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Virgin half price travel - including ballet dates


Yaffa

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Virgin is having two sales:

a. West Coast Network
From midnight tonight (Wednesday) until 11:59 on Monday 27th November: up to 52% on selected tickets e.g. 
between London and Manchester £5 one way
between London and Birmingham £11 one way.
Dates are from 18th December to 14th January, excluding 22nd-23rd Dec and 25th-27th Dec. That should hopefully still include travel for Nutcrackers and other performances. There will also apparently be child and first class tickets.

 

b. East Coast Network
Available now until 11.59 p.m. tonight (Wednesday). Tickets are available between 6th Jan and 2nd March, excluding the week of half term (10th-18th Feb) and 24th-25th Feb. Might work for some audition dates.
 

Further details of both sales at:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/virgin-trains

 

There are some other good travel deals around - before you book you might want to check out the moneysavingexpert.com list at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/travel-and-days-out

 

No connection to any of the above - just passing on the info

Edited by Yaffa
for clarity
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sometimes the   half price sale is  an opportunity to  make a trip  a bit special  by  booking  first class  rather than standard ... 

I can't comment on VTWC   in either class as i'm in the wrong places to use  the WC line , but  VTEC first  is nice ,  and the  catering offer  is  decent .   the VT  first class lounge at king's cross   is also open a decent amount of  time ( 7am to  half past 9  in the evening - there's only  three  east cost services leaving KX after this  time )   and the VTWC  first class lounge at euston is open  until 11 pm in the week  ...  the EMT  offering at  StP is a bit lack lustre  in comparison , but then again EMT's ' main line'  first  clas offering is bit  lack lustre   which is odd given that WC and EC  despite  Virgin  branding are  Stagecoach TOCs ' under the bonnet'  ... 

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A family member is a fan of using the West Coast First Class because you can get some very good bargain fares (compared with Standard Class), and they often include a meal and glass of wine en route.  Or at least, that's what I think it is.

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2 minutes ago, alison said:

A family member is a fan of using the West Coast First Class because you can get some very good bargain fares (compared with Standard Class), and they often include a meal and glass of wine en route.  Or at least, that's what I think it is.


What you get depends on the day of the week, length of journey and a few other things. Updated details are at:

https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/first-class

 

 

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Before booking a ticket via the Virgin sale, you might want check out other cheap train tickets at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets  and also to see if you can get the same Virgin ticket cheaper using the 10% Virgin Money discount. From an earlier post I made about this (NB: The Virgin Money lounges are not the same as the Virgin First Class Lounges):

 

...Also, if you want to buy a West Coast Mainline ticket which is not covered by the sale, and there isn't a better deal on the Virgin app or a railcard etc. - you can currently get 10% off many such routes if you're a member of Virgin Money. (To join Virgin money, you  can just set up a £1 savings account.) There's no further railcard or other discount on such tickets. More at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/2016/09/30/travelling-on-virgin-trains-without-a-railcard-heres-a-quick-trick-to-get-10-off-west-coast-routes/ Membership of Virgin Money also gets you free access to stocked Virgin Money lounges with free wifi at Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Norwich, Sheffield and London (two -at Haymarket and Eagle Place). You do have to be a UK resident (not just a UK citizen) to join Virgin money - I found that they are very strict about that -  but members can bring a guest into the lounges.

 

 
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On ‎22‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 11:45, Nicola H said:

sometimes the   half price sale is  an opportunity to  make a trip  a bit special  by  booking  first class  rather than standard ... 

I can't comment on VTWC   in either class as i'm in the wrong places to use  the WC line , but  VTEC first  is nice ,  and the  catering offer  is  decent .   the VT  first class lounge at king's cross   is also open a decent amount of  time ( 7am to  half past 9  in the evening - there's only  three  east cost services leaving KX after this  time )   and the VTWC  first class lounge at euston is open  until 11 pm in the week  ...  the EMT  offering at  StP is a bit lack lustre  in comparison , but then again EMT's ' main line'  first  clas offering is bit  lack lustre   which is odd given that WC and EC  despite  Virgin  branding are  Stagecoach TOCs ' under the bonnet'  ... 

I booked VTWC first class as a treat on my birthday earlier this year to attend a matinee in Buxton.  Sadly through circumstances beyond their control (fatality on the line at Milton Keynes) I ended up being diverted onto EMT from St Pancras, where there is no such thing as free catering in first class... which is the only reason I paid for first class in the first place...

 

I've done VTWC first class (weekdays) a few times before, and yes, the catering is decent.

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4 minutes ago, RuthE said:

I booked VTWC first class as a treat on my birthday earlier this year to attend a matinee in Buxton.  Sadly through circumstances beyond their control (fatality on the line at Milton Keynes) I ended up being diverted onto EMT from St Pancras, where there is no such thing as free catering in first class... which is the only reason I paid for first class in the first place...

 

I've done VTWC first class (weekdays) a few times before, and yes, the catering is decent.

 

The catering is not worth it at the weekend unless anything has changed.

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4 minutes ago, RuthE said:

I booked VTWC first class as a treat on my birthday earlier this year to attend a matinee in Buxton.  Sadly through circumstances beyond their control (fatality on the line at Milton Keynes) I ended up being diverted onto EMT from St Pancras, where there is no such thing as free catering in first class... which is the only reason I paid for first class in the first place...

 

I've done VTWC first class (weekdays) a few times before, and yes, the catering is decent.

 

Sorry to hear about this... I've found Virgin's Complaints Department to be quite understanding and gave a voucher even for circumstances outside their control. 

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  • 1 year later...

I see that Virgin are to lose the West Coast line as of December.  What this will mean for cheap tickets and offers remains to be seen, I guess.  The service is being taken over by TrenItalia.  Might be worth booking BRB Nutcracker performances before the 8th, or whenever the date is.  Or not.

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On 19/08/2019 at 19:04, alison said:

I see that Virgin are to lose the West Coast line as of December.  What this will mean for cheap tickets and offers remains to be seen, I guess.  The service is being taken over by TrenItalia.  Might be worth booking BRB Nutcracker performances before the 8th, or whenever the date is.  Or not.

 

Who knows what will actually happen, but amidst all the promises, it was good to hear that they're planning to run the Euston-Manchester service later in the night - though I heard it's likely to be only on weekdays and starting from next year...

Edited by Yaffa
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2 hours ago, Yaffa said:

 

Who knows what will actually happen, but amidst all the promises, it was good to hear that they're planning to run the Euston-Manchester service later in the night - though I heard it's likely to be only on weekdays and starting from next year...

 

Liverpool left out again!!  I used to be able to come to London for the evening!

 

(Although they are investigating the possibility of 2 trains an hour, which will be an improvement).

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21 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

Liverpool left out again!!  I used to be able to come to London for the evening!

I do hope that going down to London for the evening will soon become a reality from many places.

 

Even better if they could bring back the possibility to catch a train down to London for a weekday morning meeting  without spending hundreds of pounds. Oh well, we can dream...
 

Edited by Yaffa
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On 22/08/2019 at 19:33, Jan McNulty said:

 

Liverpool left out again!!  I used to be able to come to London for the evening!

 

(Although they are investigating the possibility of 2 trains an hour, which will be an improvement).

 

Is there a link for this (& will it go via Stoke). Twice I’ve had to take the car to Manchester recently when going to a show there because there is no train that leaves after the finish time. 

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Echo your thoughts Yaffa on being able to get to London for a weekday morning without paying extortionate prices!

 

I even investigated a really early morning time ...pre rush hour ...to see if it would be cheaper then but no it's extortionate from 5.30 in the morning right up to 10 pm!! 

I am lucky in that if I need an early start in London .....any time before 11.30 ....I can go up.the night before and stay for free with friends but I wish I didn't always have to do this. 

There is no justified reason in my view why the early morning prices are SO expensive.....they could for example at least  release a few cheaper tickets for that time on a first come first served basis every day...so many a day. 

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