I recently had the pleasure of traveling North, and escaping the grime and congestion of London in favour of the…..errrr….grime and congestion of Manchester , in order to go and conduct a client presentation.
Welcome to Manchester
When considering my journey, I flirted with the possibility of traveling first class in order to be able to get some work done. I’ll admit, I was seduced by the idea of a quiet haven where you could focus on your work, undisturbed other than to be offered coffee at your seat, and would generally be made to feel as though you could just get on with being ‘terribly important and busy’.
So, 2 weeks before I was due to travel I popped on to thetrainline.com and looked up times and fares for the date I needed. £66 for an off-peak standard day return. Lovely. Seems reasonable.
My eyes scanned down the page to where the first class fares were listed…
What was that?
Sorry, what was THAT?
£355 for a day return?
Wrestling my eyeballs back into their sockets I began to contemplate what one would get for their £355 ticket. Seeing as I could fly BA (return) to Milan and have a night in a 4-star hotel for the same price, I imagined that a train company commanding the same money must do something pretty special. Do we travel via Capri with a night in a luxury villa, where I’m massaged to within an inch of my life and fed fine cheeses and cured meats until I burst? Do I get to dress in black tie, be drowned in expensive champagne and flirted with by top supermodels for the entire journey whilst, in the background, the London Symphony Orchestra play a collection of my personal favourites? Nope? What do I get then?
A coffee and a newspaper. Fantastic. For the bargain price of £289 I can get some coffee and a newspaper.
I’d be intrigued to have a chat with the head of the particular train company in question and ask him “So, Richard, how do you develop your pricing structure exactly?”
I wonder what the answer would be…
This is like saying to eat in a fancy restaurant costs £500 more than mcdonalds but you only get 2 chicken nuggets more.
So don’t travel first class then. Its your choice, whats the big deal?
Hi Jane,
Thanks for your comment. It’s always good to get some feedback.
Your point is not quite the same however as I certainly wouldn’t expect to be served chicken nuggets in a £500 restaurant, nor would I expect to have to sit in a McDonalds restaurant to eat my meal (not that there’s anything wrong with McDonalds of course – when you want it).
When you go to a restaurant costing £500 you expect a superior standard of service and only the best ingredients/food that money can buy. That’s my point.
Often the difference between a £500 restaurant and a fast food chain is strikingly obvious. I don’t feel that the difference here is obvious enough to warrant a £289 price difference. That’s all.