[Removed user]

8 July 2020 at 14:14:36 #825610

I’m hoping to travel to Switzerland next month and will be making a number of rail journeys. I’m planning on getting the tourist Half Price Travelcard and would like to book online some tickets to take advantage of the Supersaver prices.

could anyone answer a few ‘newbie’ questions please.

1. Do I use the Half Price option when booking tickets online? I’m a bit confused if this is only for Swiss residents with a Swiss Half Price card, which I understand is different to the tourist one? or does that option apply to any type of half-fare card?

2. Do I need to sign up for a Swiss Pass login or is it fine to buy as a guest. Again I’m confused if this SwissPass login is just for residents or not?

3. Do I need to have bought the travelcard before purchasing SuperSaver tickets online, or can I choose the half-price option now and just make sure I have a valid Travelcard when actually travelling?

4 It sounds like a lot of the tickets basically allow you to turn up and board any train you want. So if I purchase a SuperSaver ticket, does that guarantee I can get on that train? Or could I find the train I have a ticket for is full up and I’m left with a ticket but no train to catch! As some of the trains I need to catch will be connecting with flights etc I don’t want to find myself stranded.

any advice and help would be much appreciated. Thank you!

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[Removed user]

9 July 2020 at 13:32:29 #933875

Hi Jonny and welcome to MySwissAlps!

For your questions 1 and 2: You can read about the differences between the Swiss Half Fare Card (usually for tourists) and the Half-Fare travelcard (usually for residents) at http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/details. You can get your Swiss Half Fare Card at http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/price.

Here you’ll find a list of the recommended ticket resellers if you have a Swiss Half Fare Card: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerlandhalffare/price. In these cases you do not need an SBB account, nor do you need a SwissPass (that’s a product primarily for residents): http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/swisspass.

If you are choosing from the list above: by booking your online ticket with a Swiss Half Fare Card for example at http://www.happyrail.com, make sure to add your Swiss Half Fare Card as a discount pass. I’ve attached 2 screenshots for you.

If you are using the SBB website to get your tickets, it already shows the half-prices by default, so you do not need to change anything. But in this case you’ll need the SwissPass login.

Question 3: You do not need your Swiss Half Fare Card at the time you are booking the SuperSaver Ticket (or any other tickets), just make sure you’ll have your pass at the time of your travel.

Question 4: Yes, many of the passes allow you to travel ticket free (just with your valid pass). Swiss Travel Pass is a good example of these passes. If you have a SuperSaver ticket, you have to travel on that specific train. This ticket does not give you a seat reservation tough. But no worry, you do not need seat reservations for 99% of all trains and buses in Switzerland. You can simply board with your Swiss Travel Pass. Exceptions are some international trains and some panoramic trains like the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. If you need, or want, seat reservations, you need to arrange for them separately. Read more at http://www.myswissalps.com/train/reservations/howtouse. If you are worried about finding seats will be difficult, have a look at the timetable: http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable, use the advanced one. It shows the occupancy rate on the selected route with small red and black figures: 3 red figures mean “very high occupancy expected”. But even in this case you will find probably a seat after a while.

I like to make sure that I arrive on time at the airport, so I recommend to take an earlier train if you are not sure. 🙂

I hope these will help you,

Ildiko

Also check this one:

• Swiss Half Fare Card – how to use: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard/howtouse

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[Removed user]

9 July 2020 at 21:40:57 #933876

Ildiko thanks so much for your detailed reply, that’s helped a lot with my planning. I appreciate you taking the time! 🙂

[Slowpoke]

10 July 2020 at 19:02:43 #933877

Hi Jonny –

I’ve been traveling by rail in Switzerland for almost 40 years. The SBB (and BLS) study passenger loads and manages train sizes to compensate. They are good at it. That is why reservations are not necessary.

Intercity trains within Switzerland run on a concept similar to city buses or trolleys (or trams, if you prefer). One runs every several minutes, and you just hop on the one that you want.

The only times I ever had difficulty finding a seat was on trains leaving a major metropolitan area at rush hour…say 1700-1800 PM, or inbound….maybe 0730- 1900. I never actually traveled without a seat except one time between Zürich and the airport (9 minute trip) at about 1700.

So, if your flight times coincide with rush hours, the trains may be fairly full, and I’d allow a bit of extra time as an extra precaution when catching a flight, anyway.

However, the cars at each end of the train tend to be less full.

In the Bernese Oberland, the small meter gauge mountain trains that circulate between Grindelwald, (or Lauterbrunnen and Wengen) and Kleine Scheidegg some times fill up. However, unscheduled “fill-in” trains have always appeared almost right behind them, to get the overload, on the few occasions when I have run into that .

Slowpoke

[Removed user]

11 July 2020 at 7:22:01 #933878

Thanks for the reply Slowpoke, that’s reassuring to know! 🙂

[Removed user]

12 July 2020 at 23:43:26 #933879

4 It sounds like a lot of the tickets basically allow you to turn up and board any train you want. So if I purchase a SuperSaver ticket, does that guarantee I can get on that train? Or could I find the train I have a ticket for is full up and I’m left with a ticket but no train to catch! As some of the trains I need to catch will be connecting with flights etc I don’t want to find myself stranded.

I can beat Slowpoke! I have been travelling regularly on Swiss trains for 60 years…

You will never be stranded on the Swiss public transport network. I have not once in 60 years travelled in a reserved seat or made a seat reservation on any Swiss public transport vehicle. It is simply not necessary.

It depends on what country you are from as to whether the Swiss style of public transport will be completely new to your – or similar to your home country. Tourists arriving from countries where passenger trains run to sparse schedules (often because of the size of the country – eg USA, Australia) are not familiar with a network of trains that runs so frequently.

[Slowpoke]

13 July 2020 at 0:41:28 #933880

<<“I can beat Slowpoke! I have been travelling regularly on Swiss trains for 60 years…”>>

Well, my problem is that my company did not send me to Switzerland until 1980.

However, once I recognized the quality of the experience, I tried to make up for lost time, going to Switzerland as often as possible.

Since I live in the USA, that is harder to do , compared to living in the UK.

But, I try my best!

And, take pictures..

😉

By the way, I appreciate your helping me find a link to the “old style” Kursbuch pages.

Much better for planning than all the new stuff.

Slowpoke

[Removed user]

20 July 2020 at 7:28:18 #933881

Thanks for your reply 1960man, much appreciated! 🙂