We'll soon be introducing a redesigned VIA Préférence program with the goal of giving our members even more value, exciting new features, and new ways to earn points and redeem them sooner.
Earn points in more ways
You'll soon be able to earn points for every dollar spent on eligible fees and optional products and services—like extra baggage and fees for travelling with your pet—in addition to your tickets and travel passes.
Discover new redemption options
Points redemption will no longer be limited to tickets. You'll be able to use your points to pay for travel passes as well as eligible fees and optional products and services.
Use fewer points when fares are lower
Instead of a fixed-points reward chart, the number of points you'll need for a particular trip will soon be based on the published fare at the time of booking. So, just as regular fares vary, the points required will also vary depending on several factors, including the origin and destination, day of the week, how far in advance you book, and the fare selected.
You'll see how many points are needed for your trip at time of booking on the “Review and pay” screen. As fewer points will be required when fares are lower, get the most out of your points by booking early!
Should you redeem now or wait?
The refund and exchange conditions in effect at time of booking are those that will apply if your travel plans change. If you book your reward trip now, you'll be able to cancel it or modify your travel dates prior to or after the program changes come into effect without being charged more points, service charges or taxes. If you notice that it would have been to your advantage to wait until the program changes come into effect to book, you'll always have the option to cancel your trip and rebook it under the new program conditions.
Enjoy the benefits of a higher tier sooner
You'll no longer have to wait until the end of the qualification period to enjoy the benefits of Privilège and Premier levels. If you qualify for a higher tier during the qualification period (which will now run from May 1 to April 30), your new tier will come into effect the very next day, giving you access to those tier benefits for the remainder of the current benefit period, as well as the next one.
Reward trip refunds and exchanges
Tickets paid with points will be subject to the refund and exchange conditions of the fare you purchased. If the fare is exchangeable or refundable, you'll receive the points back in your account, less the applicable refund/exchange fees.
Taxes
We are building the foundations of tomorrow's customer journey with the modernization of our systems, such as a new reservation system and a redesigned VIA Préférence program. These will evolve over time so that we can stay aligned with the changing needs and expectations of present and future passengers. As such, at the time of the launch and until it is adjusted in the coming months, products purchased with VIA Préférence points will require the payment of taxes in cash (station only), or by debit card (station only), credit card or gift card.* Until this is adjusted, and even though our redesigned loyalty program offers more value to our members, we will temporarily reduce by 30% the number of points required for all redemptions. We will be communicating directly with our members when adjustments will be made to the program.
*Applicable taxes will be calculated based on the dollar amount of the products purchased with points.
Start treating friends and family to points
You'll soon be able to transfer points online from your account to another VIA Préférence account, up to 5 times a year. And the best thing is, it'll be free!
Find everything you need in your VIA traveller's profile
You'll soon be able to visit viarail.ca and log into your VIA traveller's profile to update your personal information and find your points balance, points transaction history, tier progress, and exclusive tier coupons. It's also where you'll be able to learn about and register for exclusive points promotions, as viapreference.com will no longer be accessible.
Your status and benefits remain status quo
We thought you'd like to know the following about your account and current benefits :
- Your points balance, current tier and benefits will remain unchanged.
- You'll continue to earn points at the same rate as today, i.e. 1, 2 or 3 points per dollar spent (depending on your tier) before taxes on eligible products and services.
- You'll still get up to 50% more points depending on the fare you choose.
- We'll keep our three membership levels (Préférence, Privilège and Premier) and their associated benefits. $1,000 in qualifying dollars spent during the qualification period will continue to be required to reach Privilège and $2,000 to reach Premier. We are, however, eliminating the segment criterion currently required to reach Premier.
- If you have unused Privilège or Premier coupons, you'll find them in your VIA traveller's profile until they expire on April 30, 2024.
This is just the beginning
Stay tuned for the official launch of the redesigned program in the coming weeks and for more information about the upcoming changes! In the meantime, you can view the updated terms and conditions here.
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