Validating Swiss Saver Pass

  • lhm17
    Participant
    7 posts
    17 May 2011 at 21:41:33 #804306

    Hello,
    We bought our Swiss Saver Pass issued by Rail Europe via a local travel agency in our country. According to the sales personnel of the agency, we cannot validate the pass ourselves but since we’re taking a train from Colmar (France) to Basel SBB (Switzerland), we can get it validated at the Colmar train station or on board the train itself.
    But, according to the terms and conditions attached with the pass, “To activate (validate) a pass in the country for which the pass is valid, the pass holder must have the following entered on the pass by a railroad official (not the conductor), at a ticket window and before boarding the first train : the first and last days of validity of the pass, the pass holder’s passport number and the railroad office stamp.” Can Swissalps kindly confirm if we can validate our pass at the Colmar train station or on board the train from Colmar to Basel SBB? We ask this as we only have 20mins to change trains at Basel SBB on our journey from Colmar to Zermatt. We’re a bit concerned that we might not have enough time to validate our pass at the Basel SBB train station itself.
    Thank you in advance.

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    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    18 May 2011 at 0:27:33 #832870

    Hi lhm17,

    I don’t expect it’s possible to have your pass validated in Colmar, but the train personnel of most trains to Switzerland is able to do so. Otherwise, it can be done in Basel. It does not take long, 20 minutes should be sufficient.

    For the other readers of this post: it may be interesting to know that the purchase option overview on the right hand side of each pass page (e.g. the Swiss Pass page) contains information about this too. The “quick transfer” option shows whether a reseller allows you to validate your pass yourself, so that you don’t have to visit a rail station service desk and possible miss your connecting train (or be dependend on opening hours). This way, you can select the reseller that fits your needs.

    Enjoy your stay lhm17!

    lhm17
    Participant
    7 posts
    18 May 2011 at 7:34:52 #832871

    Dear Arno,
    Thank you for your quick reply. May i commend Myswissalps.com on a job well done in running this website? I’m really impressed by all your quick and knowledgeable replies at this forum. Thank you again!

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    18 May 2011 at 12:43:54 #832872

    Thanks lhm17! We’re glad to help! It would be great if you could post a short resume of your trip once you’re back. We love to read about your experiences in Switzerland.

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