Has anyone tried upgrading rail ticket to 1st class on the train?

[YogaLite]

Google says it can be done in theory, just wondering whether it's actually possible without paying for a new ticket and what rate might be used.
Is it just paying a difference on a basic tickets or some higher rates are used and whether Railcard would be accepted.

(Obviously assuming there are seats available)

You can bid on first class seats using the Seat Frog App.

really easy and potential bargains to be had!

I travel frequently with LNER and they often make an onboard announcement as to how much it will cost to upgrade. Seems to vary in price but in the region of £20.
If I were doing it, and intending to travel second class if first not available/too expensive, I would just ask the guard how much it would cost before getting on the train. They are usually visible on the platform.

This.

As above - use seatfrog. It’s the best value way.

when travelling with work the policy is the lowest price, but using seatfrog a few times I’ve managed to upgrade to first for a few £, well worth it for the various pluses.

Just means keeping an eye the day before on the bidding for the seat concerned but it’s a simple system.

Seat frog is fab

I’ve been sat in first class on LNER and the inspector comes and checks someone’s ticket and they have a standard ticket. They’re offered the choice of moving carriage or paying the difference to upgrade

I did it recently t on LNER. I lost out on the Seatfrog auction, so just found an unreserved seat in first class and asked the inspector as soon as I saw him. It cost £40 (off-peak) which was more Than I was expecting.

Think seatfrog is better if you can get it as you (I think) can use the first class lounge in the station too.

£20 is a weekend upgrade type fare. Weekdays /peak more likely 100+

Agree seat frog

This. During the week the food and drink service is better so it’s much more expensive than the weekend.

I use Seat Frog and it's great - nearly always manage to get a cheap upgrade. I do sometimes upgrade on the train but I think that's only for off peak trains.

I often see people upgrading on the train and last week someone came through the carriage asking if if there was anyone wanting to upgrade. I think it’s fine but not sure if it costs more than buying a first class ticket to begin with. I travel at peak times.

I do it often with the Seatfrog app when travelling on LNER and love it.

I think it pays for itself with access to first class lounges at both ends of journey and food/drink.

I’ve paid between £15-24 for the upgrade (from Leeds to King’s Cross).

Seatfrog app is great as PPs have said. Also if you are travelling with Avanti you can sit in Standard Premium, which is a first class carriage without the free food and drink, and pay on the train. You can also book Standard Premium when you book your tickets and it is slightly cheaper :)

Excesses (paying the difference) will be to the Anytime rate so can be pricey. Many operators do Weekend First upgrades for a much more reasonable price onboard. Ditto Standard Premium.

My ds did this when travelling from Cornwall to London. An announcement asked if anyone wanted to upgrade on their way to London so him and his friend did. I think they paid £20 each.
On the way back they just asked the guard when he came to check tickets and he said yes they could upgrade, so they did it again.
They said it was definitely worth it for a longer journey.

Thank you all, never even heard of Seatfrog!

I have a standard 2nd class ticket but the first available 1st class option was 5 times the standard so decided not to. Will definitely try Seatfrog or the guard then and it's over the weekend so might have some luck 🤞 3.5 hour journey but won't have time for a 1st class lounge at the station though.

Failing that I will heed a recommendation from
@ToffeeSheep as it will be Avanti and will keep an eye on Standard premium.

Just to add when I first started using seat frog (btw think it was actually recommended on a link on the LNER app) when I spoke to friend about it they recommended just go for the buy it now option as they had done the auctions and found had often lost out on lots of last minute bids. Nicer too just to be able to look forward to the upgrade rather than thinking it’s just a maybe till the last minute, plus opportunity to use the lounge if they have one. On LNER I found definitely worth the extra £25 to have 2 very pleasant relaxing hours with refreshments (including wine 🍷) compared to simply enduring 2 hours of a being crammed in with the person opposite inevitably coughing away and the one next to you eating fish sandwiches and at most of the London stations not even being able to find a seat while your waiting

It might depend on the route but my buy it now option is far more that I’ve ever paid in the auction, like £49 v £15 ish. I couldn’t get an upgrade on my number 1 preference last week but I just moved to a slightly earlier train and got one straight away. I couldn’t get one at all for a weekend trip outside of peak time a couple of months ago, but I’ve got 3 people upgraded for a trip tomorrow, both ways for £5 each. It is good and usually successful.

Yes I suppose it depends on the buy it now prices, I usually have an advance ticket so no option to swap to a different train. It’s was usually about £5 starting bid for the auction and £20 but it now so if can get a £5 ticket then fab, friend said they usually don’t close the auction till only 15 minutes before. If only £5 spare then suppose definitely worth trying!

We do this all the time on a weekend, the fee is capped but we don’t get the railcard saving. We just go and find first class & either speak to the manager or wait for them to come over to process the upgrade. Don’t think this upgrade offer is available during the week though.

Avanti is different to LNER in that they don’t offer cheap upgrades to 1st class on the train at the weekend, if you sit in 1st they will charge you the full ticket price difference which can be a couple of hundred pounds!

Your 2 best options are bidding on Seatfrog or upgrading to Standard Premium. I’ve personally not found Seatfrog great for Avanti auctions as both the buy it now and auction price tend to be high and sometimes at weekends they don’t offer seats anyway as they reduce the 1st class carriages right down and convert more to Standard Premium (due to lack of demand from business travellers). However, it’s definitely worth a look.

Standard Premium are 1st class carriages without the food & drink or lounge access. So essentially they’re just more spacious than standard and don’t tend to get as busy. You can buy in advance or just sit there and pay to upgrade on the train when they come round to check tickets. Upgrade costs vary dependent on the length of your journey, starting from £15 and I think going to about £25/£30. I’d say it’s worth it for a longer journey.

I used to do this all the time but apparently you can only do it weekends!

Just be wary that if there is any shortage of seating, they won't accept on-the-day upgrades. I was on a train where the previous train had been cancelled, and the whole train was packed including first class; there were some people hoping to upgrade but they couldn't because they had to honour the pre-booked tickets first.

The few times I’ve been on a train and first class seats were available there was an announcement on the train saying people had the option of purchasing first class seats if they wished, I never did so don’t know what they charged.

Thank you all for the additional information, particularly on Avanti.