8889 posts
Hello Milantravels and Welcome (belatedly) to MySwissAlps,
1) Leaving aside the prices, yes. Next year they will revert to offering 2nd Class again as in the past.
2) The Gotthard Panorama Express has always been a bit of an enigma. Possibly because it is SBB’s only attempt at selling a Panoramic train package directly.
A class upgrade for the train should have cost you CHF17.50 plus CHF16 seat reservation.
A class upgrade for the boat should have cost you CHF11.50.
I doubt that answers your question but them’s the facts. Who did you pay the CHF23 to? If it was a reseller like Happyrail then I would suggest it is their “marked-up” version of CHF17.50 and therefore covered only the train leg.. Resellers have to make a living too. 😎
7103 posts
Hi Milantravels! Let’s have a look at your questions:
Yes, the CHF 16 for seat reservations is correct. Apart from that, you need an upgrade ticket to 1st class if you have a 2nd class ticket or Swiss Travel Pass. Prices depend on the exact leg you’re choosing. Normally, an upgrade for the entire train and boat section would cost CHF 29,-, and a class upgrade for only the train section would cost CHF 17,50. I don’t know where your CHF 23 comes from. Maybe you explained you’d get out in Treib and (accidentally) only got an upgrade for the leg up to Treib but not for the remaining part? That could explain the non-standard fare you’ve been being paying. Or could you have bought a train ticket for the entire route, rather than a combined train-boat ticket, which wasn’t discovered during your first boat check?
Please find explanation on the obligatory class upgrade and seat reservation fees at http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress/ tickets. You’ll also find a link to standard price overviews at the bottom under “More information”.
If you’re still insecure, I’d recommend to contact the company you bought your upgrade ticket and seat reservation from. They should be able to explain what they’ve sold, especially if you attach a copy or screenshot of both your upgrade ticket as well as your reservation.
72625 posts
thank you for your reply! we bought the upgrade at the lugano train station from the SBB booth. weird that they charged us 23 francs..
72625 posts
hi, thanks for your reply! our 1st class upgrade ticket said Lugano to Lucerne via Gotthard, 23 CHF. could this mean maybe they thought we were taking the train straight to Lucerne, but there isn’t a gotthard train that does that right? we spontaneously got off at Treib and didn’t mention it to the SBB people. we bought the class upgrade straight from the SBB people at the lugano station.
8889 posts
The cost of a class upgrade from Lugano to Luzern (via Göschenen and hence the Gotthard Panorama route) and continuing to Luzern via Erstfeld is indeed CHF23. Mystery solved. 😎
See attached.
72625 posts
Did the SBB think we were taking the Gotthard from lugano to fluelen and fluelen to luzerne via Erstfeld then? Hence the 23 CHF charge and not 29?
15471 posts
Hi all,
It makes sense now I think. Somehow when buying the ticket you assumed Flüelen to Lucerne via the boat, but the staff assumed the quickest route via train instead of the boat. A misunderstanding, a language issue, I’m not sure.
8889 posts
The official GPEX route (including boat) is Lugano to Luzern Bahnhofquai (see attached) for which the class upgrade is CHF29.