiar with. Don't mind a simple level change after the rush is over as long as we have time to take it easy with cases !
Thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers

Brian

We booked rail travel to Gatwick from Bridgend[south wales] direct with
Cross country trains,just the one change at Reading[ short wait] normally
travel by National Express, as we are over 60 the half price tickets have
been withdrawn, fare for both of us is now £106 return,train £64 and far more
comfortable its the train for us in future
annx

Hi Brian, transiting through St Pancreas is really easy now since the renovation and makes connecting with Thamesling trains to Gatwick quite simple - I regularly do it having arrived at Kings Cross from Scotland. But if your train comes into London via Bedford and St Albans (which from the route maps I think it might) then you would be able to make the change before you actually arrive at St Pancreas. Have a look here and check the stations against the timetables for the trains you are thinking of getting.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/maps/

If you can do it then there's a good chance that at most all you would need to do is change platforms. I had to do it one time at Luton Parkway (complicated combination of tickets as a result of squeezing in a visit to friends who live near Gatwick at the end of a work related trip!) and from memory just had to wait on the same platform.

Of course the relative quality of the 1st Class accommodation on the two services will be a factor too but you might be able to change a bit earlier and just pass through St Pancreas on the train and already be seated as the commuting hordes pile on!

SM

Bedford (or Luton Airport Parkway) is a perfectly reasonable route and if you don't want to use any stairs and don't mind a slightly longer journey then by all means do this and forget what I said about St Pancras - although you will have less real First Class.

BUT Bedford -Gatwick direct trains still count as travel into London on ticket restrictions (as do Watford-East Croydon services). When you said you were avoiding London I assumed you had some scheme involving Reading.

You are travelling midweek which is not a problem but anyone else reading this bear in mind that the cross London service between (Bedford-) St Pancras and Blackfriars (-Gatwick) is subject to major building work with line closure at weekends until the Olympics (someone gets fired if it goes into the Olympics!).

And others also bear in mind that St Pancras is only across the road from Kings Cross so is a really useful way to Gatwick if you arrive there.
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aaron.

the price you paid seems to be the normal off peak return fare which didn't have to bought in advance, you could have got it on the day at Bridgend station. Superbreaks are quoting £56 each .

Good evening Steve and my apologies for not giving a clearer explanation. By writing about 'avoiding London' I meant not having to change stations there. Last time we got the Gatwick Express ( which seemed a good idea at the time) it meant an excursion on the underground plus suitcases at a rather busy time- something we now try to avoid.
We will give the Leicester-St Pancras route a try this year and time it to avoid the rush. Finding the travel ticket with First Class option is a treat for ourselves.

Cheers

Brian

I know what you mean about Gatwick Express, it is a bit overrated these days.

Anyway, I've got a better St Pancras map for you. See http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/sjp/STP/plan.html

Not an easy one for them to draw as the station is on two levels of tracks with a middle retail level and a mezzanine landing below that. The bottom half of the drawing is the upper level with the Eurostar and East Midlands platforms. Your train should arrive in the low numbered platforms 1-4. The FCC train to Gatwick goes from platform A which is below it. On the drawing hold your mouse cursor over the map and it will show photos to give you a good idea of what is involved when using the station.

On the bottom section of the drawing see where it says "Concourse for platforms 1-4", on the right edge of that it shows Escalator B and Lift B. Take your pick and go down. In the top part of the drawing, in the middle of the main course arcade between the £ symbols you'll find Escalator/ Lift B again. You need to turn around and go to the yellow area marked Upper Level, the ticket barriers there are almost exactly below the ones you come through from the EMT platforms upstairs. From there it's just down two escalators or one lift to Platform A - make sure it is a Gatwick (Brighton) train. Coming home you'd arrive in platform B and the only difference is that if you used the lift you'd have to do it in 2 stages via the mezzanine bridge. It's an easy change once you've got the various levels clear in your mind. By using St Pancras you also have a better choice of trains back to Leicester when you won't be exactly sure of what time it will be.

For Kings Cross users, the nearest entrance is probably the Eurostar concourse at the top edge of the drawing. Leave KX to the right, cross at the pelican, turn right and go along the wall to the door.