Making that last minute dash for a train only to discover you’re running low on phone battery is always a pain.
It is even worse when you find out the plug socket in your carriage is out of action.
But a travel expert has revealed why you should not despair and resort to looking mournfully out of your window.
Thankfully Mark Smith, the founder of popular train website Seat 61, has revealed how to ensure you’re charged for the whole journey.
A travel expert has revealed the biggest mistakes commuters are making on their journeys into work
Mr Smith, who has previously worked for British Rail and the Department for Transport, here is a chance you can get a faulty plug socket up and running by asking a member of train crew.
The travel expert continued: ‘It’s worth asking staff as sometimes it’s just tripped out and can be reset.’
But his number one piece of advice would be to always carry a full-charged power bank with you for your journey.
Mark said: ‘Most newer trains have power sockets but some older ones like the local trains on my local line don’t, so a power bank is key as our phones are now our tickets, camera, camcorder, notebook and even on occasion a phone.’
His other top tip for train travel is to try and book ahead for inter-city rail tickets to get the best deals, but Mark also warns of booking too far ahead, saying that a month or two, or even a few weeks prior to journey is ideal.
He adds: ‘It’s often best to book directly with the relevant operator as there’s then no booking fee added and sometimes there may be extra features such as seat selection from a seat map.’
It comes after a content creator claimed that a train fare hack was able to earn him an upgrade from standard to first class for just £37.
Mr Smith, who has previously worked for British Rail and the Department for Transport, said that his number one piece of advice would be to always carry a full-charged power bank with you for your journey
Taking to Instagram, Olly Bowman shared how he was able to sneakily bag a free upgrade on a journey from Cornwall to London.
Instead of opting to pay £100 to upgrade to a first class ticket, Mr Bowman simply paid £37 to be able to access the on-board buffet car, which was available on his journey with Great Western Railway.
Posting to Instagram, Olly wrote: ‘New travel hack unlocked.
‘So we started off, it was like a rammed train, just full of people and we thought we’d go to the restaurant.
‘And then we walk up to this restaurant and the lady’s like “are you sure you’re meant to be here” and we were like “oh we were just gonna get some food’.
‘And we find out you can either pay a minimum of £100 to upgrade your ticket, or you can just pay £37 which is to eat at the restaurant.
‘They say you can just stay there the whole ride so you just sit in first class in the comfortable seats, you can move your bags up there…they actually allow you to just stay there the whole time once you’ve bought that.’
However, Olly did mention you would be required to eat a ‘minimum of two courses’ – which are included with £37 fee.
However, whether you would be able to even start your meal is another matter in itself, as the Great Western Railways website reveals.
A content creator has claimed a train fare hack was able to earn him an upgrade from standard to first class for just £37
It says: ‘Customers holding a First Class ticket can reserve their Pullman Dining table up to two weeks in advance of their journey’.
‘For customers in Standard Class, please speak to the Pullman Dining restaurant manager when boarding and we’ll be happy to accommodate you subject to availability’.
The buffet car on GWR services is available on journeys lasting longer than 50 minutes from Monday to Friday except for bank holidays and does not operate during ‘exceptionally busy periods’ at other times of the year.
There is no guarantee whatsoever that you would be able to access the first class part of the train for less than the cost of a first class ticket – should every passenger in first class want to make of the dining facilities themselves.
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