Originally Posted by Andrew Webber
I think some Conductor responsibilities went to the guy driving the train and some went to the Service Manager, right?
The four discount coupons I got for becoming Premier are "half-price in VIA1" as I received the previous year at the Privilege level (the agents call them upgrade certificates which is the effectd, VIA1 for the price of full-fare, I mean Liberty, in Comfort class). But each of them offers 3 other value options, e.g. a big discount in silver&blue, or 1750 bonus points, or take a friend free. Each of the four has different options, though each is also a VIA1 discount coupon. Makes sense, since not everyone wants a VIA coupon, did they do it with Privilege too?
=aw
Indeed. The second engineer is now known as the ICLE (In Charge Locomotive Engineer) and he or she is the one who decides when the train will depart. The SM only advises: "All doors are closed and secure." Similarly, once a train stops it is the ICLE who advises the SM and other staff that they may open the doors. At some stations (those that don't have a large staff), the ICLE has to handle baggage as well.
Until a few years ago, the Preference "upgrade" coupons were just that: upgrade to VIA 1 on payment of full coach fare. The half-price deal is better. The two Privilege level coupons offer the same choice as two of the Premier coupons. Right now, I can't recall the specifics but I can look it up later if anyone is interested. This change in coupons came partly as a result of a focus group to which I was invited. The 10 of us agreed unanimously that it was a good idea to offer alternatives to "VIA 1 half price" (especially to those members who do not live in the "corridor") but we wanted that VIA 1 option to remain for all. It's nice to know that at least sometimes VIA listens to its customers.