1-Day Travelpass for Children and Swiss Passes

  • dak64
    Participant
    5 posts
    30 September 2014 at 19:46:21 #806673

    Does anyone know if a 1-Day Travelpass for Children can be used in combination with an adult traveling on an Swiss Transfer Ticket?

    Here is the dilemma… Children under age 16 can travel free with accompanying parents with the Swiss Family Card. But I have a 16-year old who therefore does not qualify. But 16 year olds are eligible for 1 -Day Travelpass (16 CHF at SBB web site for “each child between 6 and 16”). Which states “Up to four children can travel with each adult, who must be in possession of a valid ticket.” I have confirmed that the SBB web site will let me purchase this for a 16 year old after entering date-of-birth. Does a Swiss Transfer Ticket qualify as a “valid ticket”. If yes then buying two 1-day travelpass is a lot less expensive than an adult transfer ticket for a 16 year old.

    Thank you,

    DAK

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    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    1 October 2014 at 6:39:34 #841186

    Hi DAK,

    Thanks for your post! The 1-day travelpass is for children under 16 years old as well. I don’t think the SBB website is checking for age when filling out a birth date, so it would not notify you. There is a Swiss Youth Pass for youth up to 25 years old, but there’s no discounted Swiss Transfer Ticket for youth.

    dak64
    Participant
    5 posts
    1 October 2014 at 14:06:27 #841187

    It appears you are correct that this part of the SBB web site is not validating the date-of-birth for purchase of the 1-day travelpass (I tried entering a older age and it did not reject it). I had assumed that it was checking because when ordering the Swiss Family Card it does validate date-of-birth.

    It also makes sense that SBB should have consistent policy across all ticket types with respect to age cut of for child fares, however the language used for the different tickets is quite distinct and clear…

    On the Swiss Pass pages it states… “Children under the age of 16 travel free of charge” no ambiguity there.

    On the Discounts for Children page it says… “Children under 6 years travel free of charge when accompanied by a person holding a valid ticket.” and then further goes on to say “When accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket, children aged 6 to 16 years can travel 2nd class for CHF 16 for the whole day.” And on the 1-day travelpass for children it says “each child between 6 and 16.”

    I’ve checked the german/french/italian versions of the page to make sure that meaning was not lost in translation. So, I believe that the SBB web site is quite clear… 16 year olds qualify for child fares for regular ticketing and are eligible for significant discount “When accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket.” and I see no reason as to why a Swiss Transfer Ticket for the adult would not qualify.

    The links in your reply point to MySwissAlps pages, but the authority on this topic would be the SBB’s own web site from which I quote… http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/tickets-for-switzerland/children.html

    DAK

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    2 October 2014 at 8:32:05 #841188

    Hello DAK,

    Children of 16 years old do not qualify for the 1-day travelpass, the Juniorcard or the Swiss Family Card. All these offers are for children up to 15 years old inclusive, so before their 16th birthday. The only exception is when the parents have a Swiss Travel System pass (such as the Swiss Transfer Ticket), and the child turns 16 during while the pass is valid. In such a case, the child can still use the Swiss Family Card until the pass expires.

    The information about the child age is ambiguous sometimes, and can easily be misinterpreted. That’s why we have our own page with a summary about this, with links to the SBB website for further reference. I just asked the SBB to be 100% sure, and this is their quote: “The day card for children is only available for children from the age of 6 to 15.99. The same age limit is valid for the Junior Card and the Swiss Family Card“.

    I hope this clarifies the matter. Please feel free to let me know if I can be of further assistance.

    dak64
    Participant
    5 posts
    2 October 2014 at 12:40:25 #841189

    Yes, thank you for clarifying with SBB. This is very helpful.

    DAK

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