What if I missed my flight due to rail delay?

[Kryten2340]

This is a hypothetical question hence why I'm posting here and God forbid it doesn't become reality but in a couple of weeks I'm travelling to Manchester Airport from Newcastle for a flight to Munich. The flight isn't until 1pm and we've left ample time by getting a 7am train at Newcastle but who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

 

[First class]

You would be responsible. Best you could hope for is for some vouchers meeting a percentage of your rail fare.

 

[yorkie]

who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

TPE are 'responsible' for getting you to Manchester Airport station, but are not 'responsible' for getting you to Munich.

TPE will pay you delay compensation for your train journey (the flight is irrelevant) if the delay was considered to be the 'fault' of the railway industry (claim form here)

You would need to pay for any replacement flight tickets, and you can put the delay compensation towards the cost.

So, if it's an expensive flight and a cheap train ticket, it may be worth travelling several hours earlier than you need to!

(If you do not wish to spend several hours in Manchester in future, you could consider Eurostar, to benefit from CIV protection)

 

[Zoidberg]

The railway is contracted to get you to your destination and it may pay you an amount of Delay Repay style compensation if you are delayed, but it is not responsible for any other fall-out from the delay.

That is what Travel Insurance is supposed to cover.

EDIT: I type too slowly. Most of what I've said has already been said.

 

[yorkie]

One huge benefit of making a journey wholly by rail is that the rail industry does not penalise people for missing connections (providing the connections are valid ones, of course), and pays relatively very generously for delays of typically only 30 minutes.

This benefit is, sadly, often overlooked when comparisons are made between using rail exclusively and a combination of modes including air.

 

[ainsworth74]

Yup for this kind of thing travel insurance is a must. I believe there is something in the NRCoC which states that TOCs are not liable for any costs incurred due to a delay beyond the compensation for the delay.

 

[AM9]

The railway is contracted to get you to your destination and it may pay you an amount of Delay Repay style compensation if you are delayed, but it is not responsible for any other fall-out from the delay.

That is what Travel Insurance is supposed to cover.

EDIT: I type too slowly. Most of what I've said has already been said.

And you should not have any problems in claiming from any respectable travel insurance that has cover for missed flights, especially if your journey to the airport was by scheduled public transport with an adequate allowance for delays before last check-in time.

 

[lincolnshire]

This is a hypothetical question hence why I'm posting here and God forbid it doesn't become reality but in a couple of weeks I'm travelling to Manchester Airport from Newcastle for a flight to Munich. The flight isn't until 1pm and we've left ample time by getting a 7am train at Newcastle but who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

Leaving on 07-08 Newcastle to Manchester Airport has you down as arriving at 10-10, leaving you just 50 mins spare for your 2 hours before departure at 13-00 to Munich.
I would be tempted to be on an earlier train as your flight will have cost a lot more than the cost of your train tickets and are you flying with Easy Jet? I don,t think they will want to know you if you miss your check in time limit because the train was late. Choice is yours I know what I would do, be on the train an hour beforehand instead. That,s my views.

 

[najaB]

And you should not have any problems in claiming from any respectable travel insurance that has cover for missed flights, especially if your journey to the airport was by scheduled public transport with an adequate allowance for delays before last check-in time.

The only thing is that you often need proof that the delay occurred. A printout from NRES may not suffice, but happily your delay repay letter probably will!

 

[Bald Rick]

You get exactly the same compensation as you would if on your return journey, the plane is late and you miss your (advance ticket, specified) train home.

 

[ainsworth74]

Well on TPE if it's an advance from Manchester Airport you can use any train up to three hours after your booked train (subject to get an endorsement from Airport station ticket office). But generally you are of course correct.

 

[dk1]

Yeah as said earlier, refer to your travel insurance. Eurostar frequently tweet this out. Most TOCs just state that they are will not compensate for lost expenses over & above for the like of concert tickets.

 

[me123]

One huge benefit of railway travel is that the rail industry does not penalise people for missing connections (providing the connections are valid ones, of course), and pays relatively very generously for delays of typically only 30 minutes.

This benefit is, sadly, often overlooked when comparisons are made between air and rail!

To be fair, probably most airlines don't penalise you for missing connections. British Airways and Virgin certainly don't, and will happily book you onto the next available flight if your inbound flight is delayed (assuming of course that you're flying with them or a partner airline, as the vast majority of people will be in these cases). Aer Lingus was great for me when I encountered a delay a while back, and booked me onto the next flight to Edinburgh when I missed a Glasgow connection. I suspect you're thinking about the likes of easyJet and Ryanair.

For the OP, I suspect you would have to go through your travel insurance if there was a problem, and ensure that you had left sufficient time. Both Lufthansa and easyJet recommend checking in (or dropping your bag) 2 hours prior to scheduled departure (for you, 11am), so the 7am train should be sufficient as it arrives ir probably arrives just after 10am. A recent policy I took out offered compensation for a missed departure that would cover this scenario:

Cover for alternative transport costs if you miss your outbound departure if, after leaving home, your vehicle becomes undriveable due to a mechanical breakdown or your public transport is delayed...[and]...you have allowed sufficient time to check-in as shown on your itinerary.

I would take that to mean, as long as your train would deposit you at the airport to meet the airline's recommended check in time (in this case, 2 hours before, as you will be in this scenario), you should be covered.

I'm surprised that TPE aren't more helpful with regards to this. I know their Airport Advance tickets do help you with regards to a return train if your flight is delayed, however I'm surprised that there's no help whatsoever if they're late on their end. I do wonder if codeshare flights with train companies could be an option for this? Clearly, some short flights aren't viable or environmentally friendly, and perhaps codesharing on some routes could be an answer? For example, Lufthansa could serve the Glasgow-Munich market via a codeshare with TPE. Your first "flight" would be a Glasgow-MIA train, connecting onto the plane. It would give passengers security in their tickets whilst opening up routes to new customers. I'm sure this happens elsewhere; don't Air France codeshare with TGV services?

 

[najaB]

To be fair, probably most airlines don't penalise you for missing connections. British Airways and Virgin certainly don't, and will happily book you onto the next available flight if your inbound flight is delayed (assuming of course that you're flying with them or a partner airline, as the vast majority of people will be in these cases).

If your flight is with a non-partner airline however, or booked on a separate ticket they will do very little for you.

 

[crehld]

Clearly, some short flights aren't viable or environmentally friendly, and perhaps codesharing on some routes could be an answer? For example, Lufthansa could serve the Glasgow-Munich market via a codeshare with TPE. Your first "flight" would be a Glasgow-MIA train, connecting onto the plane. It would give passengers security in their tickets whilst opening up routes to new customers. I'm sure this happens elsewhere; don't Air France codeshare with TGV services?

I believe SBB in Switzerland codeshare with several airlines. I flew with Swiss for my last trip and was able to book the flight and onward train transfers all as one journey.

 

[me123]

If your flight is with a non-partner airline however, or booked on a separate ticket they will do very little for you.

True, but I suspect that this applies to relatively few people. Most people transfer at major hubs, and with the size of many airlines (BA at LHR, for example) and the three huge alliances, the vast majority of journeys can be done on a reasonably priced through-fare with the one airline or group of airlines.

For example, if I'm flying to New York from Aberdeen (where no direct flights exist), I'd have a choice of BA, Virgin, Lufthansa, KLM or Air France. There would be no benefit in me, for example, flying to LHR on Virgin and changing to BA - it would be more expensive and it would risk the problems we've been talking about. I can't imagine that there would be many scenarios in the modern world where you couldn't get a through ticket to your destination. And for the relatively few that there are, your travel insurance will likely cover this even if the airlines do not (assuming of course that you leave plenty of time for the transfer).

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is a hypothetical question hence why I'm posting here and God forbid it doesn't become reality but in a couple of weeks I'm travelling to Manchester Airport from Newcastle for a flight to Munich. The flight isn't until 1pm and we've left ample time by getting a 7am train at Newcastle but who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

You have travel insurance, I assume? If not you should consider taking some out, it is generally not expensive. It usually covers missed departure due to failure of public transport unless you take a very cheap policy - as ever read your policy document before you take it out and if it doesn't suit find another. (Almost nobody does this, absolutely everyone should).

Neil
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Leaving on 07-08 Newcastle to Manchester Airport has you down as arriving at 10-10, leaving you just 50 mins spare for your 2 hours before departure at 13-00 to Munich.

No European airline check-in closes two hours before departure, that's a complete myth. Planning to arrive by public transport 2 hours and 50 minutes before the flight is more than adequate and far more than I ever bother doing.

Only once have I missed a flight (and I've taken about 150 to 200 in my life), and in that case the train was so severely delayed I wouldn't have made it even if I had left an additional 2 hours (and it was delayed on plain line rather than in a station as the south WCML service had collapsed for some reason, so bailing to a taxi was not an option).

Neil

 

[me123]

No European airline check-in closes two hours before departure, that's a complete myth. Planning to arrive by public transport 2 hours and 50 minutes before the flight is more than adequate and far more than I ever bother doing.

True. Check-in usually closes 30-60 minutes prior to departure. However, for your travel insurance to be a valid claim, you have to allow time for any delays. As I've already quoted above, my previous insurance only covers you in this situation if "...you have allowed sufficient time to check-in as shown on your itinerary...".

Airlines will generally give you a recommended time (in this case, 2 hours), and I strongly suspect that this is what the insurer will define as being "sufficient time". So, whilst you generally will not need that much time and probably wouldn't do so otherwise, I think in this case you'd have to play by the insurer's rules to make sure that, if the train is delayed, you are covered.

 

[Bletchleyite]

True. Check-in usually closes 30-60 minutes prior to departure. However, for your travel insurance to be a valid claim, you have to allow time for any delays. As I've already quoted above, my previous insurance only covers you in this situation if "...you have allowed sufficient time to check-in as shown on your itinerary...".

Airlines will generally give you a recommended time (in this case, 2 hours), and I strongly suspect that this is what the insurer will define as being "sufficient time". So, whilst you generally will not need that much time and probably wouldn't do so otherwise, I think in this case you'd have to play by the insurer's rules to make sure that, if the train is delayed, you are covered.

Fair point - however 2 hours and 50 minutes as suggested is more than enough.

Neil

 

[Agent_c]

This is a hypothetical question hence why I'm posting here and God forbid it doesn't become reality but in a couple of weeks I'm travelling to Manchester Airport from Newcastle for a flight to Munich. The flight isn't until 1pm and we've left ample time by getting a 7am train at Newcastle but who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

You should have adequate travel insurance, that covers delays to the airport. Presuming you do, the Insurance company is.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Leaving on 07-08 Newcastle to Manchester Airport has you down as arriving at 10-10, leaving you just 50 mins spare for your 2 hours before departure at 13-00 to Munich.
I would be tempted to be on an earlier train as your flight will have cost a lot more than the cost of your train tickets and are you flying with Easy Jet? I don,t think they will want to know you if you miss your check in time limit because the train was late. Choice is yours I know what I would do, be on the train an hour beforehand instead. That,s my views.

What used to be an hourly direct First TPE service from Newcastle to Manchester Airport has now been changed to just a few daily ones and the majority now terminating in Liverpool.

What are the earlier such direct trains than the 0708, if any?

 

[Bantamzen]

I'd agree with others and say that TPE are no more responsible in getting you onto your booked flight than say a pre-booked airport taxi is. You could easily find yourself in a similar situation if in a taxi heading down the A1 and you get stuck behind an accident, unable to leave it until it clears. This is why travel insurance, and especially one that covers delays is a must.

The best thing you can do on the day is be up early, keep an eye on how things are running between Newcastle & Manchester up until your service is under way (and perhaps during as well). But hopefully you will arrive at the airport in plenty of time to breeze through security and have enough time for a pre-flight beer!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

What used to be an hourly direct First TPE service from Newcastle to Manchester Airport has now been changed to just a few daily ones and the majority now terminating in Liverpool.

What are the earlier such direct trains than the 0708, if any?

The 07:08 also involves a change at York, so with this in mind the OP has earlier choices of trains at 05:25, 06:03 and 06:45 with a similar number of connections.

 

[me123]

I'd agree with others and say that TPE are no more responsible in getting you onto your booked flight than say a pre-booked airport taxi is. You could easily find yourself in a similar situation if in a taxi heading down the A1 and you get stuck behind an accident, unable to leave it until it clears. This is why travel insurance, and especially one that covers delays is a must.

I didn't mention it above, but my own insurance policy does not cover you if your delay on the road network is caused by heavy traffic in any circumstances, presumably also covering taxis. I assume that this is because, whilst public transport runs to an advertised timetable and it is reasonably easy to prove that 1) you had sufficient time and 2) the train was delayed, this is less easy to do so by road.

So, in fact, the OP is better off on a train because at least his travel insurance should cover him if there are any problems (assuming that his travel insurance is similar to the ones I've used in the past).

 

[DelW]

If you check in online and carry hand baggage only, the recommended 2 hours is normally way more than is needed. You only need to allow for security check (usually 20 min max except at peak times), and time to walk to the gate before it closes, usually around 10 minutes before departure. When I commuted between London and Scotland every week, I aimed to arrive at the airport car park / hire car return an hour before flight time and was never even close to missing the flight. Of course familiarity with the terminal layouts and likely queue times helped.

Of course airports like pax arriving early, the only things to do are eat, drink, shop, etc....

 

[cf111]

This is a hypothetical question hence why I'm posting here and God forbid it doesn't become reality but in a couple of weeks I'm travelling to Manchester Airport from Newcastle for a flight to Munich. The flight isn't until 1pm and we've left ample time by getting a 7am train at Newcastle but who would be responsible if there were major delays on the rail network and we missed our flight?

The answer is supposed to be "tough, you're on your own", but I have seen ScotRail Guards move heaven and earth to try and fix things for people who have flights in jeopardy due to an Inverness-Glasgow/Edinburgh train suffering a severe delay, including putting people in taxis from Inverkeithing to Edinburgh airport.

It's really good to see, I can certainly never accuse them of hiding in the back cab when things are going wrong.

 

[berneyarms]

Arriving at an airport two hours in advance of departure is MORE than enough for any flight, and anyone suggesting that someone with a connecting train that arrives two hours and fifty minutes beforehand is cutting it fine and that they should re-examine their trains (as several people did above) is really stretching things beyond belief.

If I am checking in luggage, I generally aim to be at the airport 90 minutes before a flight departs (which incidentally is what Dublin Airport recommend). That allows sufficient time for security, shopping (if I wish) and for a snack.

The whole two hour thing is a complete myth - it is a ploy by the airports to get people to the airport early and to spend money there - that's the only reason.

With hand luggage only (and checked online), I (as someone who takes around 30 flights per annum) would suggest 60 minutes is suffice for a person travelling alone or with other adults. With luggage to check in, 90 minutes is suffice.

Obviously if you are travelling with children then you would allow additional time over and above this.

However, if travelling from significantly further afield, as the OP is, adding in an extra buffer is essential. For a journey such as the OP's I'd leave an additional 60 minutes cushion to allow for delays, which leaves them arriving 2.5 hours in advance.

The OP's train arrives 2 hours 50 minutes before the flight leaves - that is MORE than enough time.

 

[hwl]

Missed my (work) flight this morning from Luton as TL cancelled 2 successive trains so spent 80 minutes waiting at St Pancras (very early in the morning) with the cancellations announced just a few minutes before hand in the case of the second train. (Several cabs worth of passengers would have gone for the alternative option if this cancellation had been announced earlier.

We will now go back to flying out of Heathrow or City and occasional Gatwick and often stay overnight (almost same price as cab to the airport) as well to guarantee "being there" in the morning instead of risk the only early flight available from Luton.
Luton security is a shambles compared to the other London Airports so even more time needs to be allowed and often more passengers than fit on the bus arrive at Luton Airport parkway adding extra delay if you have to wait for the next transfer bus to the terminal. (Luton security takes longer than seat on train to seat on plane at Heathrow!)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Luton security is a shambles compared to the other London Airports so even more time needs to be allowed

Pay 4 quid (has it gone up to 5 yet?) and jump the queue. On a business flight where you've saved by going easyJet it is absolutely worth it.

and often more passengers than fit on the bus arrive at Luton Airport parkway adding extra delay if you have to wait for the next transfer bus to the terminal. (Luton security takes longer than seat on train to seat on plane at Heathrow!)

As above.

Neil

 

[northwichcat]

Most travel insurance covers failure of public transport or failure of motor vehicle you were travelling in to get to/from the Airport causing you to miss a flight.

 

[WelshBluebird]

While not air related, FGW once paid for a taxi for me because a severe delay on one of their services caused me to miss a coach I was due to catch (and the delay was long enough that I had also long missed the last train and last bus to my final destination). They did not have to do it, but the fact they did was very generous.