[Swiss_Teddy]

6 October 2019 at 12:09:55 #824100

Hi – first post on this forum. As a great lover of Switzerland this forum seems fantastic! We need to establish best value passes for a weeks trip – Arrive Geneva airport 29.02.20. Our base is Grindlewald. Have been several times before but passes have changed since! We are winter walkers only (maybe some sledging too!).

Rough itinery is;

Geneva Airport – Grindlewald return – plus same day return trips from Grindlewald to ..Zermatt, Murren, First, Manlicchen, Bern, Bussalp. If I’m understanding things correctly the total full fare cost of these trips is around 580 SF per person (approx. £470 Gbp). So I believe that buying Half Fare passes is our best option?(approx. £96 – for pass, plus 470/2 = £331 per person total cost). Swiss Travel Pass costs £354 each and would have to pay half fare on cable cars etc also – so this does not seem to be best option. Could you confirm that I’m thinking logically here please and making the right decision? Also, is there any value in considering the “Swiss Saver Day Pass” for any of our trips – maybe the Zermatt trip? – problem being that we are likely to wait until a day or so before we travel to check for good weather. Thanks for your help!

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[Removed user]

6 October 2019 at 13:42:45 #923249

Hello Swiss Teddy,

Welcome to MySwissAlps!

How long do you plan on staying in Switzerland? Is it 8 days? This would be a key question to help you narrow down the best type of train pass based on economical value.

In the meanwhile, I have attached a excellent link which includes a excel spreadsheet that can help you decide:

http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

There are two viable options I would suggest:

1) Swiss Travel Pass for 8 days unlimited, consecutive traveling.

http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass

2) The Swiss Half Fare Card plus purchasing well in advance the Saver Day Pass for your longer trips such as Geneva and Zermatt trips for additional savings:

http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard

http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass

To help plan your train trips I have included a important link for the Swiss timetable:

http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

I have attached a link about Grindelwald since you mentioned it will be your travel base:

http://www.myswissalps.com/gr indelwald

Here is a link about activities in the snow which also includes sledding:

http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/snow

Please also look at this link on practical apps/websites in Switzerland. The weather app is a handy one to have:

http://www.meteoswiss.admin.c h

http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland/practic al/websites

I hope that helps!

Best regards,

Suzanne

[Swiss_Teddy]

6 October 2019 at 18:50:51 #923250

Dear Suzanne,

Thanks so much for your fantastic reply. I will study the link info. With great enthusiasm. I am a big believer in prior research and knowledge gathering for trips such as this – I feel it gives the best chance of maximum enjoyment. From what I can see for our trip, which is effectively a return journey Geneva airport to Grindlewald ( 1 week apart), plus a maximum of 6 day trips between – dependant on weather conditions, current health and energy levels ( we are nearly 64), the most economical pass would be the “Half Fare”, based on the itinerary quoted in my original post. It would be a fairly close call if the Travel Pass gave free use of cable cars, but taking into account the high initial cost of this pass plus half fare on cable lifts (Mannlichen, First, Almendhubel,etc.) I estimate that this would work out quite a bit more expensive. Regards the Saver Day Pass, I’m not convinced that this would be worthwhile for us. It seems that the purchase price (even with half fare card reduction)won’t quite cover the difference on any single day of travel except maybe to Zermatt. The issue with this of course, is that we won’t decide which day to make this trip until a day or so in advance when weather forecasting is more reliable. Thanks Again

Ted

[Annika]

10 October 2019 at 7:43:29 #923251

Hi Ted! First of all, sorry for the delayed response! We really aim to answer all questions within 48 hours, but somehow your last question escaped our attention. Let’s see if I can help you out.

Your estimation about the Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass) being slightly more expensive than the Swiss Half Fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard) might be correct, but you’d have to make calculations to find out for sure. Suzanne provided you with the link to do so. In case of a minor price difference, I’d personally prefer the Swiss Travel Pass for its ease of use.

As for the Saver Day Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass): yes, you will for sure save money on the longer transfers. A Saver Day Pass bought with Swiss Half Fare Card reduction costs only CHF 29 (if you buy it will in advance and secure it for the lowest price: http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass/price), whereas the costs for 50% discounted regular tickets would be:

• Geneva Airport-Grindelwald: CHF 42,60;
• Grindelwald-Zermatt-Grindelwald: CHF 75.

The calculation page mentioned by Suzanne and our timetable page at http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable explain how to find standard ticket prices. I understand your concern about the weather of course. If you opt not to buy a Saver Day Pass for the trip to Zermatt in advance, you can check and see if cheaper Supersaver fares are available shortly before traveling: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/switzerland. Note that those come with restrictions though.