[Removed user]

26 October 2011 at 10:04:46 #804754

I’m not ashamed to admit I was a total dimwit – at the last minute, when trying to decide what pass to buy, I quickly mapped out our travels (very limited this time, a few days in Rapperswil on foot, a day trip to Lucerne, and a full week in Locarno for hiking) and checked fares on the SBB site. In my ignorance, I did not notice that the system was automatically assuming I had a half-fare card when it gave me prices for each trip. GAH. My (wrong) math showed that for our travels, the half fare card by itself would cost a tad more than paying (what I thought) was full fare for our limited travels. I don’t know if you can change the settings permanently on the site, or if this happens for everyone, but make sure the “half fare travel card” isn’t checked when you are looking for full fare prices to create your spreadsheet….. Odds are I’m the only dummy around here! At least I didn’t travel like I did last year, when I was on a train/boat/bus several times a day!

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[Annika]

29 October 2011 at 11:02:46 #834397

Hi KaraBoo! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. You’re right, the SBB site automatically shows half fare prices. You have to select the regular fares manually before seeing the actual prices you’d pay without any type of rail pass. I’m sure you’re not the only one missing this! Did you use a Swiss Half Fare Card in the end, or not? I hope you enjoyed your stay in Switzerland anyway!

For other readers of this post: this and this FAQ on calculating which rail pass is best, may come in handy.