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In what I’ve (hilariously…) decided to dub ‘Train Tuesday’ here at InsideFlyerUK, we have more train related news for you this morning (I sincerely doubt this is going to be a regular feature – no need to panic!).
I’m not entirely sure how new this is, but I was just booking some train tickets and noticed that Virgin East Coast are now offering free internet when you book direct.
The process is very simple – book directly through the Virgin East Coast website and they will email you an internet code to use on your journey. Just make sure you have opted in to receive marketing emails.
The big hotel chains have worked hard for years to encourage direct bookings (loyalty programmes, best rate guarantees etc) because of the big slices that online travel agencies like Expedia and booking.com take out of their profit margins. I’ve not really noticed it much in other areas of the travel industry before, but it does make sense, and I imagine we’ll see more of these sorts of perks cropping up to incentivise booking direct.
You can also earn Nectar Points (2 per £1) or Virgin Flying Club Miles (2 per £1) by booking directly on the Virgin East Coast website. Neither option is anywhere near as good as the old East Coast Rewards programme, but better than nothing.
I use the route quite a bit, so any improvements like this are fine by me!
Hi Joe – I have a quick query, if you don’t mind? My husband uses the East Coast route a lot & had only been collecting Nectar points up to now as it says on the website it’s an either/or with Virgin Atlantic miles? (Not both)
I would be very interested to hear if you have managed to get both & if so how it is done?
Thanks so much for all the extremely helpful articles on Inside Flyer – Naomi C xxxxx
Hi Naomi,
Unfortunately, the only tip I can offer on this occasion is that I should clearly have a coffee before proof reading my articles! My mistake and the article has been amended to show the correct information – it’s either nectar or virgin, not both.
I’ve been meaning to properly crunch the numbers on what the best way to book trains is for a while now, and will write a post if I find anything interesting
Also, thank you for reading and your kind words!
Ah thx so much for speedy reply Joe! I would be very interested in any further posts re train travel, as you said the Nectar points are pretty poor value compared to the old East Coast Rewards scheme? My husband also got a code for 1 free return ticket as a ‘Xmas present’ from Virgin but that’s about it? They do sometimes offer double value redemptions on future journeys so if I spot that again, I will of course let the community know! xxxxx
They seem to email you at least one internet code – last time they sent me one email with 2 codes in, then 3 more emails each with additional codes! May just have been a glitch around launch though