VIA Black Friday sale has started

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I decided to go ahead and book the Ocean, but didn't wind up booking the ticket once I saw the days that the train runs.

The train departs Montreal only on Wednesday and Sunday. When I was previously booked on the Ocean (cancelled due to Covid), I had a Friday departure which meant that I would only miss one day of work. I have a decent amount of travel in the winter and spring, and I am not too keen on missing more work than I need to. I have the type of job where the work does not go away just because I am away.
 
Mention of VIA rail discounts got me interested. I seem to remember that there was an option on the Canadian for just "berths", rather than a solo cabin, have they been removed, can't see them as an option today?
 
Mention of VIA rail discounts got me interested. I seem to remember that there was an option on the Canadian for just "berths", rather than a solo cabin, have they been removed, can't see them as an option today?
Not removed; just off sale during the pandemic.

In Simply Railway's video of his trip in a Renaissance sleeper on the Ocean in October, he walked past them in his train walk-thru.
 
VIA used to have a super-sale board for trains in the next 90 days or so. It was frequently possible to get 50% discounts in the off season. I did two one way trips on the Canadian in winter. Not exactly prime tourist or daylight time, but we had a blast. Spent several hours by myself in the Vista Dome at night.

I looked at the website, and I think the best deals were here:

https://www.viarail.ca/en/fares-and-packages/sleeper-plus/
But they tend to black out the super deals when they are having a system wide sale. Check back again next week. They also had something called "Super Tuesday" deals.

Actually, if you really wanted a May-September trip on the Canadian or the Ocean, this might be a good way to go. They almost never have sales in the summer, as the train is packed.
 
I'm kind of confused by the cancellation policy since I have never been on VIA before. It is mentioned that the tickets are fully refundable if cancelled before December 31, but it looks like that excludes certain fees which constitute nearly half of the ticket price.

I was hoping to book Toronto-Montreal-Halifax and Halifax-Montreal for March, but given that the trip is dependent on the Maple Lead and/or Adirondack operating and there not being any other new issues relating to the border, it doesn't seem worth booking now given the large cancelation fees.
 
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