Train tickets without reservation!

[Ddakji]

I’ve just realised that the train tickets I’ve booked from Euston tomorrow don’t have seat reservations and it looks like I can’t change that. It’s a train going through to Macclesfield and Manchester.

Does anyone have any knowledge of where unreserved seats are likely to be? Any tips at all? I’m travelling with DH and DD (15) and I have the family railcard.

Is it Avanti? If so the unreserved carriage is U, the boards at Euston will show you where on the train it is and the reservation levels in other carriages.

Then when you get to Euston use the citymapper app to find out what platform you need (it will tell you before the boards do) and hang around the entrance to it so you can be one of the first on the train.

There is normally an unreserved carriage, but are you certain you cannot book seats online now or at the ticket office tomorrow.

Sometimes one carriage will be unreserved totally
The starting staff should know

but whatever - head as far up the platform as you can

on a Saturday at this time of year there is likely to be plenty of space

also many seats will have been reserved and will be empty - so grab unreserved seats wherever and then once departed look to see if any reserved from London seats are better located and free

Once you pay you cannot go back and reserve seats. You'll be fine.

assume it’s Avanti, you can now add seats if you go into the booking online and if not you 100% can call them and book some. I would do - those services are busy and often get cancelled which makes the next ones even busier!

Yes, it is! Thank you, this is super-useful.

Thank you - I’ll try giving them a call as I don’t seem to be able to do this online.

Can I do this if I booked via trainline.com?

If you don't manage to reserve, there should be a little picture on the platform screen like this which shows you which carriages have more reservations.

I do this route once a week, although the time and days vary. I will have reserved seat but if I get an earlier train (& more often than not I do) that reservation is then void.

I use "real time trains" which gives me the platform before it is displayed on the boards and usually hover around there with a few others.

We then get a head start before the crowds.
Coach C is unreserved, and on the 11 carriage trains it's C,G and U.

Usually plenty of time to get settled so even on busy, standing only trains I get a seat in the unreserved carriages. You won't have a problem especially on a weekend.

If you can afford it, you could go to Coach H which is usually Standard Premium. You can generally find seats there and it's much more comfortable than Standard (rebranded First Class carriage). You pay an upgrade when the Train Manager comes round to check the tickets. Costs me about £30 Glasgow to London. Not sure if I get a reduced rate because of my Senior Railcard.

Thanks! So is that picture saying that there’s unreserved seats in coaches L and M?

Thank you! Just rang Avanti and there are no reservable seats left so this is good to know.
Am I right in thinking the platforms are announced very late at Euston?

Very late. Then there is a stampede. First time I wondered what on earth was happening but learnt overtime how to get a head start. 😀

Download platform app…gives you the platform app before anything mentioned above… you are all very welcome 🤣🤣

This is what I thought which made me all the more flustered! I’m an intercity novice, hardly ever get them! But lots of useful info on this thread.

Is “real train times” an app?

Not sure if real time train comes as an app but I just Google it and it goes to the Web page.

Put the departing station in (london euston) and find your train. If the platform number is in grey, it might change last minute so keep refreshing. If it is in black, it's definitely that platform.
1, 13 and 14 are the favourite platforms although occasionally 6 is used.

Thank you again! Got that site bookmarked and have downloaded the CityMapper app as well.

Ahhh I think you have to have booked direct - sorry didn’t understand that. Worth a try calling though!

Thanks - I gave Avanti a ring and although they obviously couldn’t find my booking they were able to confirm there are no seats left to reserve! So at least that’s one option dealt with.

Sorry, saw you’d updated that you’d called.

Thanks ever so much for all the helpful tips and reassurance. Feeling much less stressed about it now!

You can sit in coach U which is where the unreserved seats are. I regularly get this train from. Euston and sears are regularly reserved but unused.

Thank you all again so much for your help- I used the apps/webpages suggested and we are now sitting at a table (which is super high tech, I must say).

MN at its best!