Avanti West Coast Seat Map

[STEVIEBOY1]

Hi, All being well, I may be travelling from London to Accrington, probably via Preston & returning from Preston to London in December. I recall reading that when the route changed to Avanti, they no longer showed seat maps, unlike Virgin WC & LNER, does anyone know if that is still the case? I think there were some rail booking websites, but I don't know which ones these were, that still did show the seat plans and maybe giving the option to change your seat if you wished?

Also when I was looking just now, the rates for going north on 03 & 04 Dec and returning on 07 & 08 Dec were quite high, even with a Senior Railcard, which I should have by then.

 

[hexagon789]

Hi, All being well, I may be travelling from London to Accrington, probably via Preston & returning from Preston to London in December. I recall reading that when the route changed to Avanti, they no longer showed seat maps, unlike Virgin WC & LNER, does anyone know if that is still the case? I think there were some rail booking websites, but I don't know which ones these were, that still did show the seat plans and maybe giving the option to change your seat if you wished?

Also when I was looking just now, the rates for going north on 03 & 04 Dec and returning on 07 & 08 Dec were quite high, even with a Senior Railcard, which I should have by then.

They still offer PDF diagrammatic seating plans of their fleet on their website; not sure if you still get a seating plan presented when booking a ticket and reserving a seat though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can use the seat selector for Avanti or indeed any other TOC at Trainsplit or Trainscanbecheaper.

 

[yorkie]

You can use the seat selector for Avanti or indeed any other TOC at Trainsplit or Trainscanbecheaper.

Yep and this was the work of various forum members (including @Adam Williams ); I believe Avanti Pendolinos (and possibly Voyagers?) have a bit more detail added to them to cater for popular demand

If you want the full level of detail, consult https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/onboard/about-our-trains in combination with the seat selector on Trainsplit/Trainscanbecheaper.

Trainscanbecheaper is basically Trainsplit but only offering through tickets.

 

[Trackman]

Also when I was looking just now, the rates for going north on 03 & 04 Dec and returning on 07 & 08 Dec were quite high, even with a Senior Railcard, which I should have by then.

I would definitely check a ticket split for this journey.
Just had a quick look, you could save about £28.

 

[jfisher21]

It can be cheaper (although slower) to travel via Manchester rather than Preston. Need to cross stations from Piccadilly to Victoria though.

 

[Vespa]

To date as far as I'm aware based on my experience, Avanti booking website still don't have any seat selector option.

 

[Trackman]

It can be cheaper (although slower) to travel via Manchester rather than Preston. Need to cross stations from Piccadilly to Victoria though.

Trains to Preston from Picc are they not?
If Picc is an option, there is the wonderful 'Stockport manoeuvre' as I call it rather then faffing about about at Picc.
Trainsplit website seems a good option.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, there are trains from Preston to Manc Picc. Rather more of them than to Vic, in fact; that I think is presently only two-hourly.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Thank you for these replies. I did look at going from Euston to Accrington via Manchester, but apart from having to go on the train from Picc to Vic there did not seem to be a very frequent service.

However the tip about coming back from Preston to Euston via Manchester is useful, I seem to recall doing that before and it was a bit cheaper..

I shall check the two websites that you mentioned, when I know the trip is for ahead for certain.

 

[yorkie]

Trainsplit should find the cheaper option. It might not do if it's a lot slower though.

You can use advanced mode if you wish to force a search via a particular route.

You can also add additional interchange time if you wish, by forcing a change at any particular station.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Trainsplit should find the cheaper option. It might not do if it's a lot slower though.

You can use advanced mode if you wish to force a search via a particular route.

You can also add additional interchange time if you wish, by forcing a change at any particular station.

Many thanks, that is really helpful.

 

[route101]

To date as far as I'm aware based on my experience, Avanti booking website still don't have any seat selector option.

I heard that they were bringing it back at some point.

 

[yorkie]

I heard that they were bringing it back at some point.

They said that at the start, but I think that was just to try to reduce the number of people booking with Trainsplit.

This was nearly a year ago now and nothing has changed. I do not think Avanti see it as a priority.