Swiss Travel Pass vs. Austria/Swiss Pass

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    2 March 2015 at 17:31:08 #806934

    The price for the Austria/Swiss pass, 2nd class is $484 for 4 travel days in 2 months. The price for the Swiss Travel Pass is $634 for 4 travel days in 1 month. We will be in Switzerland for 9 days, so the 8 day option doesn’t work. We will not be going to Austria. My question is: does the Austria/Swiss Pass also include free local transportation like the Swiss Travel Pass does? Does it include the 50% discount on the mountain gondolas? We are not interested in the other discounts offered with the Swiss Pass, like museum entry.

    Also, if you use the pass to ride a short journey, such as Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, does that count as one of the days? I would assume yes.

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    2 March 2015 at 18:01:16 #841882

    Hi chein,

    The Eurail Austria-Switzerland Pass offers less than the Swiss Travel Pass: no urban transport, no buses, and only discounts on a selection of cable cars. Please see the pages below to find out what is included in both passes:

    What are your travel plans for the first and last day? In many cases an 8-day pass still fits a 9-day itinerary if traveling is limited on those days.

    The Swiss Travel Pass is for traveling on 3, 4, 8 or 15 consecutive days. It does not matter whether you travel a bit, a lot or not at all on any of the days. The Swiss Travel Pass Flex is the same thing but you can use the travel days as you like within one month. Once you entered the date of a travel day on the pass, it does not matter how much you travel either. Of course you can choose not to use a travel day and just buy a ticket.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    3 March 2015 at 0:09:50 #841883

    Can I use the Swiss Flexi Pass on a non travel day to get the discount on the gondola up the Matterhorn? In other words, would that count as one of the travel days by just using that discount? Or are the discounts good in addition to the prescribed travel days?

    Annika
    Moderator
    7104 posts
    3 March 2015 at 5:37:18 #841884

    Hi chein,

    If you fill out the date of that particular day on your pass, you will get the discount. Otherwise not. It is explained on the Swiss Travel Pass Flex page.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    4 March 2015 at 0:34:22 #841885

    I read the whole page, but it still is not clear. I don’t want to use the discount for the Matterhorn as a travel day, or I would have to buy a pass with more days which would not make sense. My question is, do I receive the discount whether or not that day is entered on the pass, as long as it is within the 1 month period? Your response makes me believe that I need to enter a travel day to get the discount, but the site doesn’t really make that clear.

    Thanks for your help!

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    4 March 2015 at 7:26:48 #841886

    Hi chein,

    You got it right: to get the discount, you need to enter a travel day on the pass. If you don’t write a date on it, it is not a travel day, and you don’t get any discounts. To get around this limitation, you’d need the Swiss Travel Pass Flex Combi. It’s the same pass with one extra benefit: the “Combi” part means that you will get the same discounts as offered by the Swiss Half Fare Card on all days in between the first and last free travel day. I believe that’s what you’re looking for, right? The Combi pass is explained on the same page.

    I hope it’s clear now!

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    4 March 2015 at 18:17:37 #841887

    Yes, that sounds exactly what I want. Thank you so much for your help. I think the wording on the Swiss Pass should be made more clear. It was only accidental that I asked about the discounts and travel days. It really doesn’t say that in the explanation. Anyway, thanks again!

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    4 March 2015 at 18:32:07 #841888

    Hi chein,

    I’m glad to hear your questions have been answered! Was it our page that was not clear to you? It says “If you want to travel on any of the days in between the free travel days, you will have to purchase a regular ticket. There are no discounts on such days“. Would you expect a different explanation? Your feedback is appreciated, we want to be as clear as possible!

  • The thread ‘Swiss Travel Pass vs. Austria/Swiss Pass’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.