Extending already paid train ride.

My girlfriend and I bought our tickets for the Ste-Foy-Halifax round trip I mentioned in another topic.


Depending on how the few days before my vacation end up, I may spend a night or two in montreal BEFORE the train ride. If I decide to take the train from Montreal instead of Ste-Foy, can I just buy a Montreal-Ste Foy ticket, and show BOTH upon getting in (or show the Montreal-Ste-Foy one in Montreal and upon getting to Ste-Foy, show the Ste-Foy-Halifax ticket?)

If you are going to be in Montreal for a couple of days before your trip, why not stop by the Central Station ticket office and exchange your existing Ste-Foy-Halifax ticket for a Montreal-Halifax one, rather than buying and presenting two separate tickets? You may even find it cheaper to get a reissue versus two separate tickets.

NeoArashi wrote:I may spend a night or two in montreal BEFORE the train ride. If I decide to take the train from Montreal instead of Ste-Foy, can I just buy a Montreal-Ste Foy ticket, and show BOTH upon getting in (or show the Montreal-Ste-Foy one in Montreal and upon getting to Ste-Foy, show the Ste-Foy-Halifax ticket?)

You can certainly buy a Montreal to Ste-Foy ticket for the same train assuming it's not sold out. It's really up to you if you want to show your tickets one at a time or show both when leaving Montreal. I would show both to the Service Manager in Montreal and ask if he/she want to take both now or have you hold onto one until later. Of course, if you are checking any luggage, you would have to show both tickets at the baggage counter.

jwhite07 wrote:If you are going to be in Montreal for a couple of days before your trip, why not stop by the Central Station ticket office and exchange your existing Ste-Foy-Halifax ticket for a Montreal-Halifax one, rather than buying and presenting two separate tickets? You may even find it cheaper to get a reissue versus two separate tickets.

Depending on the original fare booked for Ste-Foy - Halifax the ticket may not be exchangeable without a very hefty service charge. It is quite possible that rebooking the trip would be a much more expensive option.

I have been corrected on my previous answer.

Ken V wrote:You can certainly buy a Montreal to Ste-Foy ticket for the same train assuming it's not sold out.

T. Box wrote:Not so. VIA does not allow local travel from Montreal to Ste-Foy (or other stations between those two) on #14. He could buy a Montreal - Ste-Foy ticket on #28, then transfer to #14 (1h 17 min layover in Ste-Foy), or he could buy a Montreal - Montmagny ticket on #14. That would mean he was paying twice for the Ste-Foy - Montmagny segment, but it might work out to be cheaper, depending on what fare categories were still available on #14 vs. #28 (e.g. Escape fare vs. full economy fare)

Depending on the original fare booked for Ste-Foy - Halifax the ticket may not be exchangeable without a very hefty service charge. It is quite possible that rebooking the trip would be a much more expensive option.

T. Box wrote:Quite right, but still an option worth checking out.

Thanks for the correction.

Hmmm.

So I probably won't be able to extand the way I wanted, huh?. Oh well. It's not like I've never been to Montreal anyways. I'll checl the price. If it ends up too expencive, I'll just cancel the wholeMontreal side-trip.

NeoArashi wrote:Hmmm.

So I probably won't be able to extand the way I wanted, huh?. Oh well. It's not like I've never been to Montreal anyways. I'll checl the price. If it ends up too expencive, I'll just cancel the wholeMontreal side-trip.

Why not just call Customer Service at 1-888-842-7245 and explain your situation?

NS VIA FAN wrote:

NeoArashi wrote:Hmmm.

So I probably won't be able to extand the way I wanted, huh?. Oh well. It's not like I've never been to Montreal anyways. I'll checl the price. If it ends up too expencive, I'll just cancel the wholeMontreal side-trip.

Why not just call Customer Service at 1-888-842-7245 and explain your situation?

I very much prefer their E-Mail system. I usually prefer ''human'' interaction, except when it comes to phones. But thanks for the advice, I might do that.

If not, I'll just wait one of these obligatory 50% discount event they do (Almost monthly) and buy a Montreal-Ste-Foy ticket and I'll wait during the transfert. Too bad there is no cheap restaurant (cheap as in Mc Donald's, or similar places) or even a convinience store near the Ste-Foy Station. The 1 hour layover would be a perfect time for a quick meal.

Forgot yo mwntion. I finally contacted them. And I was pleasently surprised with their proposition, which I had to turn down because some slight problems prevented me from going to Montreal. They were about to give me a full refund on my escape fare Ste-Foy to Halifax round trip, but under the conditions that I buy a Montreal-Halifax-Ste-Foy multicity trip first. (Exactly what I wanted)

On a side note, with the Halifax trip, I might make a 1 day trip to Truro since there's that 50% discount going on...


UPDATE: Unfortunately, a same day round trip is not available for a Halifax-Truro tripunfortunately. What I did is buy a Halfax to Halifax BUS ticket (From VIA's partner, Maritime Bus) and a Truro-Halifax train ticket for a late Afternoon/early evening return trip the same day. So I spend most of both the morning and the afternoon of that day in Truro Much better than my side-trip to Montreal (I go to Montreal roughly twice per year anyways)