Transfer ticket versus normal return with teen

My husband and I are travelling with our 15year old. Aiming to catch a bus then train from Basel airport to Engelberg. I was going to buy a Transfer ticket online with a Swiss Family card so we would only need to pay for the two adults. However, I have just noticed that the price for a normal return ticket seems to come to less that the transfer ticket price, even when our daughter has to pay half fare.

Can someone advise me please if there are any catches with this, such as you are supposed to catch a particular train? Would I need to buy any sort of pass for my daughter anyway or will she automatically pay half price on production of proof of age? Or is there a different pass for her that may work out cheaper? Are the prices at the station the same as online? Also I haven't got this far in the process yet, but can I get these normal returns online?

Hi SallyW,

If you'll only be making the trip Basel Airport-Engelberg vv regular tickets are indeed cheaper than the Swiss Transfer Ticket. You can get your daughter a Junior Travelcard, allowing her to travel along for free on all routes.

If you plan on making more trips by public transportation, you're probably better off buying a pass. You'll have to make calculations to make sure. Information on normal train tickets can be found here.

Mind that there's no bus between Basel and Engelberg, but a train connection. The timetable shows all details.

I wondered if that was the case but was confused by the difference between the Family pass and the Junior travel card. Is the Junior travel card the one to get then with adults buying normal tickets, and the family card when we have passes, such as Transfer pass or other passes?

Hi SallyW,

If you'll be doing day trips while in Engelberg the Swiss Half Fare Card or Tell-Pass may make sense. The links provide all details.

The below pages are useful to understand the different options for children. The one to pick depends on which pass the adults use, if any:

• myswissalps.com/junior travelcard
• myswissalps.com/swissf amilycard