Travelling by train in Ireland is a decent enough experience. Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail for the english speakers, operates throughout the country and most trains feature standard class and first class. There is an upgrade trick you should know about though.
It is possible to get a first class ticket for a cheaper rate than the online fares would suggest. It’s hidden on the website, so only those in the know will realise it’s there.
Tickets on Irish Rail
Finding tickets on the Irish Rail website is quite easy. You pop in your origin and destination, your travel date and off you go. On a trip from Dublin Heuston to Cork, you would see something like the below.
-
- Three or four fare types are usually available.
I would usually book the cheapest fare, as I don’t think paying an extra €32.50 for first class is worth it. However, you can get it much cheaper than this.
The Secret Upgrade Trick
Once you have purchased your cheap ticket for €21.49, you then need to book a second time. Go back to the main page of the website, enter your origin, destination and dates, then click Free Travel Pass or Valid Ticket.
-
- You can find it under the dates.
When you do that, you will get a pop up. Part of the pop up says, “Customers who have a valid standard class ticket but wish to upgrade to First Class should also use this section”. And so we shall!
-
- Here is the pop up – you need to tick the box and then Continue.
Once done, you’ll be back at the main page, so click on the orange Go button and it will display a new set of results. It is similar to before, but with one difference.
-
- Here are the First Class upgrade tickets!
You will see that the upgrade is being offered for €12.50, which is a saving of €20.00 over the usual price. I think that is quite good value really and well worth doing. When I was doing this, it said “No availability” and showed no trains, so I just selected the day before and went back again and it worked just fine.
Overall Thoughts
First class on Irish Rail has three different variations. On services on routes like Dublin to Limerick, it is called Premier Class. For the route between Dublin and Cork, it is a more elevated product called CityGold. The secret upgrade trick works on both of these types of trains.
Those travelling to Northern Ireland will be on the Enterprise train. You will be pleased to know that the same method works for this service between Dublin and Belfast as well.
Did you know about this upgrade trick on Irish Rail? Will you use it now you know about it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image by William Murphy via Wikimedia Commons.
That is pretty cool. Very nice to see good travel tips here instead of the sensational news some other blogs are peddling. This is the kind of useful stuff I look out for.
Thanks for the kind words – glad you found it useful!
I’m just curious what the actual difference is in terms of amenities, seating, etc. between the low fare and 1st class? My husband & I will be taking the train from Dublin to Cork (and back the next day) and I’m not sure which type of fare to get.
The seating is usually two on one side and a single on the other side for the Cork Services in first class, versus two by two on the low fares. It’s a quieter cabin as well as less people book it. Full details are here – https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/rail-fares-and-tickets/first-class-travel – you’ll want to go for the CityGold services.
Thank you! However the only options I see are low, semi-flexible, and flexible. Does this mean the premier is sold out, or unavailable?
Actually I think I answered my own question. From Cork we are going on to Midleton. Cork-Midleton doesn’t offer the1st class option, so I need to book them separately. Thanks again!
Yes, that’s right! Have a good trip!
Hi, Trent! Three brothers and their wives are traveling to Dublin, Galway, Dingle, and back to Dublin (total 6 days, 5 nights), April 2023. We will need two trains on the front and back ends. 1. Is this upgrade tip to first class still valid? 2. Would you recommend advanced purchased tickets for this size group, especially wanting first class? 3. Since we would like to make the train ride part of the sightseeing experience, what is your recommended route coming from Dingle (leaving from Killarney, Farranfore or Tralee)? FYI: We live in/near US in cities that do not require… Read more »
Hi Kerry Anne! Yes, the upgrade button now comes up on the second page, once you have put in your route and the amount of people. I would book as far in advance as possible as you’ll then get the Low ticket category which is cheapest to book into for the economy tickets. There is generally only one route from X to Y in Ireland, so it’s really a moot point on which routes are more scenic, as the scenery will be determined by where you’re going from / to. I hope everyone has a wonderful trip, you will enjoy… Read more »
Does this also mean that one can book a low fare ticket and upgrade it to a flexible ticket for no cost at all?
Well it’s not no cost 🙂
Hmm, but it seems like there’s only a cost if we upgrade to a first class ticket (12.50 Euros in the example above), but upgrades to “Semi Flexible” and “Flexible” are listed at 0 Euros. I’m not sure if I’m missing something?
I believe the zero price things are just that, zero price tickets that people use when they get free travel. It does not actually change an existing ticket from Low to Flexible for example, so you can’t use it for that.
Ahhh okay, thanks for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it!
Hi Trent! Would you recommend booking online in advance on irish rail or just go to the station? My trip to Dublin is about a month away and I’m interested in going for 1 night to Galway. Should I book the train now? Currently at 28.98 euro for semi-flex one way. Only drawback is booking the exact time.. don’t know how my energy levels will be!
Hi Hana! I usually book online, but you can just go to the station if you wish. I wouldn’t think the price would change that much in the next few weeks. You might as well just see how you are on the day. If you are going for only one night, you’d probably want a morning train though. Have fun!
[…] having discovered what actually seems to be a well-documented workaround to ‘upgrading’ at a fixed, very reasonable price, I’ve taken a few trips in ‘Citygold’ – Irish Rail’s […]
Cool trick, are the upgrades capacity controlled? I could see them closing the loophole or just making upgrades not available while full price F tickets remain available just like the airlines.
You would think they’d have to be, as there are only so many first class seats. I can’t see them controlled from a revenue management perspective though. Anytime I’ve ever been in first class on an Irish train, there are always tons of free seats, so most people don’t pay for it. Thanks for the comment!