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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/joejarred on 2025-03-16 07:48:22+00:00.
Context: I was paying close to £600 a year for travelling 8 hour journeys on rubbish trains.
TL;DR - a lot of train companies will repay you if your train is delayed. So I started targeting tickets I predicted would be delayed to ride for free.
Some pretty brutal ‘all-dayers’ - but I’d use them as an opportunity to get a load of work done.
How to predict when a train will be delayed:
- Strike action
Strike action = staff shortages. RMT has to notify the public two weeks before they plan to strike. There is usually a knock-on effect lasting several days, before and after.
- Engineering works
You can monitor planned works online in real time.
- Weather
Snow, generally.
I started monitoring these risks, chose specific days when I knew there would be ‘trouble on the lines’.
The journeys were delayed every time.
All I had to do after was take a photo of my ticket, fill out an online form, and send it to Avanti for full refund.
Honestly I can understand why people would just want to pay and get there quicker, but depending on how expensive your long-distance tickets are, it might be useful.
Hope I don't get flamed in the comments for this. As far as I'm aware there's nothing illegal about doing this.
Edit: I go into detail here if more pointers are helpful: