[chandni177]

30 March 2018 at 16:32:08 #815048

Hi all,

Rail pass calculations for our trip to Lucerne(1night) and Jungfrau region(5nights) indicate the following:

6-day BO pass + SHFC is slightly better (around 60-80 CHF) than 8-day STP.

Trip covers trains from Basel – Lucerne, Mt Rigi excursion, Golden Pass to Interlaken, Harder Kulm, typical Jungfrau excursions including Schilthorn, Jungfraujoch,First,etc along with cruises on Thun and/or Brienz and a trip to Bern, and Thun/Spiez. Return trip via Brig and Kandersteg to Milan.

I am guessing that a lot of people end up in this situation where the calculations return very close numbers. From the experienced folks, would you recommend one or the other combination strongly?

Thanks,

Chandni

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[Removed user]

30 March 2018 at 16:46:43 #880367

Yes, if it is close I’d just go with the Swiss Travel Pass. Now you just have one pass to work with and it is more convenient as a lot of your trips won’t require buying tickets (those you would buy with the Swiss Half Fare Card).

[rockoyster]

30 March 2018 at 22:07:21 #880368

What does the calculation look like if you delete the SHFC. Just idle curiosity seeing BO covers Lucerne to Brig.

I’d tend to agree with Lucas.

[chandni177]

31 March 2018 at 16:36:24 #880369

Well, interestingly, the number of times I would need to purchase specific tickets is roughly the same with both options. The price difference is mainly because our trip is 6-7 days, and the STP is for 8days. Details :

If we go with STP, pass price CHF 398 (is that correct?). Add-on ticket purchases : Interlaken-Harder, Grindelwald-First, Grindelwald-Pfinstegg,Jungfraujoch. Total : CHF 607 (-15 if you take return trip from First)

If we go with BO + SHFC, main advantage is the reduced price on BO due to SHFC. Plus since our first night is in Lucerne, we can live off the pass given by the hostel + Half fare and advance Rigi excursion purchases before starting the 6-day BO pass. Total pass price CHF 355. Add-on ticket purchases : Basel-Lucerne, Rigi excursion, Schilthorn, Jungfraujoch, and Brig-Domodossola. Total : CHF 540 (approx, haven’t decided which Rigi format yet)

To answer Rockoyster’s question, without the Half-fare card, price is CHF 650. This is because of 1) price of BO pass is reduced because of SHFC, 2)Jungfraujoch is cheaper with SHFC than with any other card.

Too much number crunching for what my husband says – “It’s just a trip!”. But what can you do 😀

Thanks guys!

Chandni

ps – If it helps, timeline is as follows- Day 1 :TGV Lyria -Basel – Lucerne, Day2 : In Lucerne, head to Grindelwald in evening. Day3 – Day 6 Jungfrau region. Day 7 morning from Spiez to Milan.