Upgrade Swiss Travel Pass from 2nd to 1st class?
A traveler named Rivergirl104 is wondering if they can upgrade their already purchased 2nd Class Swiss Travel Pass to 1st Class. They seek guidance on how to do this and whether it's worth the extra cost.
- You can buy a class upgrade for a specific route at any SBB station or through the SBB Mobile App.
- Upgrading from 2nd to 1st Class after purchasing may incur an administrative fee; it's often easier to just buy an upgrade for the specific trip you want.
- First Class offers extra comfort but is usually not necessary for short trips; consider it for longer journeys or when trains are busy.
AI-generated summary-
can I upgrade after I’ve already purchased a 2nd class pass?
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You can’t easily upgrade a 2nd Class Pass to 1st Class. If you do it will cost at least an administrative fee. Talk to the retailer you purchased the pass from.
But why bother? If you are travelling with a 2nd Class Swiss Travel Pass but want to travel 1st Class on any particular trip you can buy a Class upgrade at any SBB station or using the SBB Mobile App or here bit.ly/2rZEIXh. You need to buy a route specific upgrade.
If you buy on line you need to nominate a Half-fare Card reduction to get the correct price. An upgrade will cost half the difference between 1st and 2nd class full-fares.
Hi Rivergirl104,
There’s no real advantage to being on first class other than comfort and space if the train is very busy, which doesn’t happen often. I would actually only recommend it on longer journeys anyway.
If you feel the need, you can always sit in first class and then pay the difference to the conductor on board. I’ve done this many times!
Hope this helps, more on how to use your pass here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/howtouse
Maria.
Hi Maria,
“If you feel the need, you can always sit in first class and then pay the difference to the conductor on board. I’ve done this many times!“
I’ve heard of this being possible on lake boats but never in regard to trains. I’ve certainly never seen it mentioned in connection to trains in this forum. See also http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/buying-a-first-class-ticket.
Can you confirm that you believe this applies to ANY train route?
Hi Rockoyster
I used to commute a lot all over Switzerland with my previous job and I’ve never had any issues doing this. Having said that I’ve done it mostly on long distance trains, and I think I did it as well on interregio trains a couple of times as the Geneva – Lausanne route gets very full sometimes.
I’ll ask the conductor next time if there is a rule 🙂
Maria.
Hi Maria,
Rather than commuting, the vast majority of correspondents to this forum are on holiday and first class can make it all that bit special as well as offering more comfort with less hassle. On the lake boats I would always recommend first class when there is one.
Some years ago, we upgraded to first class after my wife injured her back while tobogganing. We have used first class in Switzerland ever since. Swiss trains and boats do get busy and the helpful SBB timetable offers occupancy predictions for most trains.
Andrew
Hi Andrew
Thanks for your suggestion, I will try 1st class next time I’m on a boat!
Most people that ask this question on the forum assume that there will be no seats in 2nd class, of course that may not be the case here 🙂
Great to have the range of opinions here for Rivergirl to decide.
By the way Rivergirl104, if you want to see occupancy rates that Andrew is referring to, you can look at the advanced timetable here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Maria.
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