Lucerne to Pilatus: route & rail pass

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    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    31 January 2020 at 20:44:13 #928988

    Hi Jcole77,

    If you are travelling with a 2nd Class Swiss Travel Pass but want to travel 1st Class on any particular trip you can buy a class upgrade at any SBB station or using the SBB Mobile App. You need to buy a route specific upgrade. An upgrade usually cost half the difference between 1st and 2nd class full-fares.

    And just to make it clear, the Supersaver ticket is cheap because it is valid only on the selected connection. If you miss your train, you cannot use it on another train unlike regular tickets and passes. Supersaver tickets are only available online and do run out.

    To be sure which railpass works best for you, I strongly recommend you download the spreadsheet and do the math as explained here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass

    Regards,

    Anna

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    31 January 2020 at 22:48:24 #928989

    Thanks Anna. I’ve done countless of hours of research (and plenty of my own math) and it really comes out to be slightly cheaper to do day saver passes. I would have to upgrade a travel pass by 58CHF pp for our Glacier Express day in first class and since Mt. Rigi is included in the saver day pass, it makes the most sense to go there (and skip Mt. Pilatus) and pay the 70CHF for everything we want to do in Lucerne- including getting there from Basel. Another day saver pass at 70CHF for our trip from Lucerne to Zermatt and then 88CHF for our first class travel on the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz. This plan also allows up to to be flexible based on the weather- if it permits, we will go to Gornergrat at 80CHF roundtrip.

    The TOTAL for 3 days worth of travel and mountain excursions from Lucerne to St. Moritz comes to 308CHF vs 328CHF with travel pass (paying the additional for the 1st class upgrade and half price to Gornergrat (should we go if weather allows.) I hope this math helps anyone else looking to do a similar trip. I’m very detailed oriented so I’m all about sharing information that can be useful as I believe it takes a village (and MORE HOURS THAN I WANT TO ADMIT researching) to plan a trip to a destination you’ve never been to before.

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    1 February 2020 at 10:49:36 #928990

    Hi,

    Yes, I agree it does take a lot of research to find which railpass works best for our trip 🙂

    Thanks for sharing.

    Regards,

    Anna

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    1 February 2020 at 13:14:05 #928991

    question-I bought a supersaver direct ticket from st Moritz to tirano- it arrives in tirano at 11am. Am I safe to buy a ticket on the Italian website now for a Trenord train that leaves tirano at 11:08 for Milano Centrale or is that cutting it too close?

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    1 February 2020 at 14:08:49 #928992

    Hi again Jcole77,

    The Trenord station is about 5 mins walk from the SBB train station in Tirano. If you don’t have a lot of luggage, I suppose 8 mins is adequate to switch trains.

    Regards,

    Anna

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    1 February 2020 at 14:36:04 #928993

    Maybe we should book the 12:08 instead? I do see that the ticket is valid fo up to 4 hours after should we miss this 11:08 train. Thoughts?

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    1 February 2020 at 19:09:34 #928994

    Hi Jcole77,

    In that case, I would stick with the 11.08 and hope that the Italian train runs a bit late 🙂

    But hey, it’s your decision :)))

    Regards,

    Anna

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    1 February 2020 at 19:26:50 #928995

    Exactly what I decided to do. We have a 4 hour window if we miss it so we can just take the next one. I cushioned our departure in Milan to Florence too and bought a ticket that we can change to an earlier time should we be able to take the 11:08 train. Fingers crossed!

    All told, I spent 573,20CHF (286,60CHFpp) on train travel across Switzerland for 4 days for 2 people. 🙌🏻 I’m pretty pleased that for all we get to see and do!

    •1st class seat reservations AND a 1st class saver day pass, for GlacierExpress from Zermatt to St. Moritz.

    •2nd class saver day pass for travel from Basel to Lucerne (Mt Rigi/boat ride included)

    •2nd class saver day pass for travel to Zermatt from Lucerne

    •Supersaver ticket from St. Moritz to Tirano, Italy.

    Hopefully these calculations will help others looking to spend 3 days in Switzerland before traveling to Italy. It’s been fun planning!!! Now I’m just ready to go!!!! 🤗

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    1 February 2020 at 20:21:03 #928996

    That’s a great deal.

    It’s time to pack the bag now 🙂 Enjoy your trip.

    Cheers,

    Anna

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