Upgrading on trains

[Welshbeef]

Just going through the usual hassle of buying Tickets from Reading to London.
This is expensed but only economy/standard travel.

Now for those of you who know this line it's congestion Hell day in day out yet First class is delirious as always has air con on yet economy class doesn't.

Anyway what I'm thinking of doing is expense the standard rail fare yet travel first class - the daily cost is less than what I'd spend on fuel to my usual office.
So is this a no brainer or a Foolish waste of money which I could save from my daily commute cost?

[PHmember]

Jesus Christ, only you can make this decision, none of us know how much spare cash you have - & that's what it really comes down to. Whatever next? 'Shall I keep blinking?'.

[Some Gump]

Option 1: st.
Option 2: Off pot.

=)

[icetea]

Welshbeef said:

Just going through the usual hassle of buying Tickets from Reading to London.
This is expensed but only economy/standard travel.

Now for those of you who know this line it's congestion Hell day in day out yet First class is delirious as always has air con on yet economy class doesn't.

Anyway what I'm thinking of doing is expense the standard rail fare yet travel first class - the daily cost is less than what I'd spend on fuel to my usual office.
So is this a no brainer or a Foolish waste of money which I could save from my daily commute cost?

Do you have a laptop for work? If so can you not get your boss to allow 1st class tickets to be expensed on the basis that you need a table/more space to work on the train?

[Welshbeef]

Standard price is £45.50.

Think I spend c8.50 a day on fuel I cannot find the daily cost of first class return. Hmm

[PHmember]

How early/late are you booking?

[Welshbeef]

icetea said:

Do you have a laptop for work? If so can you not get your boss to allow 1st class tickets to be expensed on the basis that you need a table/more space to work on the train?

I do but noone is permitted for that length of journey to use first or at least expense it.

If it was London to Manchester etc then yes as it would be 6 hours work rather than 6 hours of maybe calls only

[Welshbeef]

PHmember said:

How early/late are you booking?

Need to go this Thursday and Friday then Tuesday and Wednesday.

Standard daily rtn is £45.50
Weekly season ticket is £115 standard economy.

Looks like business class daily is £89 .... That's quite a lot of diesel. Hmm

Cannot find the price of a weekly business class ticket any ideas?

[Welshbeef]

Weekly business class season ticket is £238.5.

It's quite a bit more but gives access to complementary drinks and grub.

Any more qualitative input?

[bigandclever]

Welshbeef said:

Weekly business class season ticket is £238.5.

It's quite a bit more but gives access to complementary drinks and grub.

Any more qualitative input?

I do it every day. It takes 25 minutes, you won't die in pleb class

In fact, you might be able to pre-book your seat - go for carriage D and you can watch a bit of telly on the way in. Can't do that in First. Also, you need to check the specific service because not all have the free food & drink.

Edited by bigandclever on Monday 17th September 20:36

[mfmman]

National Rail Enquiries, season tickets.

Think you might be mistaken re the Air Con though

[Puggit]

It's 25 mins FFS!

[Welshbeef]

Puggit said:

It's 25 mins FFS!

So could say the same about anyone with anything above a Kia Cee'd as its not required...

[bigandclever]

Welshbeef said:

Puggit said:

It's 25 mins FFS!

So could say the same about anyone with anything above a Kia Cee'd as its not required...

Only you can decide whether the 100% increase in cost is justifiable. In your case you're asking, since work will pick up the standard fare, whether it's worth £40 a day out of your pocket to get a bigger seat. How do we know? The point about the 25 minutes is that it's not a long time to be stood up (an annoyingly frequent occurrence for me, but there you go). YMMV.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Weekend upgrade- £20 to upgrade to first one way for any journey length.

Sat from London to Bodmin the other way in the first quiet carriage. I. Was the only person in their for almost 3 hours. Bloody brilliant.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

How much more is a First Class ticket these days then?

Only - when I left school in 1988, I commenced an apprenticeship in London - commuting on South West Trains from Winchester to Waterloo - about, what, 65 miles? Took an hour.

My apprentice wages weren't too bad - back then, I took home £125 a week

My weekly standard class season ticket was about 40 odd-quid (how times have changed?!) and I never got a bloody seat - and it was basically purgatory and murder in standard class - uncomfortable, standing room only.

Until I found out a First class season was only 65 quid a week - 25 quid more than standard. So I bought First from then on - nice, quiet, comfortable and stress-free travel. Bliss.

Could you upgrade now for a similar expense or not?

[icetea]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

How much more is a First Class ticket these days then?

Only - when I left school in 1988, I commenced an apprenticeship in London - commuting on South West Trains from Winchester to Waterloo - about, what, 65 miles? Took an hour.

My apprentice wages weren't too bad - back then, I took home £125 a week

My weekly standard class season ticket was about 40 odd-quid (how times have changed?!) and I never got a bloody seat - and it was basically purgatory and murder in standard class - uncomfortable, standing room only.

Until I found out a First class season was only 65 quid a week - 25 quid more than standard. So I bought First from then on - nice, quiet, comfortable and stress-free travel. Bliss.

Could you upgrade now for a similar expense or not?

I wouldn't have been willing to give up 30% of my take-home pay just to be more comfy for an hour there/back!

[FiF]

OP, why not invest in a railcard, get 1/3rd off if that helps any? Or does it just complicate the calculation?

[Puggit]

FiF said:

OP, why not invest in a railcard, get 1/3rd off if that helps any? Or does it just complicate the calculation?

Good advice (I have one) but if the OP is worried about getting a seat then I'd suggest he's leaving before 10am

[bigandclever]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

How much more is a First Class ticket these days then?
...
Could you upgrade now for a similar expense or not?

As a for instance, let's look at Beefy's journey, Reading to Paddington return:

Standard Class
7 Days £95.40
1 Month £364.80
3 Months £1,094.40
6 Months £2,188.80
12 Months £3,800.00

First Class
7 Days £212.00
1 Month £790.30
3 Months £2,370.90
6 Months £4,741.70
12 Months £8,232.00

If I rock up on the day, and buy a return, cheapest Standard Class is £39.50, cheapest First Class is £83.