Travel question: Can I claim my hotel costs after a scheduled delay?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Plains, trains and automobiles: time to look at alternatives routes in Birmingham (Getty)

Q I’ve just been notified that a flight I’ve booked back to Birmingham in August has been put back by just over an hour. It will make it touch-and-go about whether I can catch the last train or I will have to book a hotel. If it is the latter, will the airline pay – or will I just have to accept it?

Name withheld

A Airlines always retain the option to adjust timings to suit them. This summer many schedule changes are taking place, largely as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max after two tragic crashes. With hundreds of planes taken out of the system, some airlines are having to shuffle their fleets and stretch their resources to cope.