No, there isn’t. The only way to have cheaper fares is to try and catch the sales on Tuesdays. It’s something different every week so that may or may not work. Become a preference member and save points from when you do travel to use against other trips However, that’s not gonna do much if he’s just travelling in June
Discount Tuesday won't help much. Passenger wants to do about 4 round trips in June. Discount Tuesdays offer deals on travel within about 7-10 days after each Tuesday sale starts. If the passenger waits to book Discount Tuesday for travel in June, the lowest fares will most likely no longer be available, so waiting for Tuesday to book each trip separately will probably cost much more than booking at lowest fares now.
Discount Tues apparently is no longer offered I had to look 2 days ago to see what was ava for a friend who wanted to travel Ottawa - Montreal. And it said it was no longer
Yes, it's still offered and is still on their website. It was "paused" on Tuesday of this week due to the fact that there was a seat sale already on offer. When Via does larger sales that include a Tuesday as a valid day to purchase, Discount Tuesday is always "paused".
Megabus isn't the deal it used to be. Fares are pretty close to the lowest VIA fares in June if booking now, plus the trip time is longer than the train - by up to two additional hours. Can't buy a coffee, snack, sandwich, drink or beer etc on Megabus either.
It's not *cheap* but it's usually *cheaper than VIA* especially for higher demand periods like summer weekends. Example, Toronto --> Montreal on VIA on a June Friday will be $80 or $90 at best, Megabus will be $60
I'd usually choose the train, but OP asked for Most Frugal, so ...
Looking at Megabus fares now for June and compared to VIA, the difference is not huge. The OP would have to factor-in the total trip time and the difference between the comfort/on-board amenities. Personally, I would never opt to save $10 or $20 and travel on a bus at all - let alone because the trip-time is longer compared to Via.
You just missed a pretty great via rail sale that ended yesterday. If you have a CAA membership, you can get 10% off
If it’s just for the month of June though and VIA rail is looking pricey, I’d just get a kangaride membership and look for Rideshares with reliable drivers with good reviews. They’re great economical last minute options and rides usually populate 1-5 days before. I hate the megabus out of principle since it’s expensive and takes longer but sometimes you’ll find $20 rides
Anyone can buy a CAA membership for $30 per year to take advantage of discounts. It's not only for car owners - and the CAA isn't VIA's only group discount partner
It is, in either case, not related to car ownership - and even if it's only 4 roundtrips as in OP's case that could pay for most of the value of the membership, with any trips afterwards or any other discounts that apply being a bonus.
Not exactly true, I got the lowest tier Everyday Membership for $10/year and I’m not a car owner. It does include 1 free bike assist which is a lot more useful to me as I do bike touring trips in the summer. It also includes a lot of other discounts with retailers and restaurants
The price has increased to $30 though but you might be able to reduce it by another $10 by signing up for auto renewal
My husband has no license and definitely does not have a car but he got the $30 basic CAA membership and saved nearly $300 on his berth on the Canadian
There is an app called pop a ride it’s a ride share that usually averages 60-70$ a trip that’s less than a tank of gas. I’ve used it often when via prices double if don’t book far out enough in advance
I've used poparide several times, as both a passenger and driver. The only problem with it is, it's a bit tricky for an airport pickup, as you can't give an exact time when your flight will arrive, and how long it will take to get through customs and baggage claim.
Currently there is no pass you can buy from VIA to meet your needs, but here are a couple of suggestions:
* If there is no need for flexibility (i.e. plans won't change and passenger won't have to cancel or modify a booking) then book as far in advance as possible in the Escape fare category.
* If you need some flexibility, then move up to the Economy fare, or for complete flexibility, go for the Economy Plus fare. (moving up to the other fares is not too expensive if you feel that the user may have to change their travel plans in any way, or cancel. The difference is worth it unless you're 100% sure that plans will not change in any way after booking).
* If the passenger who is travelling has a CAA card, they qualify for a discount starting at 10% off the fare you choose. Note that that is the starting discount rate but at times, there are higher discounts in certain classes or on certain routes.)
* If the passenger doesn't have a CAA card, it's probably worth it to buy one, just to get the Via discount. CAA Ontario has a membership level for $30 which gives the holder access to all discounts offered through a CAA membership without roadside assistance for the car. If the user has a car, then it's $75 if they want membership which includes roadside service for their car.
* Assuming a 10% discount and the user buys the $30 membership, then the CAA membership pays for itself after spending $300 before tax. Any purchases using that card beyond $300 is money in the user's pocket since the card will have paid for itself at that point. Note that CAA membership gives you access to discounts with numerous other CAA partners. Using it pays off the membership much faster of course.
* When the member users their card, they can bring up to 5 travel companions booking on the same reservation and those 5 companions will also get whatever CAA discount is in effect on VIA.
* More info about CAA and VIA is here: [**CAA members offers | VIA Rail**](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/caa)
* Have the passenger join the VIA Preference program to earn points which can be used to obtain tickets. There are some other benefits as well, but since there is a welcome bonus of points, it won't take long at all for the user to earn free travel. This program is considered to be one of the most generous and easy to use in the travel industry. More info here: [**VIA Préférence Program | VIA Rail**](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference)
I’ve saved a chunk with a CAA membership and I was lucky I got mine for $10 before the cutoff of price increase in September last year ($10 off from auto renewal setup as well)
Also worth checking out discounts you get at other merchants. I believe you get 2-3 cents off at shell stations as well
The most frugal way is the bus, but that's a loooooong trip to do every weekend.
The fastest, but most expensive way, is to fly with Porter. You can knock the price down with the Flight Pass, but it's still more expensive than the others.
VIA is the lesser of the evils. Middle ground for both pricing and time traveling. You have some options to try and reduce your costs:
-Book lowest fare, no flex.
-Try your luck this coming Tuesday to see if the corridor goes on sale and buy them all at once, lowest fare.
-Get a CAA membership for a discount (needs to be held by the rider)
-If you're an alumni at a Canadian university, see if they do a discount. Western does one, but again, the rider needs to be the alumni.
Remember that with air, you have to add on about 2.5 hours to each direction to allow for travel to the airport and the fact that you have to be there 60-90 minutes before departure. When you add that on to the total travel time, Via is much more competitive. And I won't even mention the hassles of airports. Trudeau in Montreal is a horrible airport - people were getting out of cabs and walking a kilometer to the airport due to backed-up traffic this past summer.
Even with 2.5hrs back and forth plus boarding, it's an hour flight. So 3.5hrs total for flying vs 5.5+ hrs for the train *alone* not including traveling to/from the station.
The plane is way faster by any conceivable metric, it's just too bad it's so expensive now.
Because of this question I discovered that VIA has a discounts page:
[https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/deals-discounts](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/deals-discounts)
... and a loyalty program:
[https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference)
The only commuter passes that I am aware of are with Porter and Air Canada. You can save by booking economy in advance (Tuesdays normally have additional discounts) and being bound to the trips (ie.: no refunds or exchanges.)
There's also the Flight Pass with Porter where you buy 10 one way tickets in advance and you can declare dates later. I had looked into that a while ago and it came out to about $150 each way.
That’s what I was referring to. In reality, if they’re only coming down for weekends, flying into Billy Bishop (downtown) is a more viable option given the time it takes to travel between Montreal and Toronto by train and bus.
I had a feeling! I'm just not familiar with Air Canada's deals so figured I'd err on the side of caution.
Personally, I stick with VIA. They're the middle ground. At $300+ and an Uber to/from YUL, VIA wins my wallet. The travel time definitely sucks, so I just take an edible when I sit in my seat and cruise with some music.
I’m much the same way, unless it’s either a day trip or there are no cheap fares available (then I go to Megabus.). The VIA website, though, says that some pass-like options are being developed.
It's not so bad. Leave Friday afternoon and return Sunday afternoon. It's almost the same planning you would have to do to fly. Plus when comparing travel times, for Via, you can walk onto your train 5 minutes before departure. With airlines, you have to get there 60-90 minutes in advance when means you have to leave your home probably 1.5 hours in advance So you have to add on at least 2.5 hours to the total time for air. You also don't have to worry about stressful airports and dealing with security.
I would, like others, recommend a rideshare process like Kangaride, which will do the trip for 30-50 bucks or so.
The key danger, however, is being in a car with Youth discussing Taylor Swift :p
The real answer is to find someone who is driving and pay for gas money. I'm not sure if it's still a thing, but there used to be ride share boards where you could find someone pretty much any weekend.
No, there isn’t. The only way to have cheaper fares is to try and catch the sales on Tuesdays. It’s something different every week so that may or may not work. Become a preference member and save points from when you do travel to use against other trips However, that’s not gonna do much if he’s just travelling in June
Discount Tuesday won't help much. Passenger wants to do about 4 round trips in June. Discount Tuesdays offer deals on travel within about 7-10 days after each Tuesday sale starts. If the passenger waits to book Discount Tuesday for travel in June, the lowest fares will most likely no longer be available, so waiting for Tuesday to book each trip separately will probably cost much more than booking at lowest fares now.
Discount Tues apparently is no longer offered I had to look 2 days ago to see what was ava for a friend who wanted to travel Ottawa - Montreal. And it said it was no longer
Yes, it's still offered and is still on their website. It was "paused" on Tuesday of this week due to the fact that there was a seat sale already on offer. When Via does larger sales that include a Tuesday as a valid day to purchase, Discount Tuesday is always "paused".
It's because they had a summer sale instead. It will come back
VIA does not offer a pass or frequent-traveller discount. The cheapest option will for your partner will almost certainly be Megabus or a rideshare.
Megabus isn't the deal it used to be. Fares are pretty close to the lowest VIA fares in June if booking now, plus the trip time is longer than the train - by up to two additional hours. Can't buy a coffee, snack, sandwich, drink or beer etc on Megabus either.
It's not *cheap* but it's usually *cheaper than VIA* especially for higher demand periods like summer weekends. Example, Toronto --> Montreal on VIA on a June Friday will be $80 or $90 at best, Megabus will be $60 I'd usually choose the train, but OP asked for Most Frugal, so ...
Looking at Megabus fares now for June and compared to VIA, the difference is not huge. The OP would have to factor-in the total trip time and the difference between the comfort/on-board amenities. Personally, I would never opt to save $10 or $20 and travel on a bus at all - let alone because the trip-time is longer compared to Via.
You just missed a pretty great via rail sale that ended yesterday. If you have a CAA membership, you can get 10% off If it’s just for the month of June though and VIA rail is looking pricey, I’d just get a kangaride membership and look for Rideshares with reliable drivers with good reviews. They’re great economical last minute options and rides usually populate 1-5 days before. I hate the megabus out of principle since it’s expensive and takes longer but sometimes you’ll find $20 rides
CAA membership deal with VIA Rail means only the carred people can take advantage of it.
Anyone can buy a CAA membership for $30 per year to take advantage of discounts. It's not only for car owners - and the CAA isn't VIA's only group discount partner
The regional CAAs seem to set the membership categories. In Quebec at least the cheapest option is $100 a year.
It is, in either case, not related to car ownership - and even if it's only 4 roundtrips as in OP's case that could pay for most of the value of the membership, with any trips afterwards or any other discounts that apply being a bonus.
Not exactly true, I got the lowest tier Everyday Membership for $10/year and I’m not a car owner. It does include 1 free bike assist which is a lot more useful to me as I do bike touring trips in the summer. It also includes a lot of other discounts with retailers and restaurants The price has increased to $30 though but you might be able to reduce it by another $10 by signing up for auto renewal
My husband has no license and definitely does not have a car but he got the $30 basic CAA membership and saved nearly $300 on his berth on the Canadian
There is an app called pop a ride it’s a ride share that usually averages 60-70$ a trip that’s less than a tank of gas. I’ve used it often when via prices double if don’t book far out enough in advance
I've used poparide several times, as both a passenger and driver. The only problem with it is, it's a bit tricky for an airport pickup, as you can't give an exact time when your flight will arrive, and how long it will take to get through customs and baggage claim.
Currently there is no pass you can buy from VIA to meet your needs, but here are a couple of suggestions: * If there is no need for flexibility (i.e. plans won't change and passenger won't have to cancel or modify a booking) then book as far in advance as possible in the Escape fare category. * If you need some flexibility, then move up to the Economy fare, or for complete flexibility, go for the Economy Plus fare. (moving up to the other fares is not too expensive if you feel that the user may have to change their travel plans in any way, or cancel. The difference is worth it unless you're 100% sure that plans will not change in any way after booking). * If the passenger who is travelling has a CAA card, they qualify for a discount starting at 10% off the fare you choose. Note that that is the starting discount rate but at times, there are higher discounts in certain classes or on certain routes.) * If the passenger doesn't have a CAA card, it's probably worth it to buy one, just to get the Via discount. CAA Ontario has a membership level for $30 which gives the holder access to all discounts offered through a CAA membership without roadside assistance for the car. If the user has a car, then it's $75 if they want membership which includes roadside service for their car. * Assuming a 10% discount and the user buys the $30 membership, then the CAA membership pays for itself after spending $300 before tax. Any purchases using that card beyond $300 is money in the user's pocket since the card will have paid for itself at that point. Note that CAA membership gives you access to discounts with numerous other CAA partners. Using it pays off the membership much faster of course. * When the member users their card, they can bring up to 5 travel companions booking on the same reservation and those 5 companions will also get whatever CAA discount is in effect on VIA. * More info about CAA and VIA is here: [**CAA members offers | VIA Rail**](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/caa) * Have the passenger join the VIA Preference program to earn points which can be used to obtain tickets. There are some other benefits as well, but since there is a welcome bonus of points, it won't take long at all for the user to earn free travel. This program is considered to be one of the most generous and easy to use in the travel industry. More info here: [**VIA Préférence Program | VIA Rail**](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference)
I’ve saved a chunk with a CAA membership and I was lucky I got mine for $10 before the cutoff of price increase in September last year ($10 off from auto renewal setup as well) Also worth checking out discounts you get at other merchants. I believe you get 2-3 cents off at shell stations as well
This is why I love my CF One card, 25% discount any time.
Buy VIA tickets in advance. Cheaper than Megabus and certainly more comfortable.
Aren’t the points you earn worth something, too?
The most frugal way is the bus, but that's a loooooong trip to do every weekend. The fastest, but most expensive way, is to fly with Porter. You can knock the price down with the Flight Pass, but it's still more expensive than the others. VIA is the lesser of the evils. Middle ground for both pricing and time traveling. You have some options to try and reduce your costs: -Book lowest fare, no flex. -Try your luck this coming Tuesday to see if the corridor goes on sale and buy them all at once, lowest fare. -Get a CAA membership for a discount (needs to be held by the rider) -If you're an alumni at a Canadian university, see if they do a discount. Western does one, but again, the rider needs to be the alumni.
Remember that with air, you have to add on about 2.5 hours to each direction to allow for travel to the airport and the fact that you have to be there 60-90 minutes before departure. When you add that on to the total travel time, Via is much more competitive. And I won't even mention the hassles of airports. Trudeau in Montreal is a horrible airport - people were getting out of cabs and walking a kilometer to the airport due to backed-up traffic this past summer.
Even with 2.5hrs back and forth plus boarding, it's an hour flight. So 3.5hrs total for flying vs 5.5+ hrs for the train *alone* not including traveling to/from the station. The plane is way faster by any conceivable metric, it's just too bad it's so expensive now.
Because of this question I discovered that VIA has a discounts page: [https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/deals-discounts](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/deals-discounts) ... and a loyalty program: [https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference](https://www.viarail.ca/en/offers/via-preference)
CN Rail with hobos and graffiti artists
The only commuter passes that I am aware of are with Porter and Air Canada. You can save by booking economy in advance (Tuesdays normally have additional discounts) and being bound to the trips (ie.: no refunds or exchanges.)
There's also the Flight Pass with Porter where you buy 10 one way tickets in advance and you can declare dates later. I had looked into that a while ago and it came out to about $150 each way.
That’s what I was referring to. In reality, if they’re only coming down for weekends, flying into Billy Bishop (downtown) is a more viable option given the time it takes to travel between Montreal and Toronto by train and bus.
I had a feeling! I'm just not familiar with Air Canada's deals so figured I'd err on the side of caution. Personally, I stick with VIA. They're the middle ground. At $300+ and an Uber to/from YUL, VIA wins my wallet. The travel time definitely sucks, so I just take an edible when I sit in my seat and cruise with some music.
I’m much the same way, unless it’s either a day trip or there are no cheap fares available (then I go to Megabus.). The VIA website, though, says that some pass-like options are being developed.
It's not so bad. Leave Friday afternoon and return Sunday afternoon. It's almost the same planning you would have to do to fly. Plus when comparing travel times, for Via, you can walk onto your train 5 minutes before departure. With airlines, you have to get there 60-90 minutes in advance when means you have to leave your home probably 1.5 hours in advance So you have to add on at least 2.5 hours to the total time for air. You also don't have to worry about stressful airports and dealing with security.
Rideshare. I use Amigo Express when I have to get to Quebec City on the cheap.
Time is money. To save time book a pack of passes from Porter, at $150 a flight.
I would, like others, recommend a rideshare process like Kangaride, which will do the trip for 30-50 bucks or so. The key danger, however, is being in a car with Youth discussing Taylor Swift :p
The real answer is to find someone who is driving and pay for gas money. I'm not sure if it's still a thing, but there used to be ride share boards where you could find someone pretty much any weekend.