Will my friends have to pay a full air fare for their child?

Q Here’s an interesting one for you, and I’m not sure of the answer. A couple of my acquaintances booked a flight for themselves and their under-two infant. The airline cancelled the flight, so they now have to move to a date when their child will be two years old.

Can the airline charge them more for a normal fare rather than the infant fare? Or must the original contract be honoured?

Jamie B

A I imagine lawyers could have a profitable time arguing about this. Does the airline have a legal duty to transport the family without additional cost because its cancellation resulted in the youngster slipping from the low-cost category of “infant” to a much more expensive category, which could cost the same as the parents are paying? Or is it just tough luck during tough times for the travel industry?

My sense, and possibly yours, is that morally the family should not face a financial penalty as a result of the airline’s actions. But legally, the carrier may be able to argue that the family is getting a different product: an actual seat for the infant, which they wouldn’t have had while the child was under two. Therefore, the airline will say, it is right that they pay for it.

There is no legal precedent that I know of for this particular set of circumstances. Happily, whatever the lawyers decide, and the airline’s terms and conditions say, is moot – at least assuming the flight is from a UK (or European Union) airport, or on a British or EU airline anywhere in the world.

Air passenger rights rules mean that the cancelling airline must provide an alternative flight on the original day, at its expense, even when that involves buying a new ticket on a rival carrier. So they will be able to take advantage of the infant fare.

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Q Which is your favourite London bus ride for scenery?

Name supplied

A London’s buses provide far more value than simply getting passengers from A to B. The vast majority of them are double-decker, providing an excellent way to see the capital for just £1.55 per ride, with contactless payment, Oyster, or visitor Oyster card.

My top choice for the top deck depends on your definition of scenery. For the most varied selection of townscapes, parkland and a river crossing, it has to be the X26 – the double-decker that covers a very long and winding journey between West Croydon and Heathrow airport. The 24-mile journey is the only frequent express service in the capital, speeding past all but a few bus stops on its journey through the suburbs of southwest London.

From the top deck, there are some real treats: shortly after crossing the Thames at Kingston, you can peek over the wall of Bushy Park to view a huddle of deer in the royal park where, in 1944, General Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings. Later, you parallel the northern runway of Britain’s busiest airport.

But perhaps, for you, scenery equals sights. In the centre of the capital, the number 11 from Liverpool Street station is the prime cut-price alternative to official sightseeing buses. It takes you through the City of London – past St Paul’s and the Old Bailey – then along Fleet Street to Trafalgar Square, where it cuts down along Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

One final benefit of the London bus network: you can even get a second journey free if you board another bus within an hour of “touching in” on the first (you still have to touch in with your card, but your second journey will not be charged). So you could hop off the 11 at the Aldwych for any of the many buses that run south from there across Waterloo Bridge, the single greatest Thames crossing in the capital.

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Q It’s my understanding that if you have any rail journey planned (even with connections and multiple rail companies), ultimately, if you’re late, you can claim Delay Repay on the whole lot.

I recently travelled from London to Dunblane via Edinburgh. A short delay on the train to Edinburgh meant I missed my connection. I had nine minutes to spare, but the train from London was 10 minutes late. As a result I was ultimately an hour later than planned getting to my final destination. Can I claim Delay Repay for the trip?

Tim J

A Unfortunately, you have stumbled across the concept of minimum connecting times for trains. I fear it is not even worth bothering to try to pursue the matter: any claim would be rejected because the minimum connecting time at Edinburgh Waverley is 10 minutes.

Yes, the Scottish capital has a big, complex station, but even so I reckon you or I could comfortably get from the wrong end of a distant platform to the central area from which the Dunblane trains depart in four minutes or less. Furthermore, the public timetable tends to be more pessimistic than the “working timetable” – which is what the railway expects to happen.

Were I to catch the 8am on a weekday from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, I would expect to arrive at 12.18pm (two minutes earlier than the published timetable suggests). That would give me four minutes to reach the 12.22pm departure to Dunblane, arriving in the town at a convenient 1.12pm – just over five hours after leaving the English capital.

In some nations, in particular Germany, this could well be an advertised connection. But that is not how the UK railway industry sees it. LNER, the main train operator on the east coast main line, will sell me a good-value ticket on the 8am from London to Edinburgh and onwards to Dunblane. But the time LNER quotes is an hour longer.

So the way to view “beating the system”, in the manner that you and I would like to do, is as a bonus when it works; when it doesn’t, because of a small delay, all you can do is accept that you are in an extremely good location for spending an hour: as the station is right in the heart of Edinburgh, taking a walk north or south will be rewarding.

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