Seatfrog query

[les.]

I am travelling to London on Friday and I am thinking of bidding for a First Class upgrade on Seatfrog.

My query is that my connecting train is a TPE, and at the minute their trains are often cancelled at short notice. If my connecting train was to be cancelled and I missed my LNER upgrade train what would the situation be. Would I be able to claim a refund or would it just be hard luck and I've lost my money, as if that's the case I probably won't bother.

 

[Watershed]

I am travelling to London on Friday and I am thinking of bidding for a First Class upgrade on Seatfrog.

My query is that my connecting train is a TPE, and at the minute their trains are often cancelled at short notice. If my connecting train was to be cancelled and I missed my LNER upgrade train what would the situation be. Would I be able to claim a refund or would it just be hard luck and I've lost my money, as if that's the case I probably won't bother.

Seatfrog's FAQs say:

My train was cancelled
Ack. There's nothing more disappointing but sometimes these things can't be helped. The good news is that our agreement with our rail partners is that if your service is cancelled you may be able to use it on the next available service. You will need to confirm with the Train Manager that they're able to accommodate you. If you're not able to use the upgrade you can apply for a refund by contacting the rail operator. Remember to include both your original ticket as well as a copy of your Seatfrog upgrade receipt.

Which does not seem terribly helpful. Contractually, and from a consumer and rail passenger rights perpsective, if there is space in First Class on the next train, you should be entitled to travel in First Class without needing to pay anything extra. But clearly some operators may take a different view. It may be the case that you are forced to pay for a new upgrade and then have to claim this back afterwards.

 

[les.]

That just covers if my actual LNER train is cancelled, not if I miss the connection. I have looked through their t's&c's but can't see anything that covers missing the connection.

 

[Watershed]

That just covers if my actual LNER train is cancelled, not if I miss the connection. I have looked through their t's&c's but can't see anything that covers missing the connection.

The principle is the same.

 

[philthetube]

is your journey on TPE less than half an hour before you board the LNER train , if not you can wait.

 

[AY1975]

Another thing that I wondered about Seatfrog is if you are making a journey that involves either two or more trains of the same operator (e.g. Sheffield to Kettering with East Midlands Railway changing at Leicester; Bristol to Nottingham with CrossCountry changing at Birmingham New Street or Derby) or trains run by two participating operators (e.g. Scarborough to York with TransPennine Express then York to London with LNER or Grand Central; Bristol to Birmingham with XC then Birmingham to Carlisle with Avanti), can you still bid for an upgrade on Seatfrog, and if so can you just bid for one upgrade for the entire journey or do you have to bid for separate upgrades for each leg of the journey?

 

[Skiddaw]

Based on my experience (Avanti from Penrith to Wolverhampton and XC from Wolverhampton to Reading, and back via Birmingham NS) I've had to bid for seperate upgrades. May be missing a trick however....

 

[Watershed]

Another thing that I wondered about Seatfrog is if you are making a journey that involves either two or more trains of the same operator (e.g. Sheffield to Kettering with East Midlands Railway changing at Leicester; Bristol to Nottingham with CrossCountry changing at Birmingham New Street or Derby) or trains run by two participating operators (e.g. Scarborough to York with TransPennine Express then York to London with LNER or Grand Central; Bristol to Birmingham with XC then Birmingham to Carlisle with Avanti), can you still bid for an upgrade on Seatfrog, and if so can you just bid for one upgrade for the entire journey or do you have to bid for separate upgrades for each leg of the journey?

You have to bid by train.