lovs2travel

I have booked a last minute solo trip to England; travelling by public transportation. In London, I will get a 7 day travelcard loaded onto an Oyster. For the rest of the trip, I plan to buy an eight day consecutive BritRail pass as they are having a promotion for the low season. I have priced out the point to point advance tickets and the cost is comparable to the rail pass. I want to have the flexibility to choose when I journey instead of having to adhere to timelines.

My question is should I get the first class or second class? The price difference is $135. I’ve always travelled second class in the past. I would like my fellow Fodorites opinions as I have read arguments for/against both during research.

The longer trips include London to York, York to Canterbury, Canterbury to Bath and Bath to London. The shorter trips would include London to Hampton Court Palace, Canterbury to Dover and Canterbury to Staplehurst. Is it worth it?

Thank you!

halfapair

I guess it depends on how comfortable you would like to be. We get first-class tickets/passes so my husband can have enough legroom. We prefer to be comfortable.

bilboburgler

Sorry as a Brit I have no experience at how you use these things. I'd think the trick is to have a reservation and hence a seat. Bags tend to go at the entrance to each carriage so you cannot "watch over them". I go everywhere 2nd class, but if you want loads of space then go 1st class.

York to Canterbury, I assume that is change through London...

annhig

have a look at the man in Seat 61 for good tips on trains and rail passes:

http://www.seat61.com

if our old Pal joins in he's bound to recommend the first class version, and i have to confess that that's my inclination too [I should have added that to my splurges list on a different thread] and if you can snag a table in first class carriage you will have loads of space and a great view out of the window.

on the shorter trips there may not be a first class option of course, but my understanding is that you don't need to book a seat when you have a pass, you just walk onto the train and find a seat.

the other advantage of First class is that even on popular routes, First class is unlikely to be full whereas 2nd class may be pretty busy.

Alec

The main difference between First Class and Standard Class (as it's called) is comfort/space, crowdedness and perks such as lounges, free food and drink (on some services). For a difference of only $135 a week (£109 or £15 a day), I would go for First class. Some services don't have First Class (such as journeys to Hampton Court) or journey is short as to make difference marginal. For long-distance journeys, esp to and from London, you are likely to get free reshments, but what you get exactly depends on the time of the day, whether it's weekday or weekend (curtailed food service) and train operators.
Check https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.co...-class-travel/ for your trips to and from York, and https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/jou...t-class-travel for your Bath trip.

thursdaysd

It rather depends on what the money means to you. I have never gone first class in the UK, and have only regretted it a couple of times on a particularly crowded train. I travel with one carry-on size bag and a day bag and I can usually get the larger bag in the overhead or in the gap between back to back seats, but you can always carry a cable lock if you are worried.

sofarsogood

for the journeys you quote no it's not worth it - spend your money on something else

eastenderusvi

Do they still have the quiet cars in first class? We went from London to Edinburgh in one. No loud talking, no videos playing, no music. It was an oasis is a noisy world.

annhig

Do they still have the quiet cars in first class?>>

yes, though they are not always THAT quiet.

thursdaysd

They have quiet cars in second class, too. Ditto.

lovs2travel

Thank you all! I will have to give this a little more thought, although first class is tempting. I will check the budget, though.

gubgreen

I tend to go second class when travelling on rail - it tends to work very well, especially if you are travelling out of the rush hour