Originally Posted by
j2simpso
N.B. having been to several lounges on the Via Rail network they're roughly the same in terms of facilities. The main difference with Union is that it's considered their flagship lounge and is more spacious and classy than some of the other ones I have been to **cough** Montreal **cough**.
The first-class waiting rooms (I think calling them "lounges" is a bit over the top) in Montreal and Ottawa are so tiny and poky and get so crowded at busy times that you're actually better off finding somewhere to sit in the main part of the station. I literally only walk in there to use the washroom and get a newspaper and a can of soda water and walk back out again.
Originally Posted by
j2simpso
I've been a Via Rail customer since 2016 and regularly travel in business. I completely agree with you on the meals bit, the quantity and quality of the food is superb, certainly better than anything I would get on a UA or AC. Also the all you can drink menu is something you won't see on most airlines
I realize I'm going to sound like a cranky old man who is living in the past (like those people who occasionally pop up in the airline forums to reminisce about how they used to carve the roast beef at your seat on a silver platter), but I'm afraid all I can think of is how badly the first class/VIA1/"business class" service has declined over the last ten years, during which period I have spent far, far more time on Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto trains than I would like.
- Hot main course used to be served separately, now everything is on one tray
- No more menu cards
- Tablecloths disappeared, cloth napkins replaced by paper
- Overall quality of the food has suffered a marked decline, though I guess that's somewhat subjective
- But I would like to single out the desserts as having become particularly cheap and nasty, the sort of gooey caramel-besmeared things you might see "reduced for quick sale" in the bakery section at Loblaw (
vide j2simpso's photo)
- "Appetizer" is now always either some weird grain salad or a couple of hunks of cheese with 2 grapes and a sad little tomato
- Inept menu planning (e.g. if one of the main course options is cheese and tomato pasta, then maybe the appetizer shouldn't also be cheese and tomato...)
- The little chocolate cups which used to be served with coffee and were IMO the best part of the whole thing are long gone. Now you get chintzy packaged chocolates that taste mostly of wax (or on some trains you actually get a little sachet of Tic Tacs instead)
As for the "all you can drink" bar service, they can pretty easily afford that when the only wine they serve is Wayne Gretzky or something equivalent.
Fortunately most of these cutbacks happened circa 2012-2015 (just before you came along) and there have been no more since, so maybe they've hit bottom. But in short, the "first class" meal service on VIA is more or less equivalent to what you get on an airline in long-haul Y except that they are more generous with the booze and the plates aren't made of plastic. It's not like it was ever fine dining to begin with, but at least I used to feel like the meal service added something to the value of the product, whereas now I'd honestly be just as happy bringing my own sandwich.
I also hate the refurbished carriages with the gaping abyss between you and the non-extendable meal tray for food to fall into (unless you're extremely obese). And the new seats are uncomfortable as hell.
Anyhow, that's my cold Camembert whine for today - I've been meaning to post a good VIA rant for the last couple of years but never got round to it, so this was it. It's gotten so bad I'm actually beginning to wonder what things are like in all those other cars they have tacked on to the back of car 1...
