Delay Repay compensation on long delays

Recently, an interesting case was reported in a newspaper of someone who made a journey from London to Glasgow and was delayed by around five hours on the outward leg. His return journey was on time.

It seems, having paid £122.50, that he was really annoyed when he only received £73.50 in compensation, because he knew the rule that if you are delayed for two hours or more you get all your money back on a return.

What he had misunderstood was that you do indeed get a 100% refund of a return ticket - but not on singles making up a return journey.

He had bought a £73.50 Off-Peak single plus, for the return, a £49 Advance single. He maintained that as he had bought them together as part of a return journey, that counted as a return. It doesn’t.

The irony is that had he bought an OP Return in the first place (£147), then he would have got it all back. But by buying singles each way, it cost him £49.

Delay Repay is becoming standard across the country, with only a few operators yet to use it, but it’s worth reminding readers of the rules.

If you are delayed 30-59 minutes you receive 50% of a single ticket or 25% of a return. If you are delayed 60-119 minutes you receive 100% of a single or 50% of a return. However, if you’re delayed 120 minutes or longer you get 100% of a single or 100% of a return. So, you only gain more for being two hours late if you have a return ticket.

One thing to ponder is whether or not the rule will change if we move to a singles-only fares structure. Might the rule change to allow (say) 150% of a single for a delay of two hours or more? I doubt anyone has given that any thought as yet.