How to Book Via Rail Tickets Online?
By Emma Martin | Published on 23 Aug 2023
If the horror stories of hours-long layovers, lost luggage and last-minute cancelled flights have kept you from travelling much this year, why not book VIA Rail tickets and spend your summer exploring Canada by train?
Train travel can take longer than flying. However, consider how much time you waste in airport check-in lines, as well as unpacking and repacking your bags as you go through airport security.
And on a plane, forget about wifi and data. But on a train, you can work, relax, or catch up on emails. If you cannot fly private, take the train.
Train travel is a comfortable, affordable and practical alternative to crowded flights. You also avoid long drives, car mileage, gas, and sleepy drivers. All aboard the train! Here we go!
What is VIA Rail?
Established in 1977, VIA Rail was Canada’s first-ever national passenger rail company. Today, VIA Rail is a comfortable, convenient and scenic way for tourists and locals alike to get around, offering routes to popular destinations across the country.
Via has adventure routes to more remote regions of northern Canada. Passengers can travel all the way across Canada via the Great Western Way, which stops at all major cities between Vancouver and Toronto.
The Ontario-Quebec Route gives travellers easy access to the major hubs along the Quebec-Windsor corridor. Finally, travellers can enjoy a stunning trip from Montreal to Halifax via The Maritime Way, with stops in Moncton and Bathurst.
How to book VIA Rail tickets online
Begin at the VIA Rail homepage. Clicking on ‘Plan your trip’ will open up a new menu with links to information on specific inquiries. Here you find:
- where to find a train station
- view all routes
- baggage informaton
- a sign up for train alerts.
Booking your trip
Enter your departure and arrival dates. If you just need a one-way ticket, click ‘no return, thanks’ instead of entering your return dates. You can tell the search engine how many days you’d like to spend travelling.
If you want a multi-citiy itinerary, click the multi-city option. Via takes you to a new page with the option to add up to 6 segments to your trip.
Do you have any discount codes? Enter them in the space beneath the number of passengers.
Via is reintroducing the rail pass system in the fall of 2022. Once you enter your travel information, click ‘Search’ and VIA Rail will redirect you to a new page, displaying results.
If no trains are running on your selected dates, VIA Rail shows you the next available options. Click the drop-down menu to select the class and see the price. If you book a seat only, you can choose from 5 different classes.
Types of fares
Trains have a lot of different travel classes. All classes include power charging stations and wi-fi. Here is the breakdown.
Economy Escape, Economy Plus, and Business Class tickets
Economy Escape tickets are non-refundable. The Economy Plus and Business Plus tickets are more flexible and there is no charge for refunds or exchanges.
Sleeper cars
Sleeper cars are much more comfortable for longer journeys. You can book a sleeper in an upper or lower berth, or book an entire cabin, for 1 or 2 people. Sleeper car tickets include meals.
Prestige Class
Prestige class cabins are available only for journeys between Vancouver and Toronto. They have amenities like a private washroom and shower, TV, personal concierge and gourmet meals.
Using the information (i) icon
Clicking the info icon in the top right corner provides users with more information on specific journeys and available classes. In addition to departure dates, you can filter your search results by arrival dates, duration and connections.
After you select your trip, you get to the payment page, where you can go over your trip details before entering your debit or credit card information. You can continue as a guest or open an account.
Via and baggage allowances
VIA Rail tickets include 2 large items in their baggage allowance as well as 1 personal and 1 large or 2 small carry-on items free of charge. You can pay for up to 2 additional carry-on bags. The price is $40 per direction.
Modifying your booking
Making changes or cancelling VIA Rail tickets purchased online is easy. Most bookings can be changed or cancelled with no service charge or cancellation fee.
If you have a VIA Rail profile, log on through the website or the app and select ‘Manage your bookings’ from the menu on the left. Find your trip and click either Modify or Cancel, and then follow the instructions.
If you don’t have a profile, enter your reservation number and follow the instructions provided. New boarding passes are automatically emailed to you.
VIA Rail’s Preference rewards program
VIA Rail’s reward program gives members the chance to earn points for every dollar spent on tickets. In order to collect points, be sure to log in and enter your account information each time you book. The program is open to Canadian and American citizens and there is no fee to join.
Honestly, this is a perfect opportunity to stack more rewards. If you book with a rewards credit card or a credit card like Scotia Scene or TD First Class Infinite Travel, you earn credit card rewards and Via Preference points.
How to redeem your Via Preference points
To redeem your reward points, log into your ReserVIA profile. If you have enough points for your trip, the VIA Preference payment option automatically comes up during the checkout process.
The number of points you need will depend on the distance travelled. You can find this handy chart on the website that breaks down how many points you need to reach each destination.
Some tickets cannot be booked online, and members will need to call the VIA Rail service centre to complete bookings. You cannot combine points with cash, but you can book a ticket one way with your points and pay cash for the return ticket, or vise versa. Any changes to a ticket reserved with reward points need to be made by calling customer support.
Via Rail tickets and Air Miles
Additionally, you can convert Air Miles to eVouchers worth $20 to $50. These eVouchers are valid towards the purchase of train tickets or upgrades. Call Air Miles customer support to make the conversion.
How do you get cheap Via Rail tickets?
Booking ahead saves you money as ticket prices tend to fluctuate greatly, even throughout the day. To learn how to save even more, the ‘Ways to save’ link under the ‘offers’ tab has more information on all the ways to get cheap Via Rail tickets.
Cheap ticket Tuesday
Booking on a Tuesday will save you money as VIA Rail offers special discounts every Tuesday. To claim a discount simply enter the discount code TUESDAY during checkout.
Via Preference
If you are a VIA Preference member, you can travel for free by redeeming points earned for every dollar spent on travel with Via Rail. The higher your status, the more quickly you can earn points.
Seniors, students, military, families, and indigidenous communities
VIA Rail also offers discounts to seniors, students, military members, Indigenous community members, and families travelling with children.
Newsletter deals
Plus, on select days between June 7, 2022, and October 1, 2022, children can travel on some trains for just $20. Subscribe to Via’s newsletter to find out about upcoming special offers and other ways to find cheap VIA Rail tickets.
Sleeper Plus
To score cheap VIA Rail tickets in a private cabin, click Sleeper Plus class deals and explore discounted tickets to all VIA Rail destinations.
Last minute tickets
You may have some luck finding cheap last minute tickets. Clicking ‘lowest fares’ will take you directly to the discounted train tickets page where you filter by the city to instantly book seats at the lowest possible fares.
Are Via Rail tickets refundable?
VIA Rail offers its customers an extremely forgiving refund policy. Most VIA Rail tickets are 100% refundable, regardless of when you booked. Unlike airlines, VIA Rail does not charge a service fee for cancellations.
