Necessary to book VIA train ride in advance?

I want to take the VIA train from Toronto to Montreal on Friday May 21. Is it
necessary to book this in advance, or would it be safe to buy a ticket that
day? Does VIA overbook like they do in Europe?

wrote:
I want to take the VIA train from Toronto to Montreal on Friday May 21.
Is it necessary to book this in advance, or would it be safe to buy a
ticket that day? Does VIA overbook like they do in Europe?

You'd get a price break but otherwise I don't believe the train is full
very often...they have an on-line booking system

wrote in message
...
I want to take the VIA train from Toronto to Montreal on Friday May 21.
Is it
necessary to book this in advance, or would it be safe to buy a ticket
that
day? Does VIA overbook like they do in Europe?

Yes VIA overbooks, and Yes that train will be full - especially on a Frday
night.
If May 21st is definitety your day of travel then book it now.

david

Originally posted by void
I want to take the VIA train
from Toronto to Montreal on Friday May 21. Is it
necessary to book
this in advance, or would it be safe to buy a ticket that
day? Does
VIA overbook like they do in Europe?

This is the Friday of
the May "Two Four" holiday weekend. Train (and Roads) will be very
busy. Best to book now.

Iain


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

On Tue, 11 May 2004 01:40:42 GMT, "MeIsDavid" wrote:
Yes VIA overbooks, and Yes that train will be full - especially on a Frday
night.
If May 21st is definitety your day of travel then book it now.

Ah thanks. I don't know exactly when I will be leaving Toronto, so I may just
risk standing.

"MeIsDavid" wrote:
wrote in message
...
I want to take the VIA train from Toronto to Montreal on Friday May 21.
Is it
necessary to book this in advance, or would it be safe to buy a ticket
that
day? Does VIA overbook like they do in Europe?

Yes VIA overbooks, and Yes that train will be full - especially on a
Frday night.
If May 21st is definitety your day of travel then book it now.

david

Didn't see the date...that's a long weekend here in Canada...will be
especailly busy...

On Tue, 11 May 2004 02:00:19 +0000, iaink
wrote:
This is the Friday of
the May "Two Four" holiday weekend. Train (and Roads) will be very
busy. Best to book now.

But if VIA overbooks, then it shouldn't matter when I buy my ticket. What
matters is how early I board the train. Am I wrong here?

) writes:
iaink wrote:

This is the Friday of
the May "Two Four" holiday weekend. Train (and Roads) will be very
busy. Best to book now.

But if VIA overbooks, then it shouldn't matter when I buy my ticket. What
matters is how early I board the train. Am I wrong here?

Yes, you're wrong. The goal of VIA's booking policy is to have no empty
seats, but no standees. To accomplish this, they do a small amount of
overbooking, to compensate for no-shows. (Of course this doesn't work
perfectly, so the do sometimes end up with empty seats, and at other
times they have some standees).

However, the number of tickets sold for each train is limited, and only
a certain amount of overbooking is allowed. It is very common for trains
to be completely sold out on the Friday before a holiday weekend, and for
no more tickets to be available. If you're planning to travel on May 21,
you should buy your ticket in advance. Otherwise, you risk not being able
to get on the train.

Tom Box or
Toronto, ON, Canada

On 12 May 2004 02:29:34 GMT, (Tom Box) wrote:

) writes:
iaink wrote:

This is the Friday of
the May "Two Four" holiday weekend. Train (and Roads) will be very
busy. Best to book now.

But if VIA overbooks, then it shouldn't matter when I buy my ticket. What
matters is how early I board the train. Am I wrong here?

Yes, you're wrong. The goal of VIA's booking policy is to have no empty
seats, but no standees. To accomplish this, they do a small amount of
overbooking, to compensate for no-shows. (Of course this doesn't work
perfectly, so the do sometimes end up with empty seats, and at other
times they have some standees).

However, the number of tickets sold for each train is limited, and only
a certain amount of overbooking is allowed. It is very common for trains
to be completely sold out on the Friday before a holiday weekend, and for
no more tickets to be available. If you're planning to travel on May 21,
you should buy your ticket in advance. Otherwise, you risk not being able
to get on the train.

Tom Box or
Toronto, ON, Canada


Ah, thank you for the info. Do they have e-tickets, or will the ticket need
to be mailed to me? I'm going on my trip in 7 hours!

) writes:

Do they have e-tickets, or will the ticket need
to be mailed to me? I'm going on my trip in 7 hours!

This may be too late to help Mr (Ms.?) Void, but you can buy
your tickets on the web URL:http://reservia.viarail.ca, and
the tickets don't have to be mailed (though this can be done,
if you have time). You do have to get a paper ticket, so
that you can present it on board, but you can do this at the
station on the day you travel, using the confirmation number
you'll get when you make the booking. At major stations
like Toronto, there are automated kiosks to print out your
ticket, and these work very well -- it literally only takes
a few seconds. You can also get your ticket from a human
agent, but there's likely to be a long line-up for them on
a Friday before a long weekend.

Tom Box or
Toronto, ON, Canada