Efficient and economic travel in Switzerland?

Hi,

Here is my itinerary (me, wife and a 3 year old) for my trip in April (I plan to travel by train throughout):

April 13: Milan (7:30am) to Interlaken (10:50am) via Spiez . Jungfraujoch/Top of Europe is the plan all day. Return Golden Pass Panorama - Interlaken OST > Luzern on same day Mon, April 13 2015 7:04 PM> 8:55 PM. I hope that is enough time at the Top of Europe (about 3-4 hours at the top).

My hotel is in Lucerne across the train station about 3 blocks away and 5 minute walk for 13th and 14th night.

April 14th: Luzern > Engelberg at 9:10 AM> 9:53 AM and then Engelberg to Mt Titlis and spend the afternoon there and return in the evening around 7pm to Lucern.

April 15th: Luzern > Zuerich Flughafen (Zurich Airport) on Wed at 7:10 AM> 8:13 AM.

Questions:

1. What is my cheapest option to travel? Should I buy individual tickets and Swiss Half Fare Card? Or should I buy both Swiss Travel pass and Swiss Half Fare Card?

2. Jungfraujoch and Titlis 50% discounted tickets can be bought via Swiss Travel pass or do I need Swiss Half Fare Card? Can Swiss Half Fare Card be bought for 50% cost itself if I buy both?

3. Say I buy Swiss Travel pass and / or Swiss Half Fare Card then can I buy all train tickets in advance over the internet or do I have to buy them there? Prices of the tickets may increase or trains might get full if I buy them there hence this question.

Thanks a lot!

Please see: Promo codes below do not work for me even when I have about $1142 worth of bookings (includes train tickets, Titlis, Top of Europe and SHFC) in my Itinerary and it says I do not meet the minimum :-(

Save € 20 , use the promo code*: GEN15EUR1
Minimum booking: € 600Save € 40 , use the promo code*: GEN15EUR2
Minimum booking: € 1000

Hi niteshkp,

1) I would think that the Swiss Half Fare Card works out cheaper than the Swiss Travel Pass. You can double check by doing the math.

2) Please see the above pass links and download the maps to see exactly what's included. Titlis is 50% off with both passes. Jungfraujoch is 50% off with a Swiss Half Fare Card, but free with a Swiss Travel Pass until Grindelwald and Wengen, with 25% off of the rest. You do not buy both passes, just one is sufficient.

3) You don't need tickets with a Swiss Travel Pass, except when you get a discount. Everywhere else you can simply board with the pass. With a Swiss Half Fare Card you need tickets for all trips. These can be purchased at the station.

4) That promo code only works on this website: raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-pass. Is that where you tried it? It worked for me. Since you live in the US, I assume that you order via your local US website: raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/swiss-pass, but that code won't work there. All the purchase options are listed here. Discounts, and the websites that offer them, are listed here.

Hopefully this was useful!

Thanks a lot your input Arno!

I will try the other site for discount and let you know. But just buying Swiss Half Fare card won't get me discounts on trains, right? I think the Swiss travel pass + Jungfraujoch +titlis comes out about $100 more than SHFC + tickets. But Swiss travel pass gives me a lot of flexibility in case my plans change on the day of travel due to weather. If I buy train tickets now, I lose the flexibility, right?

Hi again,

Please see the Swiss Half Fare Card page for how it works; you get a discount on all modes of transport. Indeed a Swiss Travel Pass provides more flexibility and less hassle.

Buying point to point train tickets in advance should only be done if you're sure you'll make the trip, or if the train requires seat reservations.