to think Seat Frog has ruined First Class Rail travel

[Goldfsh]

I've paid extra for First Class train tickets for the last few years for three reasons: my mobility has been very decreased and I'm unable to stand for long (but unable to qualify for a Disabled Railcard); my immune system is also shot so I appreciate that it's more spacious; and I can work on my laptop. Basically I pay because it's quieter and cleaner.

Over the last month or so, every time I've travelled the First Class carriages have been full with families, especially young babies and children and OMG ALWAYS listening to ipads and phones without headphones - and I suspect this is because of apps like Seat Frog that buy out the First Class fares and offer them cheap.

First Class travel is pointless IMO if it's as noisy and full of noisy families. Is there any point to it if this is the case? Has anyone else noticed this lately?

What makes you think these people can’t afford full price tickets just like you do? What a weird post.

So if the first class tickets remain unsold this Seatfrog sells them off for cheap? As opposed to them being left empty presumably.

That sounds like quite a good idea. I do think they should have adults only sections and quiet sections though.

Peace & quiet...
isn't that what the Quiet carriage is meant to be for?!

Why you think you’ve got more money than the other people in First Class? Why wouldn’t the other people have just paid for more expensive seats just like you do?

Seatfrog would not be that cheap for a family surely? But agree, that would drive me mad, i would say something

First class travel is available to anyone who pays the fare, that's how you qualify for it. So YABU to be moaning that you don't like certain demographics being there, they have as much right as you do. But people of any age listening to anything without headphones is antisocial in any class of travel and you're definitely not being unreasonable about that. I really wish people could be removed from the train for it!

One quiet carriage does not mean every other carriage is 'noisy' carriage

Families are also allowed to be in first class, it’s not adults only. If I were you I would book in the quiet carriage

Obviously people who aren't in sirst class should have to put up with this behaviour instead then? People in cattle class don't like these things any more than you, and seat frog still costs more money than a normal cattle class ticket.

Well it's made it better for me because I couldn't afford it before 😄 I think it's a bit of a leap to assume these families couldn't have just afforded the normal ticket price really.

I take my dd first class.

She has hospital appointments regularly, I can't drive due to my own health, she gets disability payments to make her life more comfortable, and this is what we spend some of it on.

Suspect away, but your snobbery is showing.

Your only valid complaint is not using headphones, but that's a problem everywhere, not just first class, and the train staff will deal with it if you ask them.

If people are being antisocial then ask them to switch off the noise or complain to the train manager. Book quiet carriage.

I've travelled first class with a child because it's MUCH easier in less crowded carriages and with bigger seats. Not via Seatfrog, I wasnt organised enough. Just as much right to do so as anyone else.

I really dislike people listening to iPads or their phones without headphones, it's hugely antisocial, not least because if you've booked your seat in advance you can't necessarily get away from them. This applies to all passengers anywhere on the train.

But anyone who has paid for the First Class ticket is entitled to sit in that carriage - their money is just as good as yours. Anti-social behaviour isn't dependent on how much has been spent on their journey.

I don't think for a moment that people don't have a 'right' to travel First Class for whatever reason, but it's generally quieter and used by business travellers (and quite a few physically disabled people) - the influx of a noisier demographic is very sudden over the last couple of months.

Maybe instead of travelling by train with all the oiks, you can hire a limousine or even a private jet

Even if you pre-book seats, Standard Class carriages are often overbooked because of cancellations or missing carriages, so plenty of people these days (especially families with young kids who will obviously not want to risk standing up with a six-year-old for four hours or not being able to get seats next to each other) book First Class simply because it’s where they’re much more likely to get the seats they booked. Or they buy Standard Class tickets and then upgrade on board, not through Seat Frog, because there are no suitable seats left in Standard.

In any case - peace and quiet isn’t what First Class claims to offer. What it’s supposed to offer is refreshments and someone to serve them to you along with comfier seats and more leg-room, not silence and no children. If you want a quiet journey, you need to book a seat in the Quiet coach.

I agree that people shouldn’t be watching stuff without headphones; it’s annoying. But it’s got fuck-all to do with the price they paid for their ticket. People with a lot of money aren’t somehow nicer and quieter than people without it.

I travel at commuter time so haven’t noticed this. What I have noticed which I do find annoying is that quite a lot of people sit in first class and ask for an upgrade if they get checked, which fairly often they don’t. This is actually not supposed to be allowed, you’re supposed to get the upgrade first at risk of being charged a penalty fare. Maybe if they managed that better the tickets wouldn’t need to be quite so extortionate. And don’t get me started on all the men standing in the vestibule so the doors keep opening and closing just so they can charge through the carriage on arrival, holding up the passengers who actually paid to sit there.

But why do you think ‘noisier’ equates to ‘less well-off’?

Annoying I agree but you’d need to ask the ticket inspector to ask them to turn it off or use headphones

In general though, first class is usually more peaceful

I presented my Seatfrog for scanning recently and the ticket inspector called it a “scourge”. I don’t disagree.

I often take my kid in FC.

I sometimes travel alone in FC.

Anyone who uses devices without headphones, whatever class, should be ejected from the train. It should be the equivalent of smoking in an enclosed space.

My kid thought for many years that sound didn’t work on trains. He’s now old enough for headphones.

I always travel first class on train - whether on my own for work or with my family (3 kids). I also travel business class on planes on the same principle. Sorry. Not sorry.

Excellent Seatfrog advertisement 👍

On the train line where I usually travel, there is a quiet carriage available, and it's usually very calm and quiet.