posted
Great way to encourage continued rail travel, right? (Of course, the high price of the tickets, both peak and off-peak, is no help and most likely led to this.)
quote:The North American Rail Pass is being discontinued. The last day to purchase a North American Rail Pass is September 30, 2008. If you purchase a pass up to and including this date, travel must begin by September 30, 2009. Once travel has started, your North American Rail Pass is valid for 30 days.
smitty195 Member # 5102
posted
According to last month's issue of Trains Magazine, I think there will be a USA pass. I might have my facts wrong on this (as I've never purchased one), but I think the North American Rail Pass is being discontinued----which means you can not travel through the US and Canada on this pass. If you purchased one of these passes, you HAD TO travel in Canada as a requirement of the pass. But with the new pass, you don't have to travel in Canada.
Can someone clarify this better in case I've got it wrong? Mudrock---I'm sure you know about this one.
posted
Up until last year I purchased a North America Rail Pass annually for trips from Toronto to Vancouver to California and back to Canada through Chicago and Buffalo. I don't think I saved a great deal of money, but it was still a useful product since there was no tax in Canada on either the pass or sleeping car space. If you didn't have the pass, a Canadian was required to pay GST and in some provinces local tax on the tickets. Although the website may indicate pass holders must travel in both Canada and the U.S., in fact that is not true. If you want to travel in one country and not go to the other you can certainly do that. I know the last time I wrote about the NARP, someone on this board got all hot and bothered regarding the issue of whether it was permitted to only travel in one country. There is no doubt you can, so I wouldn’t be concerned with those who may say otherwise.
posted