Originally Posted by
Sealink
This isn't uncommon.
Last week, for a trip from London to Glasgow, National Express East Coast was £47.50 in Standard Class, £48.00 in First, and back, £52.50 in Standard and ... £48.00 in First.
It's just to do with quotas filling up but how many people would expect First class to be cheaper?
And on the other hand, my planned trip to Scotland next month has a starting price of £52.50 each way in Standard class. With First Class much higher. BOO!
Perhaps passengers who usually travel first class are buying tickets in standard class to see if the once good service has now moved to the other end of the train
Seriously, of course first class is still better than standard on NXEC but major cutbacks in the quality of service and staff layoffs mean it is not the product that it once was. I'd say a small premium is all they're worth these days.
Note: you need to have a full fare (i.e flexible) ticket to access the NXEC lounges. This I can't blame NXEC for, it was introduced by GNER because of overcrowding.