MONTREAL—Beginning Nov. 18, VIA Rail Canada is introducing long-promised improvements to its booking system by offering a calendar view of pricing on adjacent days and online seat selection for Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor customers.
Those are some of the changes VIA announced this week in a press release, which also outlines a revised — and complicated — baggage policy, in which some carry-on items are assessed a $25 fee based on fare type purchased rather than class of service.
With the new website’s additional functionality, the company is overhauling VIA Préférence, its frequent traveler program. Unlike its Amtrak, airline, and hotel counterparts, VIA’s version does not have an arrangement with a credit card provider in which points can be earned on non-VIA purchases. However, it is now expanding the scope of opportunities, like baggage fees, eligible for members to “earn or burn” points.
Booking and baggage changes
The ability to easily compare pricing on adjacent days is a function airline ticketing sites have long mastered but Amtrak’s has not. VIA’s new platform will also allow on-line trip modifications as well as seat selection, and boarding passes can be saved on Apple and Android smartphone wallet apps.
Offering downloadable grid timetables for trip comparisons and destination information would also be a welcome addition, but VIA has not revealed whether they will be available.
Regarding baggage, passengers on every train may bring a small personal item (maximum size: 17 by 13 by 6 inches) and one carry-on item, but rules get quite complicated after that.
In the Windsor- Quebec City corridor, the first carry-on may only be of “medium” size (25 by 16 by 12 inches). A second “large” (30 by 19 by 12 inches) bag costs C$25 (about $18 U.S.) for passengers who buy Escape, Economy, and Economy Plus fares (coach class), but for business class travelers, the first bag can be “large” and the second bag is free.
On long-distance and regional trains in addition to the personal item, passengers traveling on coach fares may only bring one “medium” bag. Counterintuitively, for Touring, Sleeper Plus, and Prestige passengers, that may only be a “small” bag. “NO ADDITIONAL CARRY-ON BAGGAGE (IS) PERMITTED,” the advisory boldly explains, because “passengers are entitled to checked baggage” on this service. Thus, Prestige patrons traveling four nights aboard the Canadian should be prepared to wear many of the same clothes before and after their showers unless they are permitted to visit the baggage car en route.
If there is a connection to corridor trains, two “large” suitcases can be checked: $25 per item for coach, but bags are free for Sleeper Plus, Touring, and Prestige travelers.
If there is no corridor connection, coach passengers can bring three “large” bags at $25 each; sleeper passengers get two “large” bags free, and can pay $25 each for two more. Got that?
It isn’t clear how or if VIA will be modifying its pet carriage policy, which is complicated enough as currently described.
VIA “Préférence”
Redemptions on the company’s frequent-traveler program now require a fixed number of points determined by route and class of service. On Nov. 18, that will change to a system similar to Amtrak Guest Rewards, where the amount of points needed is tied to the price of each ticket.
The number of VIA Préférence points require, “will vary depending on multiple factors, including date and time of travel, route (departure and destination), and fare class,” according to an advisory sent to program participants Monday.
The company has published a 23-page, side-by-side comparison showing how the new program’s terms and conditions vary from the existing one, but here are the main differences:
— Points will now be awarded for all travel purchases and “eligible items,” which include baggage fees, pet carriage, and lounge passes, not just fares. However, Canada’s additional Harmonized Sales Tax or Goods and Services Tax (HST/GST), variously assessed depending on the province of purchase, are not included. Points also can’t be earned on group fares, souvenirs, or food and beverages purchased on board.
— Similarly, VIA Préférence points can be redeemed for the above eligible items, not just fares. But applicable taxes will have to be paid with a credit card or cash (similar to U.S. security fees on airline point redemptions).
Transition period set
VIA says its existing mobile app will be deactivated on Friday Nov. 17 “until the new version is ready.” The current website will be shut down that day at 7 p.m. EST; launch of the new site is set for 22 hours later, on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. Trains will be operating as scheduled during the period but no reservations or online changes can be made except through VIA’s call center at (888) 842-7245.
Trains News Wire will analyze the changes once the website and app launches occur.
If they really want me to drive, this is the way to do it.
Just because a railway van be like an airline doesn’t mean that it has to be.
“Can”… Fat-fingered typing!
You’ll have to wear so many layers of clothing you won’t be able to put your hands together, as for underwear I suppose you could get by wearing two layers & turn them inside out. For the big $$$ they charge slpr patrons they could allow at least one medium bag.
Got all that, ey? Perfectly understandable, mais oui.
I have to admit the world is changing, including railroads. Time was you could show up at the train station without a reservation, and board the train with a canoe, lots of luggage, and a crate of chickens. Didn’t much matter because there were just a handful of passengers in each coach.
Now the trains are fewer but full, seats are assigned on the website, you need a boarding pass, checked baggage is restricted, and carry-ons have to fit the template. And so it goes. Welcome aboard, fasten your seat belt.
Good luck/Bonne chance dear VIA!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün