Via Preference points question

Hi all,

I'm going to ask this here, because, frankly, I find the staff that answer the Via Preference hotline rude and unhelpful.

I'm planning to redeem some points to travel from Toronto to Québec City. For my return trip, I plan to travel back on an early afternoon train from Québec so that I can arrive in Montréal mid-evening, and then take the Enterprise back to Toronto.

I know that when I travel to Québec, even with the connection in Montréal, it counts as one trip segment and will cost the regular Corridor number of points. But my question is for the return trip, will it cost the number of points for a one-way Enterprise trip PLUS the one-way points cost of a short corridor trip? Or will I only need to spend the points for the Enterprise section?

Any help would be appreciated. I have a feeling though, that I will have to call and endure the patronizing tone of Yves who works at Via Preference.

-Chris

I have twice mixed a VIA 1 award trip with an Enterprise trip on the return. The way it was explained to me is that the higher number of points are deducted for the entire round trip, even if the Enterprise is used only one way. This works out to be cheaper than using two one-way bookings. The last time was over two years ago, so I can't guarantee that the same rules apply.

So, I do recommend you try again with VIA Preference. I'm sorry you have had a bad experience. I have, without exception, dealt with very charming and helpful people (almost always a woman) whenever I have called the Preference reservation line. I can't recall any of the names, but I suggest if you get the rude person to whom you referred, just hang up and call again. There is no longer a separate Preference section, by the way. All the VIA telephone agents in Montreal are trained to handle Preference information and bookings. I have been told that eventually the reservation agents at the Toronto and Moncton offices will be trained on Preference functions as well.