How to book across the border tickets with Half Pr

We are planning a trip in September and we plan on buying the one month Swiss Half Price Card in advance. When looking to book individual trips on line I see the discount for the Half Price card on trips within Switzerland. But we are going from Luzern to Como and returning to the Zurich Airport – when I look at the drop down menu for discounts on these trips I only see “Half Price card 1/2/3 years”. Can I use that discount or do I need to book those trips in and out of Chiasso to take advantage of the discount and then book a separate Round trip for Chiasso and Como at the normal fare?

Hi Jeristhor, welcome to MySwissAlps!

Basically you don't have to book your trips in advance. But the one to Como could be an exception if you plan to travel on a train that requires seat reservations for the (very short) leg in Italy. In that case both options you are considering will work. But there are local trains from Chiasso to Como too, which do not require a reservation. You can buy a single ticket for these trains in Chiasso, for only CHF 2.

So, the cheapest option is to buy a discounted ticket from Luzern to Chiasso, and a normal one from Chiasso to Como. The first ticket can be purchased in Luzern. The second one probably too, but if not you can get it in Chiasso when you change to the local train.

You can purchase your Swiss Half Fare Card in the US through www.raileurope.com/act ivities/swiss-half-fare-card/index.html or www.raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-half-fare-card.