Comment by usaphp
6 years ago
Toronto - Vancouver train. One way ticket:
Sleeper cabin for two - $3,450
Prestige cabin for two - $11,670
Toronto - Vancouver flight. $650 - Business class ticket.
6 years ago
Toronto - Vancouver train. One way ticket:
Sleeper cabin for two - $3,450
Prestige cabin for two - $11,670
Toronto - Vancouver flight. $650 - Business class ticket.
You take a flight from Toronto to Vancouver to get to Vancouver.
You ride the Canadian sleeper from Toronto to Vancouver to ride the Canadian sleeper.
Not super comparable, imho.
Exactly. Comparing to a flight is to completely miss the point.
I see a sleeper cabin for two listed for $1558 (discounted from $2428 reg price) and there are often even steeper discounts available. [0]
You can get an "upper berth" sleeping ticket with meals for $968.50. Considering that's a 4-day sightseeing trip compared to a 4-5hr flight I don't think a $300 premium is outrageous, do you?
In fact, the cheapest business class ticket one-way I can find is $871. That makes the difference less than $100!
(In fact I am amazed that the prices are in fact comparable between a 4-day train trip and a 5-hr flight. Definitely something I didn't expect.)
[0] https://www.viarail.ca/en/deals/toronto-vancouver#select-des...
Those prices are per person.
So to actually use both berths in your sleeper cabin for 2 is $3,522.22 including tax, etc.
If you only book as one passenger the rate goes down but not by half. It's still $2,641.94. Rates are based on full occupancy.
I would not recommend the upper berths. You have just a bed behind a curtain. For the trip with my dad I got us each a single sleeper cabin. I think it was $1,500 each, and having your own little room to go to was great to have.
The trip was for my dads 70th birthday, and a long promised gift (He took me to Italy, Croatia and Bosnia where we almost got killed and the deal was I’d take him on a trip) so it was worth spending a little extra for the comfort.