Unless cost or time are significant factors in the decision, I'd always choose first class travel on LNER or Avanti over flying. (My own preference is for Avanti, but there isn't much in it.) The train is more comfortable, the station experience better than the airport, and the hours fly by when you're being served food and drink in a comfortable seat with lots of legroom and fine views through the window. Both train companies have free WiFi, although it is patchy (as is 4G/5G) in the more remote parts of northern England and southern Scotland.

If there are more than one of you travelling together, or if you are over 60, you might save money by buying a railcard that gives you 30% off rail fares, even if it's only used once.

Flying out of LCY can be a pleasant experience but agree that overall the train is the best option. I have a preference for LNER - cheaper first class, much better schedule reliability, less claustrophobic trains though the Avanti seats are much nicer. Standard Premium on Avanti is also a decent option though their EDI service is a fair bit slower.

"I am travelling to Doncaster, which my Bradshaw's Guide tells me has large warehousing facilities for Tesco, Ikea and Amazon."

I occassionally watch Michael Portilo on Yesterday ( TV cable channel)
apart from the UK ,he has done Europe and North America .
Very informative. He is a good presenter ( though some of his jackets are loud in colour)

Regards

TBS

We’ll be taking the train to York from Edinburgh on 05 Oct. Are the trains running on this route during the industrial action? Shall we purchase tickets now or it’s safer to purchase tickets on the day of the trip?

LNER suggest that there may be nothing more than �minor timetable disruption� on Thursday. Advance fares are available which represent a fair saving on walk-up tickets on the day (around �44 or less single vs �58 single bought on the day).

If travelling on LNER then either stump up for first class or bring a cushion! These trains were specified by the government not the train company and the seats in standard class are very uncomfortable, and that�s an understatement. First class is mildly better but there isn�t much in it. Same trains and seats are also used on the GWR line and I think Hull Trains too. The GWR first class seats and experience used to be very good, comfortable leather seats, curtains that blocked sunlight not useless blinds that don�t really.

The main reason I travel first class on trains in the UK is simply that standard class is unbearable, with uncomfortable seats, little legroom and a good chance of there being no window alongside your seat. And first class is really only affordable thanks to my Senior Railcard and split ticketing.

That's a huge overstatement. I do travel first class on long distance trains when the price isn't absurd, and so I am someone who appreciates that it is better. But unless there's a complete meltdown, standard class is perfectly adequate.

I seem to be in a minority but I find the new LNER / GWR trains (i.e. class 80x) to be very comfortable, in fact I find them to be the most comfortable trains in the UK.

As LNER has a seat selector which does not require you to buy your ticket from them (or even to have a ticket at all), I have never not been able to get a seat with a window if I wanted one, or sit on the side which is not in the sunlight if I wanted to avoid it.

I would love to sample LNER or GWR first class on the new trains, but the most I will pay is ~1.4x the price of standard. In over 100 journeys I have yet to find tickets at that level. Before covid I paid for first class when prices were reasonable, which was around 30% of the time, but not on any of the newer stock.

Unless you are sitting bolt upright on those seats then the standard class seats for me are very uncomfortable. If you feel from the front of the seat, there�s a hard bar or something like that about a third of the way down, that stretches across the seat under the �padding�. As I was not blessed with an ample backside if I am not sitting with my back against the seat it�s uncomfortable. YMMV.

Standard on LNER is perfectly comfortable, but I do prefer first class.

For those of us who do not live in the United Kingdom, don't forget Britrail passes can offer extremely good value. There's currently a "free day" offer on M-Pass tickets, offering a 3-day first class Britrail pass for EUR155.