ALR Questions

[175001]

Afternoon all.

I'm now planning for my ALR trip in June, and i'm torn between a Standard on a Y-P, or 1st without the Y-P. What are the benefits of doing it all in 1st class? I've planned my trip on routes and operators that have 1st class facilities, but is it worth it? £200 more is a lot of money which could be spent on accomodation etc, allthough i'm trying to get as much Sleepers in as I can. But the lure of 1st class for a week is tempting

Also with a 1st ALR, when I do the Sleepers, does that mean I get a 1st class berth?

On the note of the Sleepers, can I book a berth or a seat at Llandudno Junction's office, or will I have to do a detour on the 1st morning, to Paddington to reserve my seat/bed on the service?

The plan is to do Cornwall, East Anglia, GC, and Scotland at the moment

Thanks

 

[yorkie]

Afternoon all.

I'm now planning for my ALR trip in June, and i'm torn between a Standard on a Y-P, or 1st without the Y-P. What are the benefits of doing it all in 1st class? I've planned my trip on routes and operators that have 1st class facilities, but is it worth it? £200 more is a lot of money which could be spent on accomodation etc, allthough i'm trying to get as much Sleepers in as I can. But the lure of 1st class for a week is tempting

Also with a 1st ALR, when I do the Sleepers, does that mean I get a 1st class berth?

Yes, for £41 you get single occupancy, while in standard £36? gets you a shared cabin and £49? gets you single occupancy, so you do save about £8 per trip to get single occupancy of the cabin if you go first.

On the note of the Sleepers, can I book a berth or a seat at Llandudno Junction's office, or will I have to do a detour on the 1st morning, to Paddington to reserve my seat/bed on the service?

The plan is to do Cornwall, East Anglia, GC, and Scotland at the moment

Thanks

You can reserve berths at any station that is staffed by a competent, well-trained member of staff.

I'm not sure I'd do an ALR to cover those areas though, as Cornwall and Anglia can be done on very cheap day rovers; advance purchase tickets and Bargain Berths are excellent value (and if you are planning a trip for June you should be able to get them!), and in Scotland there is a good value rover valid in the whole of Scotland PLUS coaches to get between e.g. Fort Bill and Inverness and ferries (which I don't think the ALR covers!).

The main advantage (IMO) of getting rovers is getting gen of good workings (e.g. Valentas on NXEC) and then going for them and not being tied into a specific plan. I'm doing a NE rover next week and a Scottish rover in July/August. The Scottish one is fantastic value, it works out as £11.55 per day which is insane for the huge area covered! If anyone else is doing a NE rover or All Line rover at the same time as us doing a Scottish rover I'd be more than happy to share gen for anglo-scottish HSTs!

 

[175001]

I'm not sure I'd do an ALR to cover those areas though, as Cornwall and Anglia can be done on very cheap day rovers; advance purchase tickets and Bargain Berths are excellent value (and if you are planning a trip for June you should be able to get them!), and in Scotland there is a good value rover valid in the whole of Scotland PLUS coaches to get between e.g. Fort Bill and Inverness and ferries (which I don't think the ALR covers!).

The main advantage (IMO) of getting rovers is getting gen of good workings (e.g. Valentas on NXEC) and then going for them and not being tied into a specific plan. I'm doing a NE rover next week and a Scottish rover in July/August. The Scottish one is fantastic value, it works out as £11.55 per day which is insane for the huge area covered! If anyone else is doing a NE rover or All Line rover at the same time as us doing a Scottish rover I'd be more than happy to share gen for anglo-scottish HSTs!

I see what you mean, but the one plus of an ALR is that there is no time restriction, and a number of my days start around 0600 if I am overnighting in a hostel. I see that for instance the Cornwall rover starts after 0930, that would mean that I have to wait around, or pay extra to ride on some early services.

I have no date set, so AP fares could be few and far between by the time I know when i'm doing it.

Thanks for your tips, i'll post the itinerary on the weekend to see if there could be better options for me to do as much coverage and mileage, and HST's as possible!

 

[mrcheek]

I did a a week ALR last year, and paid the extra for first class. The trouble is, there are so many times when you just cant get a seat on some trains in standard class, or you might find yourself stuck next to some boring ned for the entire journey... In first class, you just get a lot more space (on most services except for XC you will be able to have 2 or 3 seats to yourself most of the time), more comfort (pretty important when youre planning to spend 14 hours a day on trains!), and the free coffee, tea and orange juice is very useful too.

But it really depends on the sort of routes you are taking. If you are taking local services in the southwest, Wales, or the north, then you wont be able to sit in first class, as there isnt any! But if you are planning on lots of long XC journeys, or long distance services in and out of London, then first class is ideal.

 

[175001]

That's something that's swaying me towards a 1st class ALR. Most of my journeys are long distance, with the exception of the Cornwall Branches.

I've worked the timetable, in Cornwall, that between the branches, that I catch Paddington bound HST's to my next branch etc, so 1st would be available. Also with it being near the summer hols, I dread standing on some of my journeys, so there "should" be availability in 1st always.

Also, is it better to start an ALR on a Sunday, or a Monday?

 

[mrcheek]

I cant see that the start day makes much difference. It just depends on the route you are taking, and whatever works out most conveniently.
I started mine on a thursday....

 

[me123]

It would depend on where you're starting from, really. If your location doesn't have a Sunday service at all, you'd be best off starting on a Saturday and staying soemwhere. Otherwise, unless you want to take specific trains or something, I can't see it making that much of a difference.

Don't mean to jack your thread, but can you upgrade to FC on a SC rover by paying a supplement, or is it SC all the way?

 

[Gizmogle]

I'm pretty sure you can pay the supplement no matter what kind of ticket you're on.
I was told I could pay it on a priv, so yeah...

 

[yorkie]

Don't mean to jack your thread, but can you upgrade to FC on a SC rover by paying a supplement, or is it SC all the way?

According to Evil_Hippo, the supplements are the DIFFERENCE between the FOS and SOS for the journey being made.

Examples (using last year's fares)

London - Inverness 177 - 131.50 = £45.50
Penzance - Aberdeen (not London) 181.50 - 151.00 = £30.50
York - Newcastle 43.00 - 23.00 = £20.00
Swansea - Paddington 137.50 - 91.00 = £46.50

 

[me123]

Ta, Yorkie and Gizzy. Would a Y-P Rover be able to be upgraded as well?

 

[yorkie]

Ta, Yorkie and Gizzy. Would a Y-P Rover be able to be upgraded as well?

Yes, but the guard may charge the difference between the Y-P SOS and the FOS that'd make YRK-NCL a whopping £27.80 to upgrade.

 

[me123]

hock: Well, it is at least doable. If I were doing one, I wouldn't be upgrading often anyway, so it's still good value for money. Ta Yorkie.

 

[djw1981]

You have to work out though, on an FC run, is the amount of free food etc (i.e. the benefits) greater than the cost. £45 for the London-Inverness run may be a good deal, but remember its only coffee and biccies, not a full meal for that price. £20 for York-Newcastle as an 'upgrade' is not worth it. You'd be lucky to get 2 cups of coffee in that time.

 

[175001]

You have to work out though, on an FC run, is the amount of free food etc (i.e. the benefits) greater than the cost. £45 for the London-Inverness run may be a good deal, but remember its only coffee and biccies, not a full meal for that price. £20 for York-Newcastle as an 'upgrade' is not worth it. You'd be lucky to get 2 cups of coffee in that time.

Indeed, thats one thing i've been thinking about.

 

[175001]

Me again

Just thinking, do you know the Night Riviera, do I have to pay to sit in the seated accommodation??

Cheers

 

[theblackwatch]

Me again

Just thinking, do you know the Night Riviera, do I have to pay to sit in the seated accommodation??

Cheers

No you don't, normal tickets are valid. Best to make a reservation though.

 

[175001]

No you don't, normal tickets are valid. Best to make a reservation though.

Excellent, thanks for that.