What is the expected product in the reaction of hydrogen chloride with allylbenzene?
I've searched SciFinder for this and related reactions (allyl benzene + H-X). In the results, there are no examples of the halide at the benzylic position in the product, and there are many examples of the halide at the secondary postion arising from the more substituted end of the alkene. One such example is below.



It is certainly warranted to consider both the direct addition and the product from rearrangement (since a resonance stabilized, benzylic carbocation would be formed as an intermediate), and if one were performing the experiment in the lab, it would be a good idea to look for both products. It seems that in practice, the addition of halide to the secondary carbocation is faster than the hydride shift. Predictions about kinetics like this are very difficult, and exam questions that require them could be considered unfair unless there is an overwhelming and predictable rationale for one product over another.