Information about Swiss Card

Hello! I will be traveling to France and Switzerland in late May - early June. I am trying to decide between a France-Switzerland Eurail, the Swiss Card, or the Half Fare Card. At this point, I am leaning towards the Swiss card (have tried to add up the prices of the individual legs of the journey), but have a few questions. I will be traveling from Annecy, France to Wengen. It seems there are three legs - Annecy to Geneva, Geneva to Bern, Bern to Interlaken (and then on to Lauterbrunnen and Wengen). For the free round trip, would that begin in Geneva and take me all the way to Wengen? So I would only have to pay for Annecy to Geneva? I will be spending three days in Wengen and then traveling back by train from Interlaken to Geneva (exit point). How do you activate your free round trips? Do you buy your tickets all at once when you enter the country? Are reservations necessary at this time of year?

For travel between Wengen and Murren (or elsewhere in the BO), do you get 50% off on all cable cars/buses in the the BO?

Also, does the Swiss card provide 50% discount off both the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn transportation?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Sincerely,
Jen

Hello Jen, and welcome! Yes, the entire leg Geneva-Wengen would count as your free inbound trip (and the trip back would be your free outbound trip). So you'd only have to pay for the leg Annecy-Geneva. It may depend on the reseller how the pass should be activated. You can either write down the date yourself or have it activated by a railway employee at the Geneva railway station, and for the trip back at the railway station of Wengen. You'll receive instructions along with your pass when ordering it.

You don't have to purchase all your tickets at once when entering the country. Tickets for individual trips can just be bought at the railway station or valley station right before boarding. You'll receive a 50% discounted ticket when showing your Swiss Card. Ticketing machines with clear instructions in English, allowing you to buy 50% discounted tickets, are often available as well.

The Swiss Card offers 50% discount on most transportation in the Bernese Oberland. The Schilthorn and the Jungfraujoch are included. For the Jungfraujoch, a 25% discount applies. The map we link to at the Swiss Card page (under the header 'Swiss Card features') provides an excact overview of the Swiss Card's validity.

Does answer your questions?

Hello! Thank you for the information. You did answer my questions and I have a much better understanding of the Swiss Card now. I have a couple other questions. You said the Swiss Card offers a 25% discount on the Jungfraujoch - at what point does that start? Kleine Scheidegg or lower down the mountain? Would you still get 50% discount on the lift from Wengen to Mannlichen and the train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg?

Thank you again!
Jen

HI Jen,

Good to see you on this forum as well!

Annika, I'm pretty sure the Swiss Card provides 50% reduction all the way to the top of the Jungfraujoch. The map at the link you provided indicates a 50% reduction as well.

It's the Swiss Pass (not Swiss Card) that provides only 25% reduction if my memory and map reading skills are right! Please let us know since you are more of an expert than I am on this matter.

Jen, even if Swiss Card only provides 25% reduction, it would be on the portion of the trip above Kleine Scheidegg. Wengen to KS is certainly a 50% reduction line. Mannlichen gondola is also 50% reduction.

Hi Jen and Kim, of course you're both right, I'm sorry for my mistyping! A 50% discount applies on the Jungfraujoch with a Swiss Card.

With a Swiss (Flexi) Pass, a 25% reduction applies from Wengen and Grindelwald (so the leg Wengen/Grindelwald-Kleine Scheidegg is discounted by 25%, too). I hope it's clear to you now, Jen.

Be sure to fill in the relevant spaces on the Swiss Card as you may be pulled up by the ticket inspector as my wife and I were.He was very nice about it but explained that the card had to be filled in with the starting date and the return date as the card is valid for 1 month only ,the inpectors must know the starting date in particular.Also my wife has reminded me the cards had to be signed.
I wish you a wonderful journey and I think you are wise to use the Swiss Card because we saved agreat deal af money taking all the cable car and mountain train journeys we did.

hi i am thinking about buying a swiss card do you think i should get it or not

Hi scorpion,

That depends on which trips you plan to make. Please carefully read the Swiss Card page to see whether it fits your needs.

I will be purchasing the Swiss Card. I do not plan on purchasing my tickets in advance because of the free round trip. I have specific trains in my mind that I would like to take. Without a reservation, should it be a problem getting on these trains?

Hi Jen! Regular Swiss trains don't require seat reservations, and in many cases it's not even possible to reserve seats in advance. Generally, enough seats are available in trains and it's no problem to simply get on and off with your Swiss Card. International trains and special panoramic trains do require seat reservation. Further information can be found on our seat reservation page and in our railway FAQ. Does this answer your question?

hi...

im thinking of buying a swiss card and am curious about the start and end times for the one month it is is valid. if i start my train journey on 12th of april at 2pm does it end exactly one month later( may 12th at 1:59pm) or may 11th? my outbound train journey is may 12th 1t 1pm. Thanks

Hi mjaccard,

The first day counts as a full day. So in your case, the last day would be May 11.

When you are using your Swiss Card and the free round trip, do you just go on board the train without a ticket and show you card or do you need to go to the ticketing window and still get a ticket?

Hi Jen,

You don't need an additional ticket, but the Swiss Card needs to be validated. You do that either yourself according to the enclosed instructions or have railway personnel stamp it before you board your first train.