Taking the Virgin Train to Scotland

Three weeks before my travel, I purchased my ticket to Scotland through the Virgin Train website, and got a pretty good fare: GBP 80 for return tickets. 

Browsing online, there were several options for purchasing ticket to Edinburgh but I’ve always thought it better to book direct. I booked through the Virgin Train website, which offers some advantages:

• It allows you to select the Quiet Coach (which is Coach B), if you don’t want be in the regular coach(which can be quite noisy, as per the reviews I have read).  They cost the same, by the way. 

• It also allows you to choose not only window or aisle seats, but also seats by the table, or seats with electrical socket (which are usually window seats). 

• You will be given complimentary wifi for the whole trip duration.  Tickets purchased through other mediums only get 1 hour complimentary wifi.

• If you’re lucky you get to receive an email a week before the trip, saying you can upgrade to Business Class for only 20 GBP (I received one!) which would come with lounge access, food, reclining seats, more legroom and morning paper.

So, I opted for the Quiet Coach, and window seat, and thought about upgrading to business class.

I was excited for this tour well, because finally…alone time, and my first time in Scotland!  I woke up early, and left excitedly to Paddington station.  From Paddington , I took the Circle Line to get to King’s Cross station, which is the terminal for Virgin Train.  King’s Cross is a big station, so my friend advised me to leave before 6 AM to catch my 7 AM trip. From the underground platform, I had to get out of the Kings Cross St. Pancrass underground station and followed the sign to the King’s Cross station. At the station, there are terminals where you can print your boarding pass, if you haven't had them printed yet. 

I waited for 10 minutes and then it was boarding time. I was looking for the staff as I wanted to avail of upgrade to business class however, there was no one- which was a good thing because I found that there were not that many passengers.  I had all 3 seats to myself.  On another thought, going business class would have been an experience in itself…oh, well…

Ready for the 4.5 hour ride!

Scotland, here I come!

PS: You may book your tickets here.