What pass for a student staying 2 months?

The passes are very confusing. My daughter is a graduate student and will be in Switzerland for the next 2 months. She will travel on weekends within the country and possibly to other countries. is there a student fare and which pass would be best?

Hi Denise, welcome to MySwissAlps!

The tourist passes are all designed for people spending their holidays in Switzerland; typically one month or less. For a two month stay, the 1-year Half-Fare travelcard might be best: www.sbb.ch/en/travelca rds-and-tickets/railpasses/hal f-fare-travelcard.html. It is similar to the one month Swiss Half Fare Card for tourists.

There are no student fares that I know of. There is a card for young people that offers unlimited traveling in the evening, but that does not seem to fit her plans.

Perhaps there are other options, like a Eurail Pass or Swiss Travel Pass Flex (15% cheaper for youth under 26), but it depends on which exact trips she intends to make. This page explains how to compare passes: myswissalps.com/ train/ticketspasses/ practical/chooserailpa ss.

Hi Arno -

I am a bit confused by the information on the Swiss Half-fare travel card in the link that you provided. As you note, it is not tourist pass.

In the past, the equivalent of these cards required a Swiss mailing address. My own Halbtax (Halb Abo) card requires that. Somewhere else, I read that the SBB now might possibly require evidence of a Swiss residency, perhaps by some kind of document from the authorities of the Gemeinde or Commune. None of this is very clear to me, so I am asking basically because I am uncertain (for m own knowledge), and because the answers may help Denise.

Perhaps her daughter's student domicile meets those requirements, if they exist? In the case of denise's daughter, perhaps the school that she is attending (if she is in school) can help with her arrangements?

Your thoughts?

Slowpoke

Good point Slowpoke. It is indeed basically a card for residents. That's not my area of expertise, but this is an option worth exploring for such a long stay. I assume one can buy the card in such a case, or there wouldn't be any product that really fits her needs. Also the application form for the 1-year card allows to fill out a country along with the address. So apparently it does not rule out non-Swiss residents. I think it will work, but haven't tried so myself. In the unlikely event it does not work, even two tourist Swiss Half Fare Cards could do it. Relatively expensive, but still worth it with frequent traveling.

<<"I assume one can buy the card in such a case, or there wouldn't be any product that really fits her needs. Also the application form for the 1-year card allows to fill out a country along with the address.">>

Hi Arno-

Thanks.

That is very helpful and a good point about "country".

My Halb-tax is a 3 year card (available as 1, 2, or 3 years in the past as long as I have a Swiss mailing address, but now on some kind of continuous renewal plan, I think.....and I was worried about renewal next year.

Perhaps this card is different from the resident's Halb-tax and would be an option for me if I cannot renew my Halb-tax..

I'll dig in further.

Slowpoke