[Anonymous]

8 February 2023 at 1:08:02 #829027

Hi there.

I am trying to figure out what the fees are and how to exchange my SBB Semi-flexible international ticket from Zurich to Berlin. We purchased a 1st class fare with seat reservation 3 days ago for the summer. I just want to exchange the ticket for the same route/train later that day. The SBB site said Saver Ticket: Exchange possible up to one day before the 1st day of validity / no refund. I have followed all of the links on SBB site to read all of the Refund/Exchange pages. The only instructions are to send a refund form or call a Swiss phone number with what seems to be an additional charge per minute. I can’t find any information about another way to do this.

Also when I search for the new time now, the fare has gone up. Would I have to pay the difference if I exchange as well as a fee? The price went up over 30 CHF in a few days (over 30% increase). I also want to choose my new seat in 1st class (in single row) as that’s why I paid for the upgrade.

Thanks for any info you can provide. Also thanks for all the great info on the site and Rail section (including FAQs).

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[User]

Reply 1 of 3 • 8 February 2023 at 12:00:55 #950683

Hi Jan S,

Well to MySwissAlps.

Thank you for your complimentary words for our website, that means a lot.

I am sorry to hear you have had trouble finding a solution for exchanging your ticket. I, too have researched and have the same results. That said, will you be in the position to visit a staffed SBB office, when you arrive in Switzerland or is time too tight? Otherwise, perhaps a phone call to the SBB hotline would be sensible if you are requiring an immediate response, per se.

Kind regards,

Yolanda

[User]

Reply 2 of 3 • 9 February 2023 at 21:18:35 #950684

Thanks Yolanda. We phoned SBB and got a confusing response. Our 1st class ticket is a “Sparepreis Europa” (Saver…not Super Saver). Ticket has printed on it “Refund not possible/ Exchange possible”. The agent said that we could not exchange the ticket now and that we had to buy a full fare ticket (raising the price from 71 CHF to 172 CHF)!!! . Then they said we could call again to get a refund for the original “Sparepreis Europa” ticket. This doesn’t make sense as we paid extra for the original “semi-flexible” ticket. We would be paying more than double our ticket price to exchange the ticket. The phone call to SBB cost about 8CHF in long distance charges. We are trying to get some advice before phoning again and talking to someone else. We booked 4 months in advance to get a particular seat, so we don’t want to wait until day of travel at the train station.

Any advice please?

[Anna]

Reply 3 of 3 • 10 February 2023 at 15:35:32 #950685

Hi Jan S,

I’m sorry you can’t get refund for your train tickets. A semi-flexible ticket allows you to exchange it for a new one in case you change your plans. But as you mentioned, you will have to pay extra for any price increase.

You can use the contact form on the SBB website if you need further clarification.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Anna