An email just came in to us stating the changes to the VIA Rail Préférence program that were to take place this week are now delayed. The rail company has not provided details of when they expect the changes to be implemented.
March 27 Update: The revamped program will now launch on May 27, 2023
The revamped program that was to launch on March 25 included the following:
- Earning points on travel extras
- Dynamic Points Redemption pricing
- Taxes/Fees will be charged on rewards
- More redemption options
- Points transfers between members
- Elite Status Benefits to begin immediately instead of at the start of the next year
You can read all about the changes that will take place sometime in the future in our post from January:
Wrapping it up
VIA Rail has postponed the launch of the revamped Préférence that was supposed to take place on March 25, 2023. There is no indication as to why it is being postponed nor is there a set date in place for the new program. All VIA Rail has communicated is:
Please note that these changes will not take effect on March 25 as previously announced, but at a later date that will be communicated to you in the coming weeks. However, the changes themselves remain the same as those communicated in January.
My only guess in this case is some sort of technical difficulties in their back end system is delaying the launch since all the reported changes will still be taking place. Perhaps VIA wants to make sure everything is working properly and not fall into the same issues that we saw with Scene+ when they first launched.
Image via VIA Rail