I do book early, as much as three months ahead. I use whatever discount can work for me on that day. I use discounts all of the time. I really enjoyed your videos I would appreciate any savings you may be able to offer on the berths. Thanks and keep those videos coming.
Booking Advance works if you're traveling for pleasure. In most parts of the world, trains are seen as a practical mode of transportation for commuting & regular intercity travel for things like school, work or visiting family. These are things that you can't really plan in advance. VIA and their crazy pricing structure doesn't seem to understand that and their pricing is geared towards the Leisure Traveler or business travelers where cost isn't an issue. This is ironic considering they're part of the government and the government keeps talking about reducing emissions and encouraging people to take public transport which is not possible when pricing is prohibitive like that.
A dream scenario of mine was saving Bombardier by ordering dozen of trains to make for reliable and frequent inter-city trains. And then all of this gets charged on one single Opus card where you can load up titles or just pay by use with a monthly bill that combines the train, the buses and the metro/tram.
Your videos are amazing!! Took the VIA Rail from Toronto to Ottawa and the journey was really pleasant. Thanks so much for this tip, on my way back to Toronto 😁
I´ve heard Canadian friends say VIA rail is slow and rickety, but Amtrak is really not any better. I got a friend and Halifax, Nova Scotia. If I can get a good excuse to go to Canada, I´d love to ride from Halifax to Montreal. I´m a fan of the Canadian music scene, especially on the hard and heavy side. I´ll just get myself a supply of food and drinks, and enjoy the scenery, like slow ass Amtrak going west of the Mississippi river. The VIA rail ticket prices are more than Amtrak, but not really that much more.
Very nice, helpful, and informative tips! Was wondering if you had to time to do a short five minute taste testing review with me at glory hole donuts on August 16 at 6pm? Have a wonderful day beautiful lady😘😘😘 xox
I remember, when I lived in Ottawa many years ago, always waiting for a Tuesday evening to book when I knew I had to go somewhere, and would get a 10% discount. I wished, as a broke student, that there would have been a 'Savings Class' mimicking the budget airline model, where a high-density 3+3 layout with city bus seats was used, fees for all bags, and consequently, $8 tickets. But I could tell it wasn't their style, and still isn't... Despite its shortcomings as a rail service, it still beat the Greyhound bus, hands down.
While I wish high-speed rail was in the works, the dedicated tracks proposal and trains every 30 minutes on the MTL-OTT-TOR triangle, if built, would be a MASSIVE improvement in service.
@@A_Canadian_In_Poland I lived in Ottawa. I could never find any discounts on Tuesdays for routes like Toronto or Montreal. Even when there were discounts the prices were ridiculously high compared to Greyhound. Frankly the comfort of the Greyhound buses wasn't too bad and they beat VIA on everything from pricing, ticket flexibility, and schedule/frequency.
Which is completely ironic since they (and the government that owns them) won't stop talking about encouraging public transportation and reducing emissions and saving the Earth ...yet... they are doing nothing to make it possible.
With airplanes it’s a bit trickier, pay attention to their high/low season and special offers. But it helps to check far in advance to see which months/dates are cheaper! E.g July-Sep are in general more expensive. Starting Oct-March prices go down. I believe Feb is among the cheapest months to fly. Also try different combinations for dep and return, as depending on the exact day you fly the price can differ by 10-30% sometimes.
Thank you for your videos. I'm traveling this October 2023 - Winnipeg to Churchill. Are you aware if they offer Tuesday discounts for this exact route? I'm volunteering to work there for a few weeks and every penny saved helps.
You're welcome! I'm not aware of any discounts specifically for this route. The discounts are usually published on Tuesdays so we wouldn't know beforehand. I would subscribe to their mailing list so each Tuesday you can see if there's something useful for you. Good luck!
Thanks for watching! The seats are the same, as far as I know. The difference is just the fare class (escape fare being cheaper) and differences in return and exchange policy. Read more here: www.viarail.ca/en/plan/fare-comparison Cheers!
Booked tickets to Ottawa for the end of March (2024). The Discount Tuesdays included Business Class as well.
Sign up for their email and they will give you deals. If you want a special, call an agent on a Tuesday. You don't need to travel on a Tuesday.
I do book early, as much as three months ahead. I use whatever discount can work for me on that day. I use discounts all of the time. I really enjoyed your videos I would appreciate any savings you may be able to offer on the berths. Thanks and keep those videos coming.
Thank you, glad that the videos were useful! I haven't made that trip so far, but would keep that in mind!
Never traveled through via as of now, but I was considering it for the future and those tips are very useful! Will definitely keep them in mind!
It's quite comfortable traveling with viarail!
Booking Advance works if you're traveling for pleasure. In most parts of the world, trains are seen as a practical mode of transportation for commuting & regular intercity travel for things like school, work or visiting family. These are things that you can't really plan in advance. VIA and their crazy pricing structure doesn't seem to understand that and their pricing is geared towards the Leisure Traveler or business travelers where cost isn't an issue. This is ironic considering they're part of the government and the government keeps talking about reducing emissions and encouraging people to take public transport which is not possible when pricing is prohibitive like that.
A dream scenario of mine was saving Bombardier by ordering dozen of trains to make for reliable and frequent inter-city trains.
And then all of this gets charged on one single Opus card where you can load up titles or just pay by use with a monthly bill that combines the train, the buses and the metro/tram.
It's indeed very expensive! The prices don't make sense.
Your videos are amazing!! Took the VIA Rail from Toronto to Ottawa and the journey was really pleasant. Thanks so much for this tip, on my way back to Toronto 😁
Thanks, I'm glad it was useful!
Thanks for great tips. I'm Japanese and planning to visit Canada this summer. I'll check your videos.
Thank you!
I´ve heard Canadian friends say VIA rail is slow and rickety, but Amtrak is really not any better. I got a friend and Halifax, Nova Scotia. If I can get a good excuse to go to Canada, I´d love to ride from Halifax to Montreal. I´m a fan of the Canadian music scene, especially on the hard and heavy side. I´ll just get myself a supply of food and drinks, and enjoy the scenery, like slow ass Amtrak going west of the Mississippi river. The VIA rail ticket prices are more than Amtrak, but not really that much more.
Interesting, thanks for sharing that! Yes unfortunately that's true. VIA rail is pretty slow!
Very nice, helpful, and informative tips! Was wondering if you had to time to do a short five minute taste testing review with me at glory hole donuts on August 16 at 6pm? Have a wonderful day beautiful lady😘😘😘 xox
Thanks again for the invitation to collaborate. I'm not available around that time, but I wish you a lot of fun in Toronto!
Thanks and your welcome beautiful lady😘😘😘 xox
Have you tried buying Discount Tuesday tickets before? Have you taken VIARAIL before, and how did you like it?
I remember, when I lived in Ottawa many years ago, always waiting for a Tuesday evening to book when I knew I had to go somewhere, and would get a 10% discount. I wished, as a broke student, that there would have been a 'Savings Class' mimicking the budget airline model, where a high-density 3+3 layout with city bus seats was used, fees for all bags, and consequently, $8 tickets. But I could tell it wasn't their style, and still isn't... Despite its shortcomings as a rail service, it still beat the Greyhound bus, hands down.
While I wish high-speed rail was in the works, the dedicated tracks proposal and trains every 30 minutes on the MTL-OTT-TOR triangle, if built, would be a MASSIVE improvement in service.
@@A_Canadian_In_Poland I lived in Ottawa. I could never find any discounts on Tuesdays for routes like Toronto or Montreal. Even when there were discounts the prices were ridiculously high compared to Greyhound. Frankly the comfort of the Greyhound buses wasn't too bad and they beat VIA on everything from pricing, ticket flexibility, and schedule/frequency.
Always enjoy your videos great information Thank you
Via rail pricing does not make sense. It costs the same as airplane ticket or sometimes more, total craziness
It's actually really expensive.
Which is completely ironic since they (and the government that owns them) won't stop talking about encouraging public transportation and reducing emissions and saving the Earth ...yet... they are doing nothing to make it possible.
The reason it costs more is because of the extra staffing. More staff need to be paid for a longer period of time.
If you're in the military theres a 25% discount
I don’t travel economy class. I do sleeper class. Via preference will greatly discount your travel if you make use of their tier system
I've never tried that, thanks for the info!
No sleeper class in corridor tickets...you aren't needing to be so high n mighty on stuff you obviously didn't know
great tips. book early and travel on tuesdays, u think this applies to airplanes also?
With airplanes it’s a bit trickier, pay attention to their high/low season and special offers. But it helps to check far in advance to see which months/dates are cheaper! E.g July-Sep are in general more expensive. Starting Oct-March prices go down. I believe Feb is among the cheapest months to fly. Also try different combinations for dep and return, as depending on the exact day you fly the price can differ by 10-30% sometimes.
Which one is good
Thanks Sweetie!!
If I’m buying 2 tickets will the discount code still work on Tuesday?
I'm not aware of any restrictions/limit for tickets, I hope it does!
What's the difference between escape and economy seating
It's basically the fare and the conditions (whether you can return or exchange tickets, with escape being the far more restricted option)
Thank you for your videos. I'm traveling this October 2023 - Winnipeg to Churchill. Are you aware if they offer Tuesday discounts for this exact route? I'm volunteering to work there for a few weeks and every penny saved helps.
You're welcome! I'm not aware of any discounts specifically for this route. The discounts are usually published on Tuesdays so we wouldn't know beforehand. I would subscribe to their mailing list so each Tuesday you can see if there's something useful for you. Good luck!
Thanks for the video! What’s the difference between escape fare and economy plus?
Thanks for watching! The seats are the same, as far as I know. The difference is just the fare class (escape fare being cheaper) and differences in return and exchange policy. Read more here: www.viarail.ca/en/plan/fare-comparison
Cheers!
@@LivinginCanada ahh i see! Thanks for the info!
Any experience about ticket cancelation and refund process for economy plus ?
No, did not have to cancel so far, luckily!
@@LivinginCanada No problem, thanks for reply . Have a good day.
If you are Military or Retired Military there is a special discount for you.
That's good to know, thanks!
What year u talking about we in 2023
This video was posted in 2022.
The train is way more comfortable than Bus or Plane.
The train is indeed comfortable! If it were just faster (and cheaper :D), it would be perfect!
Click bait BS… but I guess it’s a woman, can’t do math right…