BritRail / InterRail Delay Repay

[hkstudent]

I am going to have some friends from Hong Kong going to visit me, and planning to do quite some train bashing, which the pass may give some good value.
In case of delay, is the delay repay scheme applies, or need to go through the customer service of the reseller / TOC for a lengthy claim process?

And for payment, since TOC no longer hand out cash, what way can they pay out the delay?

 

[Trainbike46]

I'd guess for interrail you would have to go through the process on their website https://www.interrail.eu/en/support/delay-compensation

Important to note in your case though, interrail is only available to european residents, so your friends might have to use the more expensive EUrail pass, or possibly the britrail (which I don't know much about, sorry)

 

[sonic2009]

As far as I know most TOC's offer Bank Transfer or Paypal as payment nowadays, in reference to Bank Transfer i'm not sure how this would work with international banks.

 

[Hadders]

Delay repay can be claimed as long as the delay reaches the particular threshold for the train company that caused the delay.

Delay Repay has never been paid out in cash, although for a short time some TOCs used to be able to exchange rail travel vouchers for cash as station ticket offices. All TOCs can pay out via a bank transfer.

 

[AlterEgo]

Delay repay can be claimed as long as the delay reaches the particular threshold for the train company that caused the delay.

Delay Repay has never been paid out in cash, although for a short time some TOCs used to be able to exchange rail travel vouchers for cash as station ticket offices. All TOCs can pay out via a bank transfer.

I am not sure TOCs will be able to pay international residents, especially those outside Europe, other than by cheque - and the cost of processing the cheque is borne by the receiver.

 

[biko]

If using Interrail or Eurail, it isn’t allowed to claim Delay Repay directly from the operator as far as I know. Delay compensation can be claimed from the Interrail/Eurail organisation if the delay reaches 60 minutes or more. In my experience this is a slow and complicated process, but eventually you get some money.

I am not sure TOCs will be able to pay international residents, especially those outside Europe, other than by cheque - and the cost of processing the cheque is borne by the receiver.

I claimed Delay Repay in the past in the UK as a Dutch resident. I chose PayPal as payment option and that worked fine. I should note that I claimed it only with Abellio TOCs, so maybe it doesn’t work for other TOCs.

 

[AlterEgo]

I claimed Delay Repay in the past in the UK as a Dutch resident. I chose PayPal as payment option and that worked fine. I should note that I claimed it only with Abellio TOCs, so maybe it doesn’t work for other TOCs.

That's good to know - I'd forgotten Paypal was an option for some TOCs.

 

[zero]

TOCs won't do a bank transfer to a non UK bank, and the bank fees would wipe out all of the money in 99+% of cases.

Some TOCs pay delay repay as a card refund, even if the ticket was bought using a different method, and I don't see why a Hong Kong card couldn't be used. (Note that Hong Kong bank cards that charge a foreign transaction fee, also charge it on refunds - so even if the exchange rate remains the same, a 100% delay repay will result in a refund of about 95%). HSBC Hong Kong offers a debit card which can hold a GBP balance.

I have used my UK bank account details for overseas relatives to claim. I did use a different account for each person - so don't know what would happen if multiple people put in the same bank details. (I offered to give them cash in their home currencies, but they let me keep the money.)

 

[hkstudent]

I'd guess for interrail you would have to go through the process on their website https://www.interrail.eu/en/support/delay-compensation

Important to note in your case though, interrail is only available to european residents, so your friends might have to use the more expensive EUrail pass, or possibly the britrail (which I don't know much about, sorry)

Good to know, though I think the 60-minute delay compensation is the minimum requirement set by EU law

 

[dutchflyer]

Since some 3 years EU and INterRail have the same pricing and validity, indeed before that EUrail was more expensive-mostly because for those between junior and senior it was only for 1st class.
There is only a chance of some money back if you gather at least 3 delays of over 1 hour whilst using the pass. Often not even worth the high effort to get it.
EU-rl is a better buy, if available, as I-Rl as it allows unlimited travel in all the 33 countries-I-Rl is only valid for 1 trip OUT and then 1 IN in home country. There was a recent note that in fact BritRail was far more expensive for longer terms as the global IR-pass!
This month there is a 10% discount off passes-starting date can be later (on new style mobile pass can leave till actual first day of use)

 

[jpl]

With BritRail I've contacted TOCs directly on several occassion with varying results. I've received rail travel vouchers, money through Paypal, and even a cheque. The calculated value I've received has differed greatly from below £1 to £25 per a train delayed. To me it is unclear how the repay is calculated for BritRail.

I got some eye as I exchanged the VTEC rail travel vouchers for beer on a LNER train.