[Removed user]

12 April 2017 at 5:15:04 #811377

Hi,

I purchased e-ticket version of half fare card for 6 people (we also have 3 children of which 1 would anyway travel free and 2 would be covered under free family card). Some queries:

1. In the e-pass, which is the ‘subscription number’? The 12 digit number at top starting with OT ………… or the 8 digit order number? When I am booking Milan to Brig leg on Trenitalia I see an option for putting in this subscription number to avail partial discount under HTx fare.

2. Also while trying to incorporate the pass in the app, it asks for customer number. I don;t see any 10 digit number in the e-pass. How to do this?

3. Also while booking the half fare card, i had asked for free family card. But I don’t see any link to download that in the download e-pass link sent by SBB. Is it mandatorily to be picked in physical form at train station for further use? Or it will be sent separately?

4. The htx pass booking page did ask for name and age(without specifying for whom) in addition to the passengers for the 6 half fare cards. I put the name and date of birth of the two children who would be covered under family card. When I received the acknowledge mail they were automatically counted with country of residence as ‘Switzerland’. Is there a default typo? Does it need to be corrected? Is that the reason i have not received the family card?

5. Reclarifying an old question in the forum, so while booking train from Milan to Brig the child fare is applicable to the 6-16 year age group. For the 4 yr old in the group, no ticket is required even in Milan to swiss border post leg? I am aware that for a 4 yr old travel is free in Switzerland but in Italy 4-14 are covered under 50% fare discount so I don’t want to get into a problem with ticket collector while I am still in Italy in train.

6. At Spiez station how swift is the platform change? I see a 9 minute train change transit time and movement from platform 4 to 1 while coming from Brig and going to Interlaken. I have 2 seniors with me and don’t want them to have to run to catch the train.

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[Arno]

12 April 2017 at 11:09:36 #861410

Hi Viveksinhas,

Before we look into your other questions I’d like to verify which exact product you purchased. Did you buy a Swiss Half Fare Card (not anything named slightly different) for 6 adults or for 3 adults? Did you buy it from the SBB tourist webshop at http://www.swissrailways.com/ en? What amount did you pay?

If you can attach the e-pass here I can have a look at it.

[Removed user]

12 April 2017 at 11:40:34 #861411

Hi Arno,

Yes, we bought the Swiss Half Fare Card in e-ticket form from https://www.swiss-pass.ch/swiss-half-fare-card/. Actually the back office answered my qs #2, 3 and 4. (Apparently half fare card cannot be incorporated in the SBB pass app; the family card was attached with one of the half fare card e-tickets so that’s sorted too)

But wondering if you can help for Q1, 5 & 6.

Attached one of the half far e-cards, if it helps.

[Arno]

12 April 2017 at 11:56:53 #861412

Hi Viveksinhas,

I don’t know that website but you did get the correct card, so that’s all good. As for your remaining questions:

1. I don’t know what that number is, but you don’t need any numbers to book tickets. Note that there are different passes/cards for Swiss residents. The request for numbers you may see on other websites are most likely referring to those cards. As a tourist you do not need that.

5. If you split this in a Swiss and Italian section you can’t go wrong. You can buy the discounted tickets for Brig to Interlaken (only for the adults) through the website(s) listed on myswissalps.com/traint ickets/switzerlandhalf fare/price. You can buy the full tickets for Milan to Brig through the websites listed on myswissalps.com/traint ickets/italy/price.

Note that in fact your Swiss Half Fare Cards are already valid from Domodossola, the stop before Brig. But discounted tickets from there are harder to obtain. The only way I know is through the Swiss timetable. It does not offer Swiss Half Fare Card discounts, but it does offer Half-Fare travelcard discounts, which is the similar but not identical card for Swiss residents. You can play around with the site to see which options it comes up with.

6. Nine minutes is considered a lot of time to change trains in Switzerland, and Spiez is a small station. Even if the train is late and you would miss the connection, you can just hop on the next train.

[Removed user]

15 April 2017 at 11:37:15 #861413

Tks,

1. So I guess it’s not that much of a hassle booking separately for Italy and Swiss leg. So I would probably book Rome to Domodossola through Trenitalia and then book Domodossola to Interlaken through SBB to avoid the problem of child fare for the 4 yr old.

2. The problem, as you partly highlighted earlier, is that SBB site does not specifically allow discount on ‘half-fare card’ it does allow ‘half-fare travelcard’. Is it okay to put that option even though I have half-fare card and not the travelcard?

3. #6 I was looking to get the super-saver discount so didnt want o miss the train from Spiez to Interlaken with luggage. But sure it’s small change and probably we would be able to cross the walkway to change platforms (is it underground walkway at Spiez?)

[Arno]

15 April 2017 at 18:26:07 #861414

Hi Viveksinhas,

1. Where you book does not matter, you are not restricted to Trenitalia or SBB (the route from Domodossola into Switzerland is not even owned by SBB but by BLS). Booking sites are listed on the pages I linked to in my previous post.

2. Yes, that should work in this case (for Italy). I haven’t done it myself but I don’t know of issues either.

3. There is an overpass and an underpass to change platforms in Spiez.