Swiss Transfer Ticket 2015???

HI,

Have read about the changes to the Swiss Passes for 2015. Understand that the former Swiss Card will be eliminated. Replacing that will be the opportunity to purchase a Swiss Transfer ticket and then half price for a half fare card! Question: will the Swiss transfer ticket be able to be purchased in Switzerland with the half fare card. Currently you must purchase Swiss Transfer Ticket outside of Switzerland. It does not make sense to only be able to purchase one pass outside the country that you can combine...with a pass you can purchase inside the country!!?

Any knowledge about what will happen is appreciated!

Hi marbar2,

Thanks for posting! I am not 100% sure yet, but I don't think the Swiss Transfer Ticket will be available in Switzerland from 2015. But that's no problem because all the passes can be purchased online, so that also goes for the Swiss Transfer Ticket and Swiss Half Fare Card combination.

Details that we're aware of are posted here, and of course we will provide full information about the new passes, including points of sale, later this year.

Arno,

Thank you for your response. Currently, I can not print a pass on line! If I buy where I live, I must go the RailEurope. I, of course, would like to eliminate the middleman. However, if I have to purchase a Wiss Transfer ticket outside of Switzerland, I need to go through them! Will the new changes allow me to, indeed, puchase the Transfer Tickets on line, as well as the half fare- 50 percent reduced with Transfer tickets. This is important for Sbb to consider!

Hi marbar2,

You don't need to go to RailEurope. The price section of the Swiss Transfer Ticket page lists all your purchase options, which also includes the SBB webshop: www.swissrailways.com/en/products/swisstransferticket. It allows you to print the Swiss Transfer Ticket at home at no additional cost.

Other passes cannot be printed at home yet, but I expect that option to become available in the next 6 months or so.

I understand your desire to cut out the middleman, but it's not accurate to assume that resellers are always more expensive. Rail Europe for example had a Swiss Pass promotion all Summer (it's still available): it results in a substantial lower price than the amount one would pay in Switzerland or through the SBB webshop. Even in cases where reseller prices are slightly higher, the ability to pay in your own currency prevents banking fees and exchange rate surprises. It's always good to compare before you buy though, so that's why we list all the purchase options, as well as all current promotions on our rail pass pages. Just check there to be sure you get the best deal :-)

I hope this was useful!

Arno,

I am sorry, but there are countries where they deliver the pass...for a fee! We can not print it out at home! Perhaps you are not familiar with this...many of us use Rail Europe or have to order the tickets and pay the fee! And this is why I am asking the question in the first place. It seems to me that if The Swiss Railroad wants to do away with the Swiss card, and replace it with the Half-fare card at half price, and then combine it with a Swiss Transfer Ticket, they should make the Transfer ticket available in Switzerland!!

Hi marbar2,

You should be able to print it out at home, no matter where you live. Just follow the link I gave you, keep filling out the information they ask for (such as your address), and eventually you will be given the free delivery option "Online Ticket". Please try that and feel free to let me know in case it does not work for you.

Rail Europe will also be offering tickets that can be printed at home in the (near) future. They already do for ticket for some other countries. But for now you can already do so through the SBB webshop, at least for the Swiss Transfer Ticket.

I don't think the Swiss Transfer Ticket will become available in Switzerland, but in any case we will always display all the options on our website.

Hi marbar2,

I noticed your e-mail where you explained you could not print the ticket and are referred to Rail Europe. You can best reply here in the forum for the quickest reply. In the mean time I have contacted the SBB and asked if there are any differences for travelers located in the US. They said that everyone from every country can order an online ticket.

Since this is the first ticket being made available this way, things are still in a testing phase and there are some conflicting messages on their website that are confusing. But if you just keep filling out the requested information AND fill out your country, the Online Ticket option should pop up. Please see the attached screenshot. Important: be sure to click the link I gave you to make sure we're talking about the same webshop. You should not go to the main SBB website but to their webshop, which is also the link we refer to on all our pass pages.

In case things still don't work out for you, you can best contact the SBB webshop directly as explained here.

Please let us know if you succeeded. Thanks!

Were you able to get the ticket? I hope so!