At one point in my career I did occasional consultancy work for a company that paid First Class rail fare. Rather than travel Second Class and pocket the difference, I decided to try out the luxury.
I remember feeling young, too casual, and slightly out of place amongst the few older suits. And then, once the slight feeling of arrogance and superiority had passed, I remember the overwhelming feeling of puzzlement and disappointment.
On a reasonably empty train it really was difficult to work out what someone was paying a lot of money for.
It depends what train you are travelling on, of course. Travel back to London from Margate late in the evening and first-class is just a set of seats with different upholstery. We call it “Chav Class” because that’s where all the chavs sit, many with beer cans but no tickets. The ticket inspector does not dare interfere with them.
Travel to Paris on the Eurostar, and there is a very evident difference between first and “standard” class. I have used both. First is like something out of Agatha Christie: plenty of leg room, attentive service from stewards, breakfast brought to your table. (Curiously, with offers, travelling first is sometimes cheaper than standard…)
To really see the difference, try travelling on a packed Eursostar: the extra room in first then comes into its own.
When I go up North to visit my son, he always buys me a first-class train ticket. I enjoy it tremendously. Yes, it is much nicer than standard and I don’t just mean the endless supply of free coffee.
Journeys and trains vary immensely and with them the difference between first and standard class. If you haven’t been able to see why people would bother paying the difference, perhaps you haven’t experienced the nicer ones.
I can only afford standard normally, but if I could afford first class, I would certainly pay it on those routes where it was worth doing so.
That reminds me: I must check my Lotto ticket…
SilverTiger
I agree. My first class experiences have been limited and are a poor basis on which to make generalizations.