Basie007

The reason for my question is that, following a hip fracture several years ago, I still require a cane, and lack agility and strength.
Our plan is to travel from London Euston to Liverpool Lyme Street on a Saturday in June, most likely in standard class on one of the express trains.
In past years, I’d experienced the need to lift luggage overhead into storage, but during more recent rail travel in Europe, I’d found that the more usual luggage storage system is to have areas at the end of coaches.
Would there be any benefit ( in terms of luggage storage) to paying extra for standard premium seating?

Misco60

Almost every carriage on Avanti trains has luggage storage at the ends of the carriages as well as above the seats. I think the only exception might be the carriage with the shop, on some trains. Depending on the type of train, there might also be luggage storage in the middle of the carriage. The luggage storage areas in Standard class can get quite full, though, due to the seating density, and you'd have a better chance of finding space in the Standard Premium carriage, which, in my experience, is usually fairly quiet. Standard Premium (which is a First Class carriage without the "free" food and drink) has no airline-style seating, and you can also store luggage between the seatbacks.

(It's not necessary to pay in advance for Standard Premium seating: you can just take a seat on the train and pay the train manager when he comes to check tickets.)

Basie007

Many thanks for that very useful reply!

travelingdrsuz

OP, whenever I purchase Avanti seats, I buy direct from Avanti's site because they sell the Standard Premium tickets at a reduced rate for some seats. You have to click and find them, but it's very much worth it. These carriages are the same seats as First Class, and you can reserve your seat. They always have plenty of luggage room. I travel with large luggage because I am usually there for weeks at a time. This is more affordable than doing it when they come to check the ticket, I believe. Sample I just ran for a random one-way in June. It did not come up for all routes that day, so choose accordingly.

Misco60

I'd second the suggestion of buying tickets directly from Avanti, but I think it is actually cheaper to upgrade to Standard Premium on the train than buy in advance. Any Standard ticket can be upgraded, no matter how cheap, and I believe an upgrade costs £20 between London and Liverpool.

(I've never actually upgraded myself, as for my regular trips between Cardiff and Edinburgh it is almost the same price to buy First Class split tickets, but I've heard on-board announcements that the most you pay to upgrade is £25.)

Edit: I now have the actual facts at my fingertips.

Standard Premium | Train Travel | Onboard |Avanti West Coast

The cost of an upgrade between London and Liverpool is £30. You can buy in advance or pay on the train (subject to there being space available). Note, however, that if buying in advance the only option available is an Advance ticket, which limits you to a specific train. If you want flexibility, the better option is to buy an off-peak ticket and pay £30 on the train.

Swanhunter

I would do the upgrade, and also book passenger assistance. The boarding process at Euston is notoriously poor. The assistance team will get you on the train and luggage stored before general boarding starts.

rcspeirs

Just a word of caution. Avanti and weekend trains are not a good combination. They don't seem to have enough train crew and depend on overtime and "rest day" working. Those rely on goodwill of the crew but industrial relations at Avanti are below the floor, so lots of crew are not willing to volunteer. The point I am trying to make is that cancellations at weekends are a big problem. On one recent weekend, Avanti had to cancel 60 of their planned services. If you could travel on Friday instead, I would.

Swanhunter

The recent deal on OT working seems to be fixing that, at least from anecdotal evidence.

Misco60

If you're not in a particular hurry to get somewhere, the cancellations can work in your favour: for a period from late 2022 to mid-2023, I received my entire fare back from Avanti in Delay Repay compensation for almost every journey I made.

Basie007

Many thanks for all of the very useful replies! Unfortunately, we’re committed to travel on the Saturday. Because I’m traveling with my girlfriend and our 6 year old, I’ll need to make all reservations in advance—- otherwise, I’d never hear the end of it! I’ll be watching the Avanti website carefully, and buy standard premium tickets as soon as they become available.