Unsure which is the right train pass?

Hi!

Sorry if this has been posted a million times.

I am travelling with my mother to Switzerland in August. We will be doing the following:

Zurich Airport - Grindelwald - Jungfraujoch - Grindelwald - Basel - (Biberach, Germany) - Zurich Airport - (Prague) - Zurich Airport - Zurich HB - Zurich Airport.

This travel will mostly take place over five days (with the exception of Zurich Airport - Zurich HB) We land at 9pm and am happy to not have his as a travel day and instead opt to use the final day, the next day in Zurich.

I took a look and thought that the Swiss Flexi Pass might be the best option for us and to nominate those 5 days as travel days and to have the one-way airport leg as 50% discount on the "off" day.

Does this sound like he best option for us? Or would it be wise to consider the Half Fare card instead? Looking for the most financially viable solution.

Appreciate it!

Hi LaurenA,

That's what this forum is for, no problem! I say you have two options:

1. Swiss Half Fare Card, which will get you 50% off all trips within Switzerland.

2. 3-day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass, to be used for Zurich Airport - Grindelwald (1) , Grindelwald - Basel Bad Bf (2) and Basel Bad Bf - Zurich Airport (3). In between day 1 and 3 you will get 50% off your trips (Jungfraujoch 25%). Just get regular tickets for the one additional round trip from the airport to the city center and back. You don't need a 5-day pass if you just make short trips on the remaining two days. You're better off using discounted tickets then.

Please see the links for further pass information. I would say that option 1 works out cheaper. You can do the math as explained here if you want to be sure. Option 3 is a bit more convenient because you don't need to get tickets on 3 days.

Thanks for the reply!!

I did the math and i think it is actually cheaper to just pay for the full price and purchase the good morning ticket for Jungfrau.

My question is: I am staying in Grindelwald (Hotel Bernerhof) and was wondering if the full price of 197.6 as per the website means that I can ascend and decend the mountain at any time?

If I go for the GM Ticket: I will get the train at either 7:17 or 7:47 as per the website, but am I able to spend some time in KS on the way back down to grindelwald or is the condition that i return to grindelwald by noon?

Thankyou!!!

Hi LaurenA,

You are welcome! I think there's an error in your math somewhere. Getting some kind of rail pass will almost always save money, unless one is doing only one or two trips and no mountain transport. Likewise, the Good Morning Ticket for the Jungfraujoch is only beneficial to people who do only that trip, and no or little further traveling in Switzerland. The price with a pass is much better, and there won't be any time restrictions. If you do buy the Good Morning Tickets, I am quite sure you can take a break at Kleine Scheidegg, as long as you take the 1 PM train down from the Jungfraujoch. Their goal is, I guess, to spread visitors equally over the day, so they want the early visitors off the mountain by then :-)

A regular ticket from Grindelwald to the Jungfraujoch is not CHF 197.60 (that's the price from Interlaken Ost), but CHF 177.00. With a Swiss Half Fare Card it's CHF 88.50. A Good Morning Ticket is CHF 135.00.

As for the rest of the math: you may have retrieved the wrong prices from the timetable. It's defaults to half fare (because most travelers do have a pass) and a single trip. You need to click further to see the full fares, or just multiply by 2 for a single trip, and by 4 for a round trip. It's explained on the timetable page.

I think it's worth it to check again. You'll most probably end up spending more and limiting yourself with the Good Morning Ticket if you don't get a pass.

I hope this helped!

Thankyou! Yes you were correct and will have saved me a lot of money!

Also, another quick question of I may. A bit off topic but still train related.

I am looking at two potential trains from Germany to Zurich Airport. One has an hour transfer in Schaffhausen only. But arrives later.

And one has a 7 min transfer in Schaffhausen and a 4 minute transfer in Winterthur. (Platform 7 - 3)

My concern is with the latter train. Do you think that this is possible to make connection in four minutes with luggage?

This is my preferred option but I am really nervous about a four-minute connection and hopping on the right train.

Advice? Thanks so much! You are great!

Hi LaurenA,

Glad to hear this is cleared up. Connections suggested by the timetable are doable, even if they're only a few minutes. But if you're not familiar there, it helps if you write down the platform numbers so that you don't loose time. And pay attention to the intercom in the train and announcements at the station, to be sure there are no last minute platform changes. Even if you miss your train in Winterthur, there will be another one in 30 minutes or less.

Kind regards,

Annika