Booking child ticket with Swiss Half Fare Card
A traveler named Niru is planning a trip to Switzerland this May with her family, including two young children. She is uncertain about whether she needs to include her 10-year-old son’s information when purchasing train tickets, as children under 12 can travel for free when accompanied by a holder of the Swiss Half Fare Card. She seeks advice to avoid unnecessary ticket charges for her son while maximizing the benefits of the half fare travel card.
- When you buy the Swiss Half Fare Card, request a complimentary Swiss Family Card for children aged 6 to 15 to travel free.
- Only enter details for the adults when purchasing tickets online; show the discounted tickets and cards during inspection.
- The Swiss Family Card is only valid with Swiss Travel System passes, so a point-to-point ticket will not qualify for this benefit.
AI-generated summary-
Hi
I am traveling to Switzerland this May with family (Myself, Husband, 10 years old & 3 years old). We have decided to buy the Swiss Half Fare card for myself and husband. However, even though the cards say that children less than 12 years old travel for free with an accompanying parent who holds a swiss half fare card, when I include the details of my son (10 years) including dob on the SBB website, ticket charges are shown for him. Please clarify if I should include my kids details while buying tickets, or if I can just skip them because they travel for free? In case it is compulsory to include their details while purchasing tickets in advance for my husband and me, please can someone tell me how to avoid those ticket charges for my 10 years old and make full use of the benefits of half fare travel card?
Thanks!
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Hi Niru niraja,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
When you purchase the Swiss Half Fare Card, you can request for a complimentary Swiss Family Card. This card allows children aged 6 to 15 to travel along for free. You can find more details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfamilycard
When you purchase your discounted tickets online, you only need to enter details for you and your husband. During ticket inspection, all you need to do is show your discounted tickets, the Swiss Half Fare Cards and the Swiss Family Card. You can find more information on how to use the Swiss Half Fare Card here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/howtouse
Enjoy your holiday.
regards,
Anna
Thank you so much for the quick response. My doubts are cleared now. Thank you!
Do you need to have a half-fare card to get the Swisss Family Card, or is a point-to-point ticket sufficient for the Family card? I found this on a website and I’m confused about whether I need to buy the half-fare card:
“Children under 16 years of age accompanied by at least one parent
(holding a Swiss Travel System ticket) travel free of charge with the
complimentary Swiss Family Card”
My 14 year-old son and I will be traveling from Zurich to Zermatt and back. We do not have any side trips planned and have Ikon ski passes for use in Zermatt for up to 7 days.
Hello Kubikov,
Yes, in order for your 14-year old to travel for free whilst with you, you would need to apply for a complimentary Swiss Family Card.
You can do this at any staffed rail station in Switzerland or online when you are purchasing your Swiss Travel System ticket. In your case, a valid point-to-point ticket would allow, you would not necessarily need a Swiss Half Fare Card.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Kubikov!
As mentioned by Yolanda, the Swiss Family Card is only valid with Swiss Travel System passes. Those are the Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flex and the Swiss Half Fare Card. You can’t get a Swiss Family Card with normal point-to-point tickets: https://www.myswissalps.com/swissfamilycard.
If you won’t be using one of these passes, you can get your 14-year old a Junior Travelcard instead: http://www.myswissalps.com/juniortravelcard.
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