What is the equivalent Bedroom-Sleeper car on the Canadian

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
U

uz1

Train Attendant
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
22
I have used AGR points for Bedrooms three times. Crescent-SL, EB-Cardinal and CapitolLimited-Zepher.

Although I used points, I understand how the pricing works for 2 people.

Buy 2 coach tickets then add a bedroom price.

I'm looking at doing a trip on the Canadian and things seem different on the via rail site.

Would Cabin for 2 on VIA be the equivalent to a non family Bedroom -- the Superliner 2 bed, bathroom?

Also for pricing it seems like it's per person (meaning no discount for sharing room). A random dated trip Oct 26 from Toronto -> Vancouver is C$2615. C$3478.18 for 2 people. This is for Cabin for 2 (non discounted) .

Thoughts / Questions

1)So I guess you don't need 2 for a cabin for 2.

2) Not sure what restrictions are with a non-discounted rate.

3) Discount for having 2 in room is sort of implict in pricing structure.

Since I never had to spent $ for trips, hope someone can say the trip was as enjoyable as the others I've been on. (Although I would say I had to spend $ to get AGR from the credit card)

Thanks
 
VIA prices their accommodations on a “per-person” basis.

I did some pricing also for this fall: Toronto > Vancouver, non-discounted, excluding tax on Nov 16.

A “Cabin For 1” which has one bed is $1543

A “Cabin For 2” which has two beds is $3086 ($1543 x 2) but one person can occupy it for $2315

A Cabin for 1 has a sink and a hopper style toilet which is covered when the bed is down.

A Cabin for 2 has a sink with the toilet is a private adjoining annex.

(Showers are down the hall)

You can see floor plans of VIA Sleeper here:

http://www.viarail.ca/en/resources/stainless-steel-sleeping-car
 
"Cabins for 2" on Via Budd equipment used on the Canadian are what were formerly called Double Bedrooms and Compartments in traditional railroad sleeping car nomenclature. The arrangement of the room is somewhat similar to a Superliner Deluxe Bedrooms, although they are somwhat narrower and they have 2 chairs instead of the couch. There is a toilet in a small annex, similar to the Superliner, but it does not serve as a shower. Via took out one section (berths) in the car and replaced it with a common-use shower.

The Compartment is somehwat larger, and was considered a better class of accomodation than the Double Bedroom, and cost more back in the day. Via treats them as a "Cabin for 2", same as the former Double Bedrooms. The Compartments are room "F" in Manor series cars. Chateau series and the Park cars don't have Compartments. Chateaus and Park cars have Drawing Rooms, though ("Cabin for 3") which are huge for a sleeper room and have 2 lower berths and 1 upper.

Prices are per person for the whole thing, unlike Amtrak sleepers where the rail fare is per person and separate from the room and the accomodation charge on top of that is for the room, not per person. It is different for those used to the Amtrak way(which was basically old RR way, too), but I think it is probably simpler to understand for most folks who don't take the train very often as it is more like airline pricing. You can have single occupancy of a "Cabin for 2" for 150% of the Cabin for 1 fare. The full prices don't have much in way of restrictions but are very expensive. It isn't so much a discount for having 2 in a room, but a 50% single surcharge for 1 person occupying a room that has capacity for 2.

The discounted fares have various restrictions, and Via just ran a 50% sale recently, where a Cabin for 1 (or 2 in a Cabin for 2) for the whole run was CAD 1068 (IIRC) before taxes. I just booked it for the end of September under that fare. I know that 50% off fare is non-refundable, but the value could be transferred to another Via ticket. The non-discounted fare in the summer is considerably more expensive than that fare in the winter, over CAD 2000.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One of the main differences between the old double bedrooms and old compartments is that the compartments had the beds oriented "lengthwise" in the room (i.e., parallel to the windows), while double bedrooms had the beds perpendicular to the windows.
 
Good advice to wait for the Discount Fares that VIA runs for the Canadian! (check via.ca, their website)The Winter is a Great time to ride this Route, I rode in Feb. from Vancouver-Toronto in a Cabin for One for $630 CDNTax included! (and got to spend a Night in a Lower Section Berth which was More Comfortable than the Cabin!) And the Scenery, the Equipment , the Passengers, the Food and the Service are the Closest thing to the Glory Days of Passengers Trains left that is Affordable! A First Class Land Cruise without having to Dress Up! :wub:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I rode the Canadian in December 2011 using an Express Deal. I had a cabin for 2 (by myself) and paid $871, which I think was a terrific deal.
 
I got a roomette a couple years ago for like $600 plus taxes using a 75% off Express Deal. I've been following the deals and they haven't been offering 75% off on the Express Deals for the Canadian for like the last year or so. Best seems to be 50% off Express Deals for the Canadian now. Via runs 50% off sales fairly regularly and with the 50% off sales you have more booking flexibility and are able to book further out than you can on the Express Deals. Those 75% off Express Deals were fantastic, but now it makes more sense to me to wait for the 50% sales and have the flexibility to construct better travel plans because the discount on the Express Deals isn't any better any more.

PS-they are running ANOTHER 50% off sale right now, until July 12 for travel through October 9th.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top