Swiss Travel Pass & Bernese Oberland Pass
Karen and her husband are planning a trip to Switzerland from September 5 to September 21. They want to buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for 15 days and the Bernese Oberland Regional Pass for 8 days but have questions about using and activating both passes effectively.
You can use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for days when you're not using the Bernese Oberland Regional Pass without any issue. Make sure to activate your Swiss Travel Pass online before your travel day, but it's not necessary to do it the night before; you can do it anytime. The Bernese Oberland Regional Pass only needs to be validated once upon receipt, so you can start using it right away.
AI-generated summary-
My husband and I will be traveling throughout Switzerland from Sept. 5 – Sept 21 & we are thinking that we would buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for 15 days AND the BerneseOberland Regional Pass for 8 days. It is my understanding that the Swiss Travel Pass must be used/activated on the same 8 days that we are using the Bernese Oberland Pass. If this is correctthen these are my questions:
1. Since it is a 15 Day flex pass, can we use just the Swiss Pass by itself for the first 4 days, not use any pass for days 5 & 6, and then use just the Swiss Pass again on days 7 & 8… On days 9-16 we would use the Swiss Pass AND the 8 day Berner Oberland Pass; day 17 would be just the Swiss Pass? Will this meet the requirements?
2. How do we activate the Swiss Pass on the days we will be using the Berner Oberland Pass
Many thanks!
Karen
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Hi Karen,
If you would like to buy the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland for a discounted price, you have to use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex as well – a travel day of the Swiss Travel Pass Flex is used on all days of the Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland. (More details: http://www.myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland/price). In this case, you can do as you described: you use your Swiss Travel Pass Flex for 4 days, then you use no pass for 2 days, then again, you use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex, then you use both of the passes (STP Flex with RPBO).
If you do not want to get the discounted Regional Pass Bernese Oberland, you do not have to use your Swiss Travel Pass Flex. In this case, you can use them separately: for example, you use the Swiss Travel Pass Flex for 3 days, then you use the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland for 8 days and then you continue to use your Swiss Travel Pass Flex.. etc. If you do it like this, you might need a Swiss Travel Pass Flex with fewer days, so that might be cheaper in total.
Make sure to calculate which option is best for you. (You can use our calculation spreadsheet: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass)
You can read about how to use your Swiss Travel Pass Flex here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpassflex/howtouse.
Make sure to check the validity maps of these passes: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpassflex/validity and http://www.myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland/validity.
Did this answer your question? Please, let me know if I didn’t explain well enough, sometimes it happens 🙂
Ildiko
Hi Ildiko!
Thank you so much for your response, your answer is exactly what I was looking for. I’m so relieved to know that we can do what I laid out in my post. I did look into getting the Flex Pass for fewer days; however, with the RBOP discount, it is cheaper to get the 15 day Flex & 8 day RBOP.
I have read the info in the links that you sent and from my understanding, it seems that the evening before we use the Flex Pass we need to “activate” a “travel day” online the night before, is that correct? If we will be using the Flex pass for 4 consecutive days, can that be done at one time or must we do it the night before each travel day? Also, I guess that same question applies to the 8 days we will be using the Flex Pass & the RBOP at the same time… do we activate the Flex pass each day or can we do all 8 days at one time? It appears that the RBOP only needs to be validated once, at the time of receipt, is that correct?
Many, Many Thanks!!
Karen
Hi Karen,
You log into the website (activateyourpass.com) anytime, it doesn’t have to be the night before your trip. You can select a date from the calendar. You can obtain your day tickets also on the day you are traveling, only, make sure to get the day tickets before you start your trip, not when you’re already on board.
Validation is not required in the case of the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland, if the pass contains all information (start date, passenger names and passport numbers), and there’s nothing left to fill out. So you just start using it: http://www.myswissalps.com/regionalpassberneseoberland/howtouse. Officially you need a printout too, so be sure to also print the pass, but if they are not asking for the printed version you can show usually the pdf file from your phone.
Ildiko
Again, I so very much appreciate your help!!!
Karen
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