Last Wednesday, I had a fairly early start to a meeting in the Euston area so looked around for a reasonable fare. Virgin Train's site came up with a £49 advance standard class fare on the 750 Pendolino out of New Street, and a £48 advance first class fare on the 1907 Pendolino back from Euston to Nuneaton with a CrossCountry connection to New Street.
The key advantage of booking advance with Virgin is that you can get a table in standard which not only gives you more room but also access to a socket (Pendolino's standard class provision is otherwise rather cramped...). So I was able to establish myself in the Quiet Coach A which though busy did actually live up to its billing. As I have been fortunate to find on my Pendolino trips, the journey was uneventful and on time, and there was even a ticket check before arrival at Euston. No announcement about a shop service in standard however - this is an area that seems to be very lackadaisical in Virgin's quality control.
Virgin have now replaced the former Hotline magazine with onboard, a four times a year guide.
Coming back, the first class section of the 1907 was reasonably busy. As the first stop is Nuneaton, tea / coffee was served on departure and followed up with the food and drink offering. I had a very nice salmon and brocolli tart along with an apple and fruit juice. Also announced with the shop for standard class passengers, along with the detail that it now takes Credit & Debit cards once more...
WiFi was useless in the middle of Quiet Coach H - failing to allow me to download even email. This is an area which Virgin needs to address as the service is very variable.
Quick change at Nuneaton where there is just time to get over the bridge to the Birmingham platforms. Was pleasantly surprised to discover that CrossCountry now offer free tea / coffee to First Class passengers. Arrival back into Birmingham was slightly late but overall a good journey experience.
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