Tom Box
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#94288
VIA is offering a new discount card. You pay $69 (plus tax) and
it gives you 25% off Escape or Economy fares for up to 50 corridor
trips in a 120-day period, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
Saturday. Or you can pay $119 plus tax and get 40% off.
If you choose today (Sept 15) as the first day of validity, then
the card expires in 120 days on Jan 12. Even if you choose a
later start date, the card expires on Feb 2 at the latest. I
don't know if that end date will roll forward, or if this card is
just an experiment that will end on Feb 2.
This discount cannot be combined with any other offer that requires
a discount code. I'm not sure if this card can be used to reduce
the fare below the usual minimum of $20 plus taxes. I don't see
any mention of that point in the conditions on the above web page;
anyone considering this card as a replacement for the vanished
commuter pass should look in to that detail before buying.
Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
Terry
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#94289
It would be nice if VIA would do some promotionslike that card on The Canadian (not as many trips though) to try & bring up ridership in the off season.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On Thu, Sep 15, 2022 at 7:23 AM Tom Box <tbox@...> wrote:
VIA is offering a new discount card. You pay $69 (plus tax) and
it gives you 25% off Escape or Economy fares for up to 50 corridor
trips in a 120-day period, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
Saturday. Or you can pay $119 plus tax and get 40% off.If you choose today (Sept 15) as the first day of validity, then
the card expires in 120 days on Jan 12. Even if you choose a
later start date, the card expires on Feb 2 at the latest. I
don't know if that end date will roll forward, or if this card is
just an experiment that will end on Feb 2.See AlsoToronto → Vancouver Train: from US$420 | VIA Rail Canada | Busbudᐅ VIA Rail » Explore Canada by train: Routes, Companys, TicketsThe Best Way Travel from Taipei to TaichungTrain tickets and hybrid cars: understanding spending habitsThis discount cannot be combined with any other offer that requires
a discount code. I'm not sure if this card can be used to reduce
the fare below the usual minimum of $20 plus taxes. I don't see
any mention of that point in the conditions on the above web page;
anyone considering this card as a replacement for the vanished
commuter pass should look in to that detail before buying.Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
Tom Box
- All Messages By This Member
#94357
On Sept 15 I wrote:
> VIA is offering a new discount card. You pay $69 (plus tax) and
> it gives you 25% off Escape or Economy fares for up to 50 corridor
> trips in a 120-day period, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
> Saturday. Or you can pay $119 plus tax and get 40% off.
>
> If you choose today (Sept 15) as the first day of validity, then
> the card expires in 120 days on Jan 12. Even if you choose a
> later start date, the card expires on Feb 2 at the latest. I
> don't know if that end date will roll forward, or if this card is
> just an experiment that will end on Feb 2.
So far the end date is not rolling forward. It remains fixed at
Feb 2, which is now less than 120 days away. If you buy the
discount card today (Oct 9), a warning appears on Reservia saying,
"Please note that the validity period of the pass will be reduced
to 117 days." The price is not reduced to compensate for the
shorter validity period. It remains $69/$119, plus tax.
If the end date remains at Feb 2, then purchase of the card will
become less and less attractive as we approach that date.
Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
Tom Box
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#95061
On Sept 15, 2022 I wrote:
> VIA is offering a new discount card. You pay $69 (plus tax) and
> it gives you 25% off Escape or Economy fares for up to 50 corridor
> trips in a 120-day period, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
> Saturday. Or you can pay $119 plus tax and get 40% off.
>
> If you choose today (Sept 15) as the first day of validity, then
> the card expires in 120 days on Jan 12. Even if you choose a
> later start date, the card expires on Feb 2 at the latest. I
> don't know if that end date will roll forward, or if this card is
> just an experiment that will end on Feb 2.
It was an experiment that is ending. Yesterday was the last day
you could buy the card, and all outstanding cards will expire on
Feb 2. If you had bought one yesterday, you would have 29 days
to use it, not 120, but the price was not reduced.
The VIA web site now says, "We do not have discount cards
available for sale at the moment. We are currently working on
new products to better meet the current and future needs of our
passengers across the country. Stay tuned for different offers
in 2023."
Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
terryjohnson_canada
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#95062
The new reservation system in expected to launch this spring, so the sensible thing for VIA to do is reduce the number of moving parts beforehand to get the baseline system up, then other promised features like seat and meal selection will probably be phased in. Hopefully, there won’t be airline-style nickel-and-dime fees but based on the survey that was sent out last year I know they’re considering that.
Terry
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
From: Canadian-Passenger-Rail@groups.io <Canadian-Passenger-Rail@groups.io>On Behalf Of Tom Box via groups.io
Sent: January-06-23 12:27 PM
To: Canadian-Passenger-Rail@groups.io
Subject: Re: [Canadian-Passenger-Rail] New VIA discount card
On Sept 15, 2022 I wrote:
> VIA is offering a new discount card. You pay $69 (plus tax) and
> it gives you 25% off Escape or Economy fares for up to 50 corridor
> trips in a 120-day period, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or
> Saturday. Or you can pay $119 plus tax and get 40% off.
>
> If you choose today (Sept 15) as the first day of validity, then
> the card expires in 120 days on Jan 12. Even if you choose a
> later start date, the card expires on Feb 2 at the latest. I
> don't know if that end date will roll forward, or if this card is
> just an experiment that will end on Feb 2.
It was an experiment that is ending. Yesterday was the last day
you could buy the card, and all outstanding cards will expire on
Feb 2. If you had bought one yesterday, you would have 29 days
to use it, not 120, but the price was not reduced.
The VIA web site now says, "We do not have discount cards
available for sale at the moment. We are currently working on
new products to better meet the current and future needs of our
passengers across the country. Stay tuned for different offers
in 2023."
Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
Tom Box
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#99259
VIA is offering two new discount cards. One costs $159 + tax
and gets you 25% off the Economy fare (not the Escape fare) on
Quebec - Windsor corridor trains on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Saturday, and 15% off on Monday and Thursday. No discount on
Friday and Sunday.
The other costs $149 + tax and gets you 40% off Economy fare on
trains between Toronto and Windsor, Sarnia, Niagara Falls and
intermediate points, except on Friday or Sunday.
Both cards are valid for 40 one-way trips between August 26 and
December 14. As far as I can tell, this is a one-time offer
and the cards will just disappear after December, like the card
that was offered from Sept 2022 to Feb 2023. It's possible a
similar card will be offered after the current one expires, but
that's not guaranteed.
Tom Box
tbox at ncf dot ca
Port Hope, ON, Canada
Ms_Symplicite
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#99270
The old discount card was better overall. 40% vs 25% or 15% (so, saving the tax). And the price tag is more, too, comparatively speaking for less corridor trips.
This one, if I did the math right, would save me $3.15/trip (since I book out so far in advance). Meh. I can't buy a co*ke on board for that 'savings'.
Compared to my corporate discount or even CAA, the additional price I have to pay to get the discount that is at most 12% more, it's not really saving me that much, so I doubt I'll be buying it.
Cheers! J
