I took a tour of the north-west yesterday, using SP in both directions.
09.07 Euston - Liverpool: 11-coach Pendolino with SP in coaches G & H, and First Class J & K.
Six others in coach H for most of the journey, so no problem bagging a '4' to myself.
17.55 Manchester - Euston: 9-coach Pendolino with SP in coach H only.
Roughly a dozen others in the carriage so, again, no issues with settling into a '4'.
In lieu of the First Class goodies, I spent a tenner in M&S Food prior to both legs, including a nice G&T for the evening run. All very relaxing: I had reading to do (work and pleasure) and appreciated the lack of the inevitable interruptions that is part and parcel of food service, and particularly the table clearance routines towards the end of each journey in First. Of course, when/if SP gets more popular and it becomes necessary to share a bay of seats, some of the 'tranquility' dividend will be lost.
I really like the ability to upgrade on the train without a pricing penalty, Weekend First style. This way, if you walk into your intended SP carriage and see it's pretty full, or occupied by some lively stag/hen groups etc, then you can take a last-minute decision not to bother.
Whilst the station ticket machines now offer walk-on SP fares, I can't see why anyone would bother given there's no pricing incentive to buy before you board: and you might get lucky if the Train Manager doesn't make it to coach H. I predict that Avanti will introduce a £5 price saving for 'buy before you board', whilst increasing the on-board supplement to £30, some time next year.
Other observations:
- The SP offer wasn't 'pushed' with any passion, on board: no explanation of the benefits etc, or 'there's plenty of spare seats today, why not upgrade and give it a try?' (I'd be inclined to give Train Managers £5 commission for every upgrade they sold, during the introductory phase, to get them marketing the offer effectively.)
- The train pictorials at stations still refer to coaches G&H as First Class - no mention of SP, and now wrong.
- On the Down train, At Seat food ordering wasn't operable throughout and there were no catering announcements whatsoever, so maybe the shop was closed. On the Up train, At Seat ordering became available in the Tamworth area, but factoring-in a 15 minute wait for delivery I decided this was too late in the journey to try for a coffee. They need to get this profit-centre (catering) working properly!
- I spent an hour 'train spotting' at Warrington BQ, and noted the Anglo-Scottish Pendolinos were comparatively well-patronised in both First and SP. I suppose £25 (for SP) looks better value as the mileage undertaken increases.
- This was a spontaneous day out for me, not using Advances. On the homebound run, my Off Peak Standard single; SP supplement and M&S picnic came-in at almost exactly £100. Not a bargain, but I came away with a feeling of value for money, given the pleasant environment. I'm neither young nor old, and have several of my faculties still intact so don't qualify for a railcard in The North, bit if I did then the extra £20-off would sweeten the package still further.
Would certainly use SP again, including self-pay upgrades when the office will only reimburse for Standard Advance tickets.