Swiss Half Fare Card - various questions

In June, we are staying with family in the Lake Geneva region for 3 weeks and intend buying Half fare cards to travel around.

1) Is it cheaper to buy them here in Australia or wait until we arrive in Switzerland?

On 23rd June, we're travelling from Lausanne to Genoa to continue the second part of our holiday.

2) Can we use our fare cards for the Swiss part of the journey? Given that the train we intend catching only stops briefly at Brig and Milan, how do we do this?

3) is it cheaper to arrange our tickets from Australia or wait until we get to Switzerland? I've tried to sort it out on SSB but run into difficulties. Would it be easier to do it in Switzerland?

I would appreciate any help I can get

Regards

Judy

Hi Judy,

1) All options are listed on myswissalps.com/ swisshalffarecard/ price. Currently the cheapest and most convenient option is to order them online and print them at home. Go to www.swissrailways.com/ en and select "Online Ticket" once they list the delivery options (it's at the bottom of the list).

2/3) You're entitled to a 50% discount from Lausanne to Domodossola. However, most trains to Milan require a seat reservation from Brig to Milan and beyond to Genoa. So, you can buy a discounted ticket to Brig in Lausanne (these do not sell out) and the ticket for Brig onwards needs to be purchased in advance. Purchase options are listed here: myswissalps.com/ traintickets/ italy/price. If you have both tickets you can stay seated in Brig.