Not getting on the train?

moomi

Hi, we booked 4 return advance tickets through Trainline early December 2021 for travel this weekend to see family. 20 yr old son tested positive for Covid this morning 🙁 but we won’t travel without him as he has a long term underlying health condition that may deteriorate because of Covid and want to be with him. Obviously the tickets are non refundable BUT ive been told that if we don’t get on the train and it ends up being delayed, we then claim for the delay to recoup some of the cost. Is this true or would the train company know you didn’t get on because the ticket wouldn’t be checked by the inspector? I was just going to ring them and see if they had any sympathy for the situation. 

Cheeky maybe but as we say locally “shy bairns get nowt!” Thanks 😊 

lisyloo

If your train is cancelled you should be able to get a refund.
if it’s delayed you should be able to get compensation.
they won’t know if you’ve travelled or not.

daveyjp

If any of the trains are cancelled (highly likely given the weather conditions) and you choose not to travel you are entitled to a full refund.  Trainline may play hardball, but they are your consumer rights.

If a service is delayed and you claim delay repay for a service you didn't travel that's fraud.  The inspectors now scan e tickets so there is potential for a record of travel if that's what you are using.

MSE_James

To encourage people back on the trains during the pandemic, the rail industry has eased the normal rules on Advance tickets till 31 March under the 'Book with Confidence' scheme.

Trainline participates in this scheme but changes must be made by 18:00 the day before your booked train:

https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/latest-coronavirus-travel-information  

Whereas Trainline insists you swap to another booking for the same origin and destination, some train companies are slightly more generous - for example I had my Christmas travel booked via GWR (though we weren't travelling with that company) and though we had to cancel our trip due to COVID, I was able to get the value of the tickets converted to an e-voucher for use on any journey within the next year.

Although Trainline is the go-to choice for lots of people, it can often be cheaper to book on a train operator's own website (even if your journey involves multiple operators) as no booking fee will apply.

cheshirelabrador

Delay Repay is only supposed to be for instances of where you travel and arrive at your destination late. Delay Repay applications go to the operator who delayed you. If you decide not to travel due to a cancelled or severely delayed train then you are supposed to claim a refund/part refund for the unused journey. Refund applications go to the place of purchase.

If you're pretending you travelled and were delayed when you didn't, you may want to consider whether you would have passed through any ticket barriers, which would record your tickets as used. 

photome

as MSE James explained ticket bookings rules have been relaxed and Greater Anglia went a step further for me when we couldnt travel on 2 advance tickets in December, I got a full refund

moomi

Just rang trainline to see what the score is because we could rebook but realistically for us it can’t be until October,  it the tickets for them aren’t available. They are going to give us a full refund so happy days 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻