Swiss half-fare travel card vs swiss pass

Hello kathleenmarie! I don't know the details of RailEurope's quote, and I'm not sure which sources you used for your calculations. The most reliable one is the Swiss timetable. I calculated several options based on the full-fare prices provided there, looking at the Swiss trips you listed. According to my calculations, a 5 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass would be the best solution. It provides 5 days of free traveling, to be used for trips 1, 2, 3, 6 (valid up from Domodossola) and 7. You don't need to buy any further tickets for these journeys; additional tickets are only required for the Italian (legs of your) trips.

Slightly more expensive, and less convenient in your case, is the Swiss Card. It would provide a free trip from Geneva Airport to Zermatt and from Lauterbrunnen to Geneva Airport, plus a 50% discount on your further trips in Switzerland. These would require you to buy additional discounted tickets. The Swiss Half Fare Card would be more expensive than both the Swiss Card and the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass.

I know it can be quite confusing, but I hope this helps.

Hi kathleenmarie. Details on this 4+1 offer can be found here and here. As you can see, it's not valid for traveling in May. In all, I think a 5 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass makes most sense. Currently a local purchase is cheaper in your case indeed. However, that's based on today's currencies and these may change. An online purchase allows you to pay in USD; a local purchase has to be made in CHF and I don't know what the converted price in dollars would be at the moment of purchase. Online offers and bonuses may come up well before May, so you could wait a while, keep an eye on this forum and see whether prices change.

You don't have to physically own your passes yet in order to make seat reservations. Yes, the seats opposite yours may be reserved for other Glacier Express travelers. It's a popular train, so they often can't leave seats empty.

Hi kathleenmarie,

Yes, your calculations seem to be ok, assuming you'll just be making the transfers you mentioned on the travel days. If you, for example, decide to do a boat trip after your arrival in Lauterbrunnen (from Domodossola), that would be included for free on a Swiss Saver Flexi Pass travel day, but you need to pay for it separately with a Swiss Half Fare Card. Just make sure you arrange for that half priced ticket from Domodossola beforehand, as I'm not sure if they sell such tickets in Domodossola. You can get it from a Swiss station on one of your first days. You can find the 3-day pass here and all further details and purchase options here.

These listings of hotels near the rail stations and airport may also be of interest:

• Zermatt
• St. Moritz
• Geneva airport