[Removed user]

11 August 2010 at 8:44:34 #803952

My daughter is traveling in Europe and meeting us in Switerland for 8 days. We are going to purchase Swiss Passes for us when we arrive. We will be traveling from Zurich to Lucerne and Lucerne to Wengen, including boat rides, museum visits, high mountain lifts and trains etc. She has a Eurail pass that is good in Switzerland. Do we meed to purchase an additional pass for her as well? Which pass do you recommend? Are discounts offered since she already has a Eurail pass? Thank you so much for your advice.

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[Arno]

11 August 2010 at 15:34:47 #831674

Hello mzmarcia. A Eurail Pass includes free traveling on most regular railways and some boats (Lake Lucerne, Lake Thun, Lake Brienz) in Switzerland. It offers discounts on a couple of mountain lifts (Gornergrat, Jungfrau, Pilatus, Rigi, Titlis) (the Swiss Pass offers discounts on much more of them). The several types of Eurail Passes are listed here. Please click the one your daughter will be using to find more details about the included discounts. Usually an additional pass it is not worth the money, unless you are planning to use a lot of lifts not included in the Eurail Pass. In that case you can consider the Swiss Half Fare Card which grants a 50% discount on the same network as the Swiss Pass.

Enjoy your stay!

[Removed user]

11 August 2010 at 16:43:05 #831675

Thanks, Amo, for your advice. Now I have more questions. My husband and I were planning on purchasing the 8 day Swiss Saver Pass, partly because of the ease of use by not having to purchase individual tickets. That benefit no longer applies if we have to go to the ticket window to purchase indivdual tickets for my daughter. Do we think that we should get the half fare card for us as well? We begin and end in Zurich. Our plans include boat rides on lake Lucerne and Brienz, (when in Wengen,) and Mt Rigi or the Golden Round Trip to Pilatus. We may visit Lake Geneva and Chillon Castle, and/or Bern if the weather is bad in the Bernense Oberland. We need to travel from Lucerne to Wengen, where we plan to do extensive hiking, so we will probably use quite a few of the high mountain lifts, gondola, cog trains, that are only covered 25-50% with the Swiss Pass. I believe that the 50% discount applies with the half fare card, including Jungfrau, is that right? I think that the half fare card would be the best choice if our train travel was limited to Zurich-Lucerne and the BO, but I am concerned that if we end up going to Bern or Geneva/Montreau we will be racking up quite a bit of additional fares. I know that it is difficult to give me a definative answer since my travel plans are not concrete, but if you could give me your best advice on which pass we should give I would really appreciate it.

[Arno]

12 August 2010 at 4:29:20 #831676

You’re welcome! A definative answer is indeed quite difficult. To make it a bit easier, we can focus on just the regular train rides, as the discounts on lifts and mountain trains are identical for the Swiss Saver Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card, with just a few exceptions. The most important exceptions are:

• Wengen-Jungfraujoch: 25% discount with the Swiss Saver Pass, 50% discount with the Swiss Half Fare Card.
• Rigi: free with the Swiss Saver Pass, 50% discount with the Swiss Half Fare Card.

The prices for the regular trains can be found easily through the timetable. I will list some tickets you’ll probably need. These are the prices per person:

• Zurich Airport – Lucerne: CHF 27
• Lucerne – Arth Goldau (start of the Rigi trip) – Lucerne: CHF 23.60
• Lucerne – Wengen: CHF 43.20
• Wengen – Interlaken Ost – Wengen (2x for the boat trips): CHF 52.80
• Wengen – Bern – Wengen: CHF 78.40
• Wengen – Montreux – Wengen: CHF 122.40
• Wengen – Zurich Airport: CHF 64.20

In total this would be CHF 411.60 without a pass. It would be CHF 99 + CHF 205.80 = CHF 304.80 with a Swiss Half Fare Card. All these trips would be free with a Swiss Saver Pass which costs CHF 320 per person.

So there’s hardly any difference in price between these passes for just the regular trains. However, the Swiss Saver Pass also includes free trips to Mount Rigi and on the lakes. Also, it is still the more convenient option as there are several trips which are free with both the Swiss Saver Pass and Eurail (most regular trains and the boat trips), so you don’t need to purchase tickets in those cases. The only disadvantage of the Swiss Saver Pass is that the discount rate for the Jungfraujoch is “only” 25%.

All in all, I would personally prefer the Swiss Saver Pass in your case. It’s more convenient and most probably cheaper as well. I hope this helps!

[Removed user]

12 August 2010 at 17:46:56 #831677

Thanks, Amo. I appreciate your taking the time to do all of the calculations. We are off for Switzerland tomorrow! So very excited!

Marcia