[Anonymous]

7 August 2022 at 23:52:56 #828000

Hello Everyone- other than the difference in cost, is there any advantage to buying/using the Swiss Half Fare Card vs. not buying the card and paying the direct point to point fares for each of our train travels? I used your excellent spreadsheet and the price difference is very minimal. Wondering if it’s somehow easier to change train tickets/plans if we have the card, or any other advantage or disadvantage to us having to use the card (other than the positive of being able to add additional/unplanned rides up different mountains via cable cars/gondals etc. when we’re in Zermatt?). Thank you in advance for your always helpful input!

[Anna]

Reply 1 of 4 • 8 August 2022 at 6:27:50 #945313

Hi zimmuo,

Whether a railpass is needed at all really depends on your itinerary. If your plan doesn’t include a lot travelling on public transport and mountain excursions, perhaps buying point-to-point tickets is cheaper. Otherwise, a railpass generally saves you money. With the Swiss Half Fare Card, you can also take advantage of cheaper Saver Day Pass and Supersaver tickets:

Hope this helps in some ways.

regards,

Anna

[Annika]

Reply 2 of 4 • 8 August 2022 at 13:01:34 #945314

Hi zimmuo!

Good that you’ve been using the spreadsheet at https://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. A Swiss Half Fare Card (https://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard) does save money for the majority of itineraries, especially if cable cars are involved. The break-even point is at CHF 240 per person you’d otherwise spend on normal, non-discounted tickets. As soon as expenses are higher than CFH 240 per person, you’ll actually save money.

Just to make sure:

• Did you enter all trips you’ve planned, including town-to-town transfers, cable car rides, urban transportation, inbound and outbound trips, et cetera? Only with a complete list of plans you’ll get a fair outcome.
• Did you enter full, non-discounted fares in the column under “Option A: regular full-fare tickets”? The Swiss timetable shows 50% discounted prices by default. You can easily confuse them with the actual regular fares. And if you enter cheaper fares under “Option A”, it can seem like you’re saving less money than is the case in reality. If you suspect this might have gone wrong: the paragraphs about finding standard fares at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable can be helpful.

[User]

Reply 3 of 4 • 8 August 2022 at 21:01:37 #945315

Thank you both for your replies. I wanted to confirm that I cannot purchase a Saver Day Pass for the day I will hopefully be going up the mountain from Zermatt > Gornergrat, is that correct (I will not be leaving that area for anything else on that day, but this is the costliest transportation day for our itinerary (although I know that I will be able to use the Swiff Half Fare Card to receive 50% off the 110CHF fare, I just wanted to confirm that I cannot buy a Saver Day Pass to cover the cost of that 110CHF).

Thank you!

[Anna]

Reply 4 of 4 • 9 August 2022 at 6:12:45 #945316

Hi zimmuo,

Your understanding is correct. The Saver Day Pass is not valid on the cogwheel train from Zermatt to Gornergrat. You will need to pay the full-fare for the trip. But if you have Swiss Half Fare Card , you can buy the ticket at half-price.

Regards,

Anna