MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Detailed info of Flex Pass. Bit Konstanz/ Rigi too
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Hello, I’ll be travelling to Europe in early October. I’ll be landing in Zurich & my base will be Konstanz. From there I plan on taking day trips to Zurich, Basel, Rigi & Stanserhorn using the 4-day flex swiss travel pass.
1) For the flex pass, I believe I can only either order it online or buy it from the station (no print at home option). Since my flight is landing at 6:20 am, am I better off ordering it online & having it deliver to my address in Konstanz? Or should I buy at the Zurich staion? My concern is whether it’ll be open or not & how much time it’ll take (since in morning hours, I guess lot of international flights arrive).
2) If I’m buying it online, is this the “official” site for international visitors- http://www.swissrailways.com/ en ? Strangely, if you order from the sbb site, it says delivery charges are 89 CHF, very high when you compare to the swissrailways one (12 CHF to Germany).
3) Any idea whether one can buy the flex travel pass at the Konstanz station? I guess you need to have a manned SBB booth for that.
4) On the SBB site, it says ‘if you hold a swiss travel pass flex, you have to enter the date of your next travel day into the blank field prior to the travel day.’ What exactly does ‘next travel day’ mean here? Like when I buy the pass, they ask for the 1st date of travel. So, when I travel on that first day, would I have to put the 2nd travel date beforehand as well? And then when travelling on the second day, put the third travel date?
OR
Is it simply that you put the travel date as & when you travel? Like, before travelling the 2nd time, put that 2nd day’s date. Then similarly for 3rd & 4th dates.
5) When I’ll buy the pass, how does it work when I eventually travel? Example, for Mt. Rigi, do I have to show the travel pass at the ticket counter & they’ll give me a ticket or should I simply board the train? Similarly, at the free Mueseums, should I straight away enter or go to the ticket counter first?
6) Is there any advantage in buying early? Asking because some of the “normal” train tickets have supersaver option if you book early.
7) Guess no one can predict the weather but is it worth going to Rigi & Stanserhorn in early October? There are probably more chances of it being cloudy/rainy than say, right now.
Apologies for the long-ish post but would really appreciate the help.
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Hi Milind, and welcome to MySwissAlps!
I would first recommend to read our Swiss Travel Pass Flex and Swiss Travel Pass pages to compare how they work and also compare prices:
For 90% of travelers the regular Swiss Travel Pass is more convenient and cheaper. Note that the Flex version does not offer any benefits on “non-travel” days, so when you do not write down the date on the pass. So no discounts, no free museum visits. Also the Flex version costs more per travel day than the regular Swiss Travel Pass. On top of that the Swiss Travel Pass can easily be printed at home. That will be possible for the Flex pass too eventually, but not before October probably.
The website you mentioned is old. The new official website is this one: https://shop.switzerla ndtravelcentre.com/#/e n/home. But there are other trusted sites to buy from as well. You’ll find them in the Price sections of the above two pages.
Buying in advance is more convenient and sometimes (a bit) cheaper. You may find this page useful to find your best pass option: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
Indeed, the weather is hard to predict. October can be as sunny, or rainy, as July. You’ll need a bit of luck 🙂
There is a staffed SBB ticket office at Konstanz, right alongside the DB one.
Thanks a lot, Arno. I had already gone through the two top links provided but didn’t get satisfying result for some of my queries, specifically these two-
4) On the SBB site, it says ‘if you hold a swiss travel pass flex, you have to enter the date of your next travel day into the blank field prior to the travel day.’ What exactly does ‘next travel day’ mean here? Like when I buy the pass, they ask for the 1st date of travel. So, when I travel on that first day, would I have to put the 2nd travel date beforehand as well? And then when travelling on the second day, put the third travel date?
OR
Is it simply that you put the travel date as & when you travel? Like, before travelling the 2nd time, put that 2nd day’s date. Then similarly for 3rd & 4th dates.
5) When I’ll buy the pass, how does it work when I eventually travel? Example, for Mt. Rigi, do I have to show the travel pass at the ticket counter & they’ll give me a ticket or should I simply board the train? Similarly, at the free Mueseums, should I straight away enter or go to the ticket counter first?
Can you please help with regards to these two queries?
Thanks rockoyster! Maybe I’ll buy the flex travel pass in Konstanz only then.
When you buy the pass the date you supply is the one you want the 1 month period to start.
I used the Swiss Travel Pass when in Switzerland last year, although mine was a 15 day pass. I set the start date as the day I arrived in Switzerland even tough I did not plan to travel on that day. Each day I decided to use the pass thereafter I simply wrote that date in the next available box on the pass. On some occasions I just decided on the given day and wrote the date in just prior to boarding the first train for the day.
Hi milind91,
If the route is fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass Flex then no ticket is needed (IE Rigi) but if it is only partially covered you need to buy a ticket. https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisstravelpassf lex/validity
Many mountain trips even if it is free you must still go in line to get a boarding pass to activate a turnstile (bar code) so you still need to go to the office and show your STP. This is in regards to cable cars, funiculars etc.
Thanks a ton, rockoyster & Lucas!
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