Rail enthusiasts know all too well the struggle of boarding a train without a seat reservation, facing the prospect of standing for hours.
But travel guru Chelsea, known as the ‘Cheap Holiday Expert’, has shared a game-changing tip after she and her partner James were booted off their train at Preston Station due to a cancellation.
Despite securing seats on another service, they lost their reservations. In a TikTok video, James reveals their clever solution: “Go to Twitter, now X, and chat to Avanti West Coast,” with Chelsea adding, “Or whatever network you’re on.”
He recounts his conversation with an Avanti representative named Kim: “I’ve been chatting to Kim from Avanti, and I was like ‘Kim, train’s cancelled, what do I do now? ‘ and she said ‘Get the 16:18’ and I was like ‘Can you get me a seat reservation on that? ‘ and she’s like ‘sure, here you are. Seat D3 and D4’.”
The couple then anxiously awaited the train to see if their travel hack worked.
As they later headed to catch their new train they got nervous seeing the crowded platform with people queuing to get onto the train.
“Oh my god, it’s so busy,” Chelsea noted as they arrived at the platform. “I really really hope this seat reservation hacked has worked.”
But much to their luck, Chelsea and her travel companion were astonished to find their seats reserved all the way to Crewe, ensuring they had a comfortable journey despite the crowded train.
“There’s no way we would’ve gotten a seat without [the hack],” Chelsea remarked.
One social media user responded, “I’ve always been told they can only do it if there’s more than an hour/2 til the next one (GWR),” prompting Chelsea to reply, “Will depend on what network, but Avanti have always been very on it for us! Always worth a punt! ! ”
They also confirmed that the hack will work on other social media platforms as well, as long as the train company has an active account.
Another viewer chimed in with insider info: “I work for Avanti support service, just a warning they sometimes (a lot) turn off the seat reservations depending if they think the service will be that busy, but definitely worth a go.”
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