[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 9:36:52 #815267

Sir,

I have few queries:

1. What do I gain buying Swiss Travel Pass online? As I can understand buying in Airport is good if I am not sure of start date as buying online means I can’t change the dates later? Does there is big Que in the stations/ Airport or if the price is higher there? Why I should buy online? In fact buying online means courier charges will be extra to me which is not there in Airport and Stations.

2. In case I gain buying online be it a money savings or effort savings or time savings, how early should I buy as I understand hard tickets will be sent to home.

3. Does it make sense to add Gornergrat, Matterhorn & Titlis with online STP? I see there is column for start date? Does it mean I have to use Gornergrat or Matterhorn or Titlis on that day i.e Start date only or I can use it any day till my STP is valid?

4. At last but not the least does buying all these Gornergrat or Matterhorn or Titlis tickets online saves me anything on money or effort there or time there? in a nut shell what I gain buying now?

Thanks and have a lovely day ahead.

Regards…Samrat

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[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 14:17:35 #881944

Hi Samrat and welcome to MySwissAlps!

1. The biggest advantages to buying a Swiss Travel Pass online are: getting it emailed to you for printing at home (free), having electronic back-ups and getting it before landing (so no waiting in office lines – you just jump on the train and go). But If you won’t know what dates you are traveling in Switzerland until after you arrive I would buy it here.
2. It will can be emailed to you – make sure you buy it about 3/4 days before departure but in 99% of cases you get the pass emailed to you within minutes of ordering it.
3. You don’t have to choose where you go with the Swiss Travel Pass ahead of time. If you select a start date of June 1 (for an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass) you can travel wherever you want until June 9 at 05:00. Gornergrat and Mt. Titlis tickets are discounted by 50% with the Swiss Travel Pass. You can’t actually go to the Matterhorn – you go to Gornergrat for the views of the Matterhorn.
4. They are the same price online or in person. Buying online for some things makes a lot of sense usually – but for mountains visits I would wait until the day of your trip to the mountain before buying. Make sure the weather looks good first!

[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 15:14:14 #881945

Hi Lucas.

Thanks for your clear and crisp reply. It was of immense help. One thing is clear from your post is that I don’t require physical cards as such. I was wondering why is than they charge 15 CHF for courier charges?Also since will be 6 adults and 3 kids of between 8 and 14 years, do you think one paper will suffice the needs of Swiss travel pass for all 9 of us together?

And sorry I was not clear when I said Matterhorn, actually I meant Glacier Paradise- Cable car for seeing Matterhorn from Zermatt. Also its still not clear when I buy online tickets from here for Gornergrat, Mt Titlis and Glacier Paradise, are these date specific as the the page asking for start date– say I give 1st of June and buy Travel pass for 8 days as you said, Do I have to see Gornergrat/ Titlis or GP on 1st of june only or I can see any day till 9th June/ 5 AM?

Thanks a lot once again for clearing all ambiguities.

Regards

[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 15:40:56 #881946

You do need a physical ticket – you must print the rail pass when it is emailed to you.

It is quite normal here to charge for shipping.

Every adult will need their own Swiss Travel Pass (printed out and carried with them). You can then order a free Swiss family Card when you order the Swiss Travel Pass that covers the kids (1 card covers all 3). They will then travel free on all routes (even if you have to buy a discounted ticket like for Gornergrat).

I see now. Ok well the Glacier Paradise (also known as the Klein Matterhorn) is also discounted 50% with your Swiss Travel Pass. You can visit those mountains on any date that your Swiss Travel Pass is valid. The start date for the Swiss travel pass is just that; the date when the Swiss Travel Pass becomes valid.

If you buy tickets for those mountains online, you will need to buy a ticket for a date that your Swiss Travel Pass is valid for (any day during the 8 days it is valid for, if you have an 8 day pass).

I would wait until you are ready to travel up the mountain before buying tickets to make sure the weather looks good first.

[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 16:00:43 #881947

Thanks Lucas. Perfect and all doubts are clear now. So it make sense to buy Swiss Travel pass online but I should refrain from buying the mountain rail tickets online now & should buy when in Zermatt if weather is good in Zermatt for Matterhorn or Gornerhat or in Engelberg for Titlis if weather is good in Engelberg. Hope there is not much of craze/que for these. Also 6 page print outs for 6 adults will do and one family card page for 3 kids will do. That’s the message in a nutshell from you.

Right, Lucas?

Thanks again.

Regards…Samrat

[Removed user]

11 April 2018 at 16:59:08 #881948

That’s right Samrat,

And, each adult has to buy their own Swiss Travel Pass (6 different rail passes, each printed on their own page). Then 1 Swiss Family Card (1 page) for the 3 children

[rockoyster]

11 April 2018 at 20:22:48 #881949

Print some backups and take a copy of the PDFs with you in the event of loss or damage to originals. That’s another advantage of on-line delivery.

[cam223]

11 April 2018 at 20:32:28 #881950

When you go to the station for the Gornergrat, they have a live video camera there which shows the conditions at that moment. We went up in late November even though it was a blustery cold day and could hardly see the Matterhorn. It’s a fun train ride up.You just show your Swiss pass at the ticket window and you get your 50% discount.

[Removed user]

12 April 2018 at 5:01:29 #881951

Thanks a lot to Lucas, Rockoyster & Cam223 for clearing all aspects. I will buy online Swiss Travel Pass and will carry the hard copies with me for each individual for adults and family card printout for kids. Will not buy the mountain rails now, will go to Zermatt and see the condition to buy Gornergrat & Glacier Paradise as well. Also will go to Engelberg and see the weather to buy Titlis there. I fully agree doesn’t make sense to buy these now as if weather goes havoc, my tickets gets wasted- also seems not much of line in all these 3. For Jungfrau, I guess my Swiss travel pass will work all along, right?

Thanks a lot once again !!

Just was wondering, how does the normal paper ticket (printout taken in home) will work as its not like a card to be touched for opening the gates for entry to station or train/ In all places in Singapore/ Hong Kong/ Macau/ Thailand/ India/ China its mandatory to have a token or smart ticket which when touched on smart pad recognizes and door opens. Seems like its not the case in Switzerland, right?

Thanks once again to all 3 of you.

Regards….Samrat

[rockoyster]

12 April 2018 at 5:15:51 #881952

Hello Samrat,

You wrote “For Jungfrau, I guess my Swiss travel pass will work all along, right?“

The Swiss Travel Pass gets you 25% discount from Wengen or Grindelwald up to Jungfraujoch. Was that the question?

With home printed Swiss Travel Pass you just board train and show the pass to the inspector if requested.

If you need to buy a discounted ticket eg for Gornergrat just show pass at ticket office when buying.

[Removed user]

12 April 2018 at 5:21:23 #881953

Thanks and all understood Rockoyster.

Have a productive day ahead.

Thanks again.

Regards..Samrat

[Arno]

13 April 2018 at 10:55:08 #881954

Hi everyone,

It might be interesting to know that tickets for cable cars and mountain railways purchased via https://www.swissrailw ays.com/en/excursions are open dated. They ask for a “start date”, probably because their system requires that, but you can use the ticket whenever you like. So if you’re sure you’ll use it, just not which exact day, it is safe to buy. If you might not go at all, then don’t buy in advance.

[Removed user]

13 April 2018 at 11:11:41 #881955

Thanks Arno. Your this piece of info was something I guess no one had touched upon. I was getting confused with start date, if it’s only for the system, I am relieved as else with start date of all 3 mountain rails with same date had been the case that I had to see on that day itself would have been suicidal as two are from Zermatt and one from Engelberg and in no way I could have done that in one day. Now it completes the whole lot in informations that I needed. Thanks a lot to you et al. Now I can club the swiss pass, Gornergrat, Glacier Paradise & Mt Titlis together before I travel. It will help me save on time there. Will carry printouts in sufficient numbers.

Thanks once again to all.

Regards…Samrat

[Removed user]

13 April 2018 at 13:45:59 #881956

Dear Experts,

One thing that I forgot to ask and in connection to my above queries being:

Do I need to convert these home print tickets to some other form of tickets for Gornergrat/ Glacier Paradise or Mount Titlis? In other words Do I have to again stand in a Que for this conversion in Zermatt or Engelberg or we can directly walk to Gornergrat rail or Glacier Paradise or Mount Titlis cable cars with the online tickets that I buy now along with swiss pass ? Just this part is still not clear.

While ordering now I saw they are charging 25CHF for TNT courier, does this mean they will send small tickets for us? I know Lucas told me I can travel with home print swiss pass so why should they send me the parcel which ideally I don’t require and I don’t need to pay this 25 CHF then. But there seems no option & its compulsory, I have to take it- not sure if its because of these 3 mountain trains as I was buying all together i.e Swiss Pass+ Gornergrat+ Mountain Paradise+ Titlis. If that means they send small cardboard tickets for mountain trains than its a different story.

Please advise.

Regards….Samrat

[Arno]

13 April 2018 at 14:38:03 #881957

Hi Samrat,

Cableway tickets are still physical tickets at the moment. That will change in the future, but for now that’s the way it is. So if you’re ordering these they will have to offer you physical shipping. If you just order a Swiss Travel Pass, you can select the option to receive it by e-mail – no shipping costs.

Whether you will still have to queue depends. I am not sure in which cases you will receive the actual ticket and in which cases you will need to exchange it for tickets that fit into the barrier gates. In the latter case you would still pass by the ticket window. The exchange will be quick as you don’t have to explain what you need nor do you have to pay, but if there is a queue you will have to wait.

[Removed user]

19 April 2018 at 11:54:06 #881958

Dear Experts,

Want to have advise if the tickets of these 3 mountain rails/ cables in question can be brought from Basel or from Interlaken? In that way I check the weather locally in Interlaken and buy tickets before hand rather than in Zermatt or in Engelberg. If answer to my question is yes i.e. I can buy locally, my next question is whether the ticket brought from Interlaken is an open ticket (meaning can I use it any day till my Swiss pass is valid) or its valid only for that day?

Please advise.

Regards….Samrat

[cam223]

19 April 2018 at 13:04:56 #881959

The people at the ticket window for the Gornergrat are very efficient. We gave them our Swiss Travel Passes and our payment. They immediately looked at the pass and issued the tickets. Don’t worry about the tickets–it’s really very easy.

[Removed user]

19 April 2018 at 16:39:19 #881960

You can buy those tickets anywhere yes. Normally they are valid for that day only – so just buy at the station once you’ve decided to go up.