Delay repay and cross country today.......

[Scousemouse]

ok, I'm not sure if this is honest or not but its tempting.

Due to to be travelling from preston to plymouth.

Currently have standard class reservations (open ticket) :

1617 Preston - wolverhampton
1641 wolverhampton - birmingham new street
1807 birmingham new street to plymouth

I know the 1807 is going to late as it hasnt even left edinburgh yet. I suspect on getting to new street it will not only be chaos but heaving and my chances of making the reserved seat are going to be slim (middle of carrriage)

If I upgraded to first class when I get to preston, will I be able to use delay repay to get my money back? I would not normally afford first class but it seems a decent way to chance getting a comfortable seat with a 10 minute FC reservation.

 

[Romilly]

On principle, if you upgrade at a time when the train is already running late, I cannot see how the upgrade element of what you have paid can be eligible for delay repay unless the train is delayed by at least 30 minutes more than it's already predicted to be delayed at the time you upgrade. And if you were to claim delay repay for the upgrade payment without explaining that you made that payment at a time when the train was already delayed, there must be a risk that you would be considered for prosecution for the offence of obtaining a monetary advantage by deception.

But the short answer is: as you're not sure it's honest, the only safe course is not to do it. Effectively, you have answered your own question.

 

[Hadders]

Given how CrossCountry make up delay repay rules there can be no certainty of them paying out, even if it is officially allowed.

 

[yorkie]

In principle I see no issue putting in a claim for the total sum of all tickets used for the journey, including the upgrade, but not it was your intention to only obtain the upgrade purely because of the likelihood of being delayed.

On the other hand if you upgraded because it was not possible to reach your seat, or if seat reservations were not in place, or if it was always your intention to upgrade, then it should be paid IMO.

But if a delay is known before a ticket is purchased, and it was possible to buy before that point, operators can refuse to pay delay compensation, though they may choose to do so for customer service reasons.