Are Swiss rail tickets cheaper if bought in advance; how do they work?
Hannelore is planning a 10-day trip to Switzerland with a friend, starting on May 20th. They aim to travel by train to various destinations and seek advice on ticket purchasing, including the Swiss Travel Pass, and how to manage train changes with minimal time. They want to ensure they get the best prices and understand how to handle ticket validity when changing their travel plans.
- Buy tickets directly from SBB for better prices, especially for point-to-point journeys.
- The Swiss Travel Pass can help save on various trains and gondolas, but it won't provide further discounts on already half-fare prices such as Supersaver tickets.
- For train changes at Zurich, 14 minutes is usually enough, especially if you use the lifts to switch platforms.
- You can only use the Swiss Half Fare Pass for the part of the journey within Switzerland; any travel in Italy won't be discounted.
AI-generated summary-
I travel to Switzerland with my friend at 20.5.24 for 10 days. We travel by train some long journeys. I should like to have answers to some my questions:
– Is it useful to buy the traintickets forward from SBB-CFF-FFS ( swiss state railway firm) where the prices were much cheaper than by Omio, where I first looked trains and tickets. Why it was so? Same trains however.
– Are the prices perhaps much more expensive also on same day, if we buy them at switzerland railway stations, when we go there.
– If we buy the tickets forward for one train and we fear, that if we don’t manage in the train changes, because there is so little time and long way to change. Must we change our tickets at the ticketoffice, or can we go straight to next later train with that former ticket.
– If we have buyed tickets forward to some train, and then we want to go with an earlier train. Is it possible? Must we then also change our tickets at the ticketoffice?
– Have they placetickets also at usual trains? I have not found. Is it good idea to buy them also forward or is it unnecessary to buy placetickets. Is there room however? Perhaps they don’t use them normally or is it so?
Is it possible to get answers to these questions from someone.
Thank you very much.
Greetings Hannelore
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Hi Hannelore,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
Standard tickets point-to-point tickets are the same price, what you will find that will vary are the prices for Supersaver tickets. Supersaver tickets are time and date specific and non refundable. So if you missed the connection, you’d need to buy a new ticket. Point-to-point tickets offer you the flexibility of taking any train that day.
More details on both, in the links below:
- Supersaver tickets: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/supersaver-ticket/
- Point-to-point tickets: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/regular-ticket/
Essentially, if you have a regular standard ticket for example for Zurich to Bern for July 10th, you would be able to travel on any train for Zurich to Bern on July 10th. If you indicated a specific route, you would need to follow that specific route. If you had a Supersaver ticket for Zurich to Bern for July 10th, leaving at 9.10am, you could only take this particular train. If you missed it, you would need to purchase a new ticket.
I am not sure what your other plans are whilst here but if you needed flexibility, you could look into a Saver Day Pass (covering all of Switzerland, option to hop on or off any train) or if here for a few days a rail pass could be worth investing in. More details in the below links:
- Saver Day Pass: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/saver-day-pass/
- Swiss rail passes: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/tickets/switzerland/
Just so I am clear, by place tickets – do you mean a seat reservation? Seat reservations are generally not required on trains in Switzerland. They are only necessary if you planning on traveling on one of the panoramic train rides. All explained in the below link:
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Hannelore,
>>> Is it useful to buy the traintickets forward from SBB-CFF-FFS ( swiss state railway firm) where the prices were much cheaper than by Omio, where I first looked trains and tickets. Why it was so? Same trains however.
The prices shown on SBB are half-fare by default, as most Swiss residents have the Half Fare Card: see https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/public-transport/timetable/. If you don’t in fact have a Half Fare Card or Swiss Half Fare Card (the tourist version of the card), you need to double the prices you see on the SBB website to understand how much a journey will cost.
That might explain why the prices on Omio looked more expensive.
Hope this clarifies things!
Alpenrose
Hello
Thank you for your good answers.
I have still some questions.
We fly to Milano 20.5 and spend two nights there. Then by train to Tirano and by Bernina to Chur, one night there. We have already Bernina places and tickets Then we go by train to Zurich, change the train there, 14 min time. Then we go on to Interlaken, change train there 6 min, and go to Grindelwald. There we stay 3 nights and go perhaps to Schilthorn and some other gondolaroutes and use trains to Lauterbrunnen. Then we go by train to Interlaken, change train, and go on to Luzern, where 3 nights and perhaps also to Pilatus And last day we go by train from Luzern to Malpensa aeroporto.
We are going to buy Half price pass, because we could use it with trains and in Grindelwald for mountain gondolas and trains.
My new questions are:
1. Can we use with that cheap super saver price also half price pass 50 % discount. From chur to grindelwald the price was there usual point to point ticket 56, supersaver ticket 34, but with half price pass usual is 28 and supersaver is 17. Does it go so.
This is really difficult, because so many possibilities.
We change train in zurich and there is the station map, where you must go to change trains but you have 14 min time. But no information, that how long the way is. Is it some hundred meters or near 1 kilometer.
Perhaps we cannot get the train. But if the price of exact supersaver tour is already so cheap we can buy a new ticket, if we get late and cannot get at our train.
2. We need trainticket from Luzern to Malpensa airport. The traintrip goes through Switzerland to Italy, Lugano, where we change train and go on to Malpensa airport.
Can we use Swiss half price pass to that whole traintrip or only that part of the price which the train goes in Switzerland, because it goes abroad? They mention there only one price. How it goes when you go abroad from Switzerland.
Or is it so that we get half price reduction only to the border and not for the trip in Italy.
3. The train tour on Wednesday 29.5 at 10.18 in the morning from Luzern goes straight to Milano Malpensa airport, where it comes 14.50. Malpensa airport is at Lugano area. First I did not find it. We thought that we must go to Milano first and from there to Malpensa airport.
Then I read on your sides, when you said to someone, that the train goes straight to airport, but you must sit in the last train cabins, because only last part of the train goes to airport and other somewhere else. How many last cabins ?
Is it same thing with this traintour. There in the timetable they mentioned that in one village they change train numbers. Does that mean just that only one part goes to airport? Or what was that number changing?
I hope you understand my writings, what I mean, because I am not very good in this english writing.
Thank you very much
Hannelore
Hi Hannelore,
>>> 1. Can we use with that cheap super saver price also half price pass 50 % discount. From chur to grindelwald the price was there usual point to point ticket 56, supersaver ticket 34, but with half price pass usual is 28 and supersaver is 17. Does it go so.
No, the prices you are seeing are already the half-fare prices. There is no further discount.
>>> We change train in zurich and there is the station map, where you must go to change trains but you have 14 min time. But no information, that how long the way is. Is it some hundred meters or near 1 kilometer.
You didn’t mention which train you are planning to take from Chur, but you will probably arrive at Zürich Hauptbahnhof on one of the street-level platforms (Platforms 3 to 18). If you are going to Grindelwald via Bern, you will probably be departing from Platform 31, which is underground. Fourteen minutes will be enough time to change trains.
To get to Platform 31 from the street-level platforms, the quickest way is to take the lift. When you arrive in Zürich Hauptbahnhof, walk ahead on the platform you arrive on, right to the end of the platform where all the shops etc are. The lift down to Platform 31 is close to the end of Platform 5. You can see it here:
>>> We need trainticket from Luzern to Malpensa airport………is it so that we get half price reduction only to the border and not for the trip in Italy.
That’s right, you buy a ticket for the whole route from Luzern to Malpensa, but the the half-fare reduction will only be applied for the sector from Luzern to Cantello-Gaggiolo. If you buy your ticket through the SBB website, when you start the purchase procedure, there will be a field called Discount cards where you can select Half Fare Travelcard to apply the discount.
>>> Then I read on your sides, when you said to someone, that the train goes straight to airport, but you must sit in the last train cabins, because only last part of the train goes to airport and other somewhere else. How many last cabins ?
Yes, it will be exactly the same as described here:
https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/train-lugano-to-malpensa-t2-with-stp/#post-1494388
When you board the train in Lugano, there will be signs near the door on each carriage that show the destination for that particular carriage, so just walk towards the rear of the train until you find a carriage that has Malpensa as the destination.
I hope this answers your questions!
Alpenrose
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