Swiss Half Fare Card: when to buy train tickets
A traveler is planning a trip to Switzerland from April 29 to May 6, visiting Zurich, Interlaken, Zermatt, and Geneva. They are seeking advice on purchasing the Swiss Half Fare Card and train tickets, as well as clarifying fare fluctuations they noticed on the SBB website. They ultimately decided to get the Swiss Travel Pass for convenience.
- Buy the Swiss Half Fare Card at the airport or in advance, as both options are available.
- For flexibility, you can buy train and mountain excursion tickets at the stations.
- Prices for train tickets can vary, so always check for standard fares rather than special offers for accurate comparisons.
- Using a Swiss Travel Pass allows you to travel more flexibly, covering many local transit options as well.
AI-generated summary-
Hello, myself and GF would be traveling between Apr 29 and May 6.
Our general plan is:
– Land in Zurich and take the train right away to Interlaken, 2 nights.
– Travel to Zermatt, 1 night.
– Travel to Geneva, 2 nights.
– Travel to Zurich, 2 nights and then fly home.
We used the amazing spreadsheet and came to the conclusion that Half Fare Card is the best option by far (~CHF 300 diff).
Questions are
1. Should we buy the half fare ahead of time or can we just get it at the station in the airport?
2. Train tickets and all of the cablecar/cogwheel tickets – can we just buy them at the stations? Looking in sbb.ch I see the occupancy sometime is red.
3. In sbb.ch it looks like sometimes, for same train (example IC8) on same route sometimes the price is 33 and sometimes 58? Does this make sense?
Thanks 🙂
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Hi going ch,
1. Yes, you can purchase the Swiss Half Fare Card in advance. Purchase options here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/price
2. Yes, you can buy train tickets in advance. Purchase options are listed here: https://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerlandhalffare/price. For mountain excursions, some tickets are available directly from the Switzerland Travel Centre: shop.switzerlandtravelcentre.com
3. This question is not so clear. But I’m guessing you are probably seeing regular and supersaver tickets on the SBB screen. For explanation on how point to point tickets work, please refer to this link: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerland
Let us know if you need more info.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you Anna!
Is there ANY benefit to buying any of those tickets in advance? We are trying to stay flexible due to weather, but also have no idea if it will be full in some excursions.
About (3), here is an example: imgur.com/a/WmOwmSZ.
Same route, same class, same everything except the time.
Is this usually because of amount of people? This is a huge difference.
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Hi going_ch!
Yes, in some cases it’s best to get tickets in advance. An example is the Saver Day Pass. If you plan to make a relatively long and expensive trip in 1 day, a Saver Day Pass might be much cheaper than a regular discounted ticket. Its lowest possible fare is CHF 29 with a Swiss Half Fare Card. But prices fluctuate, and in general you can best book as early as possible for the best fare. Please find explanation at http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass and http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass/price.
As for the price differences you’re seeing in the timetable: that can happen. Sometimes Supersaver tickets are available. If they are, prices can differ a lot depending on availability, expected occupancy of the specific train, et cetera. Beware that Supersaver tickets come with limitations, as explained at https://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerland.
You can find options to buy discounted tickets at https://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerlandhalffare/price. Some also offer Supersaver tickets, if available. The explanation at each reseller explains how to indicate you’ll have a Swiss Half Fare Card.
Hey Annika and thank you!!
We actually plan to do as little expensive train journeys as possible per day.
It will mostly be Interlaken > Zermatt > Geneva > Zurich on ways.
Each of those days will include only “local” (as in mountain and the like) excursions which are not counted as free anyway.
The only time we will do a long trip is Zurich to-and-from Rigi and Lucerne, but we chose an organized pre-paid trip for that.
I am asking about pre-ordering tickets simply because we don’t want to commit to anything, with possibility of rain and all.
Thanks for the Saver Day Pass info, I will try and put that into the sheet – though for now it doesn’t look like will compensate for the CHF 240 diff.
I attached the sheet with the numbers 🙂
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Hi again!
I assume you’re entering fares for 2 persons and that you’re comparing an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass) to a Swiss Half Fare Card (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard)?
In that case, the overall outlines of your calculations look fine. But some of the numbers aren’t completely accurate. For example:
- A full-fare single ride Zurich Airport-Interlaken Ost would cost CHF 74 per person, so CHF 148 in total.
- A full-fare single ride Interlaken Ost-Zermatt is CHF 83 per person, so CHF 166 in total.
- A full-fare single ride Geneva-Zurich is CHF 88 per person, so CHF 176 in total.
You might have been entering fares based on cheaper Supersaver or Saver Day Pass fares you’ve seen in the timetable. In reality, you can’t expect those to be available for your actual travel dates and times. Such details might seem silly, but they can make a difference for the outcome (although they probably won’t in your specific case). For a fair comparison you’d best enter the normal, non-discounted fares.
Supersaver fares are explained here: https://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerland. The section “How to find ticket prices” at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable explains how to find full-fare, non-discounted ticket prices.
I’m not sure if I understand your remark about Saver Day Passes compensating for the CHF 240 difference. With a Swiss Half Fare Card, you can get discounted Saver Day Passes (https://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass/price). I’m suggesting those for your longer and more expensive transfers, such as Interlaken Ost-Zermatt, instead of normal discounted tickets. If you book Saver Day Passes far ahead, you can save quite a lot compared to normal discounted tickets. In your case the savings might not be that big though: you’ll start traveling quite soon and Saver Day Pass fares are usually higher if you book them shortly before traveling.
But please let me know if I’m misunderstanding your remark :-).
I hope this helps!
Thank you Annika!
Yes, you are right – I am calculating 2 persons, forgot to say 🙂
And yes I am comparing in that image a non-pass vs STP vs HFC.
As for the fares you said – now I am confused; attaching a search I did just now of Interlaken OST-Zermatt, as you can see fares are all over the place (1 person so I would double this).
Same 2 trains (RE vs IC61) but fares range from 37 to 83 per person.
For Geneva-Zurich, fares range 38 to 40 per person.
Am I missing something with the search?
I am also searching in omio.com, there prices are also weird.
About SDP I asked – you are not misunderstanding – I assume I have to get this per day (as noted by it’s name!).
I guess what you mean is – “get the SDP only for the day you will do the long train rides, but not for the days you will do small excursions).
EDIT: I have added a calculation of SDP for select days ( just those that we will have the long train rides on) + HFC.
Without the HFC, the SDP is just not worth it – it comes out much more expensive, since the long train rides we only do 1 way.
Thanks again, this helps a lot!
Hi going_ch!
There’s nothing weird about the prices you’re seeing. They can vary a lot, due to the availability (or lack of availability) of flexible saver offers such as Supersaver tickets and Saver Day Passes. Resellers like Omio reflect that too. The fares in the red buttons you see are the lowest possible “from”-prices for any specific connection, but you’ll have to do more than that to see the actual non-discounted fares.
Those “from”-prices are tricky to work with when comparing normal prices to rail pass options. The “from”-fares you’re currently seeing only count if you buy those tickets now. But if you get your tickets shortly before traveling, the fares can be very different from what you’re seeing today, for example because the cheaper Supersaver tickets you’re seeing now are sold out by then. That’s why non-discounted, standard fares are best for a fair comparison.
I recommend you follow the 4 steps under “How to find ticket prices” at https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable exactly. That should get you to the full fares without any discount.
I hope that works for you!
Hi Annika!
I think I understand now:
“Under “Choice of ticket”, avoid special fares such as the Saver Day Pass and Supersaver tickets. Pick “Point-to-point Ticket” instead.”
The “Point-to-point Ticket” is the “real” full fare price if we are not buying ahead of time.
Attached example.
I will revise my calculations with full point-to-point now. I have a feeling STP will be worth it, if only for the convenience.
Thanks again! 🙂
EDIT: added recalculation of the full point-to-point fares.
Still CHF 167 diff but I never included any in-city transit which obviously would lower the diff even more.
If we choose to go to Lucerne by ourselves then it will be obvious STP will be worth it.
Thanks again for the pointers!!!
Hi going_ch,
Happy to hear it’s all clear now. Finding the right pass can be a daunting task ;-)!
To me, the remaining price difference would make the Swiss Travel Pass worth it. And you’re right: trams, trains and buses within larger towns would be fully covered as well. The flexible way in which you can travel with this pass is great. You can easily adjust your plans while you’re on the go, without worrying about when and which train tickets to buy. But that’s a personal preference of course.
Thanks again Annika, we just bought the STP for 8 days! 🙂
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