Today I tried to book my journey from Morpeth to Paris for this coming June. The Eurostar website does not let you book through from Morpeth, only from Newcastle. But I wanted to use one of the direct Virgin trains from Morpeth to London. I couldn’t find any website that lets you book from Morpeth to Paris, so had to book my tickets separately. But it’s really important the Morpeth – London ticket is endorsed “London CIV”. This means, should the train be late or cancelled for any reason, you are entitled to get the next available Eurostar train. But the Virgin East Coast website, which I normally recommend, does not allow you to book to London CIV. Why not, I wonder? Eventually I found a firm that does – RailEasy – but this means booking charges, credit card fees and no wifi for the Virgin leg of my journey. As if anticipating my frustration and complaint, a surprise email from Virgin told me I was being given 3 months complimentary 1st Class Lounge access – sadly only from the date of my return journey, not from the outward one. Nevertheless, thanks very much Virgin, though improvements to your rail booking engine would be welcome too. I really do want to use your site – it’s just you don’t let me do what I want to do.
