Via Rail Canada: What are the different booking classes?

Question

Today, I tried to book a seat in a train on the Via Rail Canada Homepage.

There are 6 different booking classes:

SuperSaver
Discounted
Regular

for both Economy and Business. While I can imagine the difference between Economy and Business, I'm unsure what the other 3 booking classes are indicating. Is there any explanation for this?

Answer 1

You can get the details on the Compare Fares page if you expand a route. It's all about how changeable they are, and how far in advance you have to book them

The only real difference it looks like between Business and Economy is there's no Business Escape ticket, and the cheapest business tickets are less changeable.

For Economy:

• Escape
  • Minimum 4 day advanced purchase
  • Non-refundable, Non-exchangeable
• Supersaver
  • Minimum 3 days advanced purchase
  • Refundable and exchangeable for 50% service charge (A minimum service charge fee of $20 will be applied.)
• Discounted
  • Minimum 1 day advanced purchase
  • Refundable and exchangeable for 25% of the fare (minimum $20)
• Regular
  • Available on the day
  • Refundable and exchangeable (No service charge)

For Business:

• Supersaver
  • Minimum 3 days advanced purchase
  • Non-refundable, Non-exchangeable
• Discounted
  • Minimum 1 day advanced purchase, Refundable and exchangeable ($25 service charge)
• Regular
  • Available on the day
  • Refundable and exchangeable (No service charge)