Knowing about an early evening meeting in London a couple of weeks ahead of the time allowed me to book Virgin Trains Advance First Class Singles for journeys on Tuesday. At £23.50 each way, they really can't be beaten for value (but of course you pay a heavy price if you miss your booked trains).
The 12.30 Pendolino was sitting in the platform when I arrived at Birmingham New Street at 12.15. For some reason, the Virgin booking system has allocated me seat 15 in Quiet Coach 'H' but of course this was irrelevant given how few passengers use these trains First Class. In fact, the reservation system hadn't been loaded ( a common failing in my experience) so I sat in my usual place.
Although the power point was working ok, WiFi wasn't. At least the train manager helpfully tried resetting it (a first for me on Virgin) and it did finally come to life intermittently. Tweeted @virgintrains to highlight the problem and got a sort of response - isn't it about time that Virgin (and Chiltern) insisted that their WiFi suppliers have a Twitter support account???
An active train manager meant that tickets were checked soon after the on-time departure. He was followed by the coffee run, and then after Coventry by the soft drinks / food runs (orange juice, a very nice, if small, salmon salad, and an apple). A final coffee offered after the Milton Keynes stop before slightly late arrival at London Euston.
Coming back, I joined a very quiet Coach H on the 21.03 Pendolino. WiFi working fine on this set! Ticket check on departure, and a coffee run straight away. However, as this service has a Milton Keynes stop, the drinks / food runs didn't arrive for half-an-hour. Did enjoy the egg and cress baguette along with a min chocolate crunch. Alas, no second run of coffee... Arrival in New Street slightly late
So Virgin continue to deliver and at an affordable price if you book in advance. Just don't pay walk-on fares!
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