During the last 6 months, over 25,000 East Midlands Railway customers have taken advantage of the Seatfrog app to provide them with an upgrade to First Class and a saving of 60 per cent on the price of a 1st Class ticket.

East Midlands Railway has entered a partnership with the seat bidding app ‘Seatfrog’, which allows customers to bid for a First Class upgrade. It costs nothing to bid for an upgrade, and tickets are sent straight to customers’ phones. Since East Midlands Railway launched Seatfrog, 25,510 customers have taken advantage of the service.

The Seatfrog app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. It allows customers with Standard Class tickets to bid to upgrade to First Class from just £13. Bids can be submitted from between 24 hours in advance to 30 minutes before the train is scheduled to depart, and customers can also purchase an instant upgrade once they are on the train.

Upgrades using the Seatfrog app are available on selected services, both peak and off-peak, on East Midlands Railway’s Intercity route between London and other Intercity destinations, including Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield, and East Midlands Parkway. The number of upgrades available on any particular service will depend on the expected passenger volumes in First and Standard Class carriages.

To bid for an upgrade. customers need to open the app and either enter their booking reference or use Seatfrog’s convenient train search feature. Seatfrog will then display what upgrades are available for their journey, following which customers select the number of upgrades they would like to bid on and set their price for each upgrade. There is no charge to place a bid, and there is no limit to the number of bids that customers can place.

If a customer’s bid is successful, Seatfrog will notify them, process their payment, and issue a First-Class upgrade barcode directly to their phone.

Simon Pready, Commercial Director at East Midlands Railway, said, “Seatfrog is proving to be very popular with customers who want the flexibility to upgrade to First Class on short notice and bid for tickets at a price they are willing to pay.

“In fact, more than 25,500 people have taken advantage of the app, with the average savings over the past six months being 60 per cent.

“If you are travelling with us and considering First Class, please take the time to check it out – you could get a bargain.”