[Removed user]

9 January 2018 at 9:00:01 #813983

Hello experts,

I seek your advice once again please.

My 4 day STP doesn’t apply on my last day of travel on 29th March 2018, which is OK, as I can book my tickets in advance for my definite plan. However booking the ticket is not quite as straight forward and need your help.

I’m booking train tickets for my family of 4 – 2 adult and 2 children (7,14) from Wengen to Venice via Milan Centrale. I’m OK with Milan to Venice part however really stressed with the Wengen to Milan part.

We will have at least 2 big bags and 2 hand luggage.

I used SBB to look for this journey.

The train that leaves Wengen at 06:42 reaches Milano Centrale at 10:37 with the usual changes.

Wengen-Lauterbrunnen-Interlaken-Spiez-Milan

I proceed right to the end only to see that this is not bookable! Is this correct?

Question #1

Can I not use sbb site to book Swiss domestic + Eurocity in one transaction?

Now, I tried to break this journey for Swiss domestic on SBB and Eurocity on 3 sites – Trentalia, ItaliaRail, trainline.com

Wengen to Spiez part gives me the option shown in the complete journey above. Although it says Tickets from CHF 12.90, I can’t book it as “selected date of travel is not within the advanced booking period”

Question #2

a. When does the advance booking start?

b. If I have to book the Swiss domestic ticket separately do I need to book in advance? Does it make a difference in price or (the price ) is fixed no matter when I buy the ticket?

c. Is it possible to buy the tickets at the train station in the morning or perhaps the previous day to keep it simple?

Question #3

a. For Spiez – Wengen journey, Trenitalia and trainline.com show the price 272 Euro whereas ItaliaRail shows 146 Euro + 3.50 booking fee for this same journey.

b. What is the early-bird fare generally? Something for me to work from.

Question #4

a.Should I buy the tickets separately or will they be available on one of the website at some point?

b. If they will be available on one site, what’s the advance booking time?

c. Which site should I book this ticket?

Question #5

a. Although this is the shortest journey (@4hours) with minimal changes (3), there still is a fair bit of change. Will this be sufficient to actually walk out of train, change the platforms and be there to board the next train?

Interlaken arrival 07:23 – Platform 2A

Interlaken Departure 07:29- Platform 8

Spiez arrival 07:50 – Platform 2

Spiez departure 08:05 – Platform 3

Question #6

a.What happens if we miss a train? Can we board the next available or do we need to but a new ticket at the available price?

b. Do the trains get late and what are the chances of missing a connection?

We will be staying in Hotel Victoria-Lauberhorn in Wengen which is not too far from the station. And we can even request the Hotel to drop us off to make things simple.

Booking this one journey has stressed me so much that I cannot possibly imagine how my family and I will actually cope with this!.

All help/advice/suggestion is appreciated.

Thanks,

Megha

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[rockoyster]

9 January 2018 at 10:21:37 #873924

Hi Megha,

Chill, you’ll be fine. See attached.

Just book a month from travel. You only need reservations on Italian trains.

Attachments:

1. 

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[Removed user]

9 January 2018 at 13:34:57 #873925

Hi Magha,

1. You may want to try it again as I am able to book through the SSB website (CHF 105,- or CHF 70,- special offer no exchange / no refund, this includes reservations on Italian trains).
2. Swiss tickets won’t get more expensive. I don’t know about the Italian trains. If it is just a regional train I would assume they don’t. My experience with the TGV to France is that prices go up. As per my first answer you can see that there are two price segments.
3. See my first answer.
4. Try any of the websites here or SBB again and book the complete trip there.
5. You will have enough time. You could prepare yourselves five to ten minutes before entering the station, get the suitcases ready so you’re ready to leave the train when it arrives.
6. You have enough time in Spiez. If the connection in Interlaken is stressing you, why don’t you take a taxi from Wengen to Interlaken? Usually trains are on time. If you miss the train due to a fault of the train operator I would assume you can just hop on the next train without extra cost. You may want to have a look at the General Terms and Conditions of the SBB. If you were delayed due to a fault of your own e.g. you could not find your departure platform, my assumption is that you have to buy new tickets.

Other than that, I would take rockoyster’s advice: chill.

[Removed user]

9 January 2018 at 19:13:03 #873926

Hello experts,

Thanks for such prompt reply.

I’ve booked Milan to Venice tickets for 5:45pm just to give me sufficient time.

Wengen to Interlaken taxi is great advice. I think I was too stressed to even think about it! For the early morning train I think that woukd be just super as it will save us lugging across 3 stations! And then it will be just 2 trains. Brilliant!

Did you try SBB site for 29th March tickets? I definitely couldn’t get them yesterday.

The 105 CHF or 75 CHF is that adult price from wengen to milan?

Thanks again,

Megha

[Removed user]

9 January 2018 at 20:05:02 #873927

Hi Megha,

Yes, I did, but I didn’t include the kids. Now it’s seems that when I include the youngest one, the booking is being blocked. I’ve called the SBB because this is annoying. They have confirmed that there are seats available, so they reckon it’s a technical issue. Either you try it again tomorrow, or you book the tickets over the phone: +41 512 257 800.

The price I’ve given you is for one adult.

[rockoyster]

9 January 2018 at 20:28:08 #873928

Hello Megha,

Apologies for my ultra brief response before. It was bed time in Australia. 😉

I am able to book 29 March just checking 1 adult only. I’m seeing CHF105/90 to Milan or CHF131 to Venice.

I don’t know how much a taxi will cost but there is really no rush. Don’t forget that the standard SBB timetable search will show you the fastest connection times. In advanced search you can adjust the settings to a minimum of say 10 minutes or more.

By way of example, with a 10 minute swap over you can leave Wengen at 12: 03 and still reach Milan with an hour to spare for your 17:45 Venice connection.

See attached.

Attachments:

1. 

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[Removed user]

9 January 2018 at 21:29:10 #873929

That’s super 🙂

CHF 131 to Venice would have been great 🙂 well I’ve booked the Milan to Venice separately so can’t do much about it now..However in saying that the price I paid wasn’t too bad as I paid 58 Euro for the while family.

I’ve emailed the Hotel to find out about Taxi/shuttle service (if they have/can arrange one) and the cost.

Will try the SBB site again and see if it works or I’ll email them to book the tickets. I’d prefer to have it all ready and printed along with my day-to day itinerary (along with alternatives and what to do if we’re stuck) . I like to be prepared rather than caught (totally) unawares!

It is overwhelming and sometimes things don’t go as per plan but I believe that at least I should have sufficient info to get through. My family happily chugs along wherever I’ll take them but when it comes to planning they will not show any relationship to me whatsoever 🙂 So, I’ve to give them one-pager overview and some videos and then they’ll happily look at it and prepare themselves.

I’ve started to realize how little time I’ve in this beautiful country! All of us are super excited for our 6-week Europe trip. Switzerland and Jungfrau is sooooo big for me, #1 for it’s natural beauty and #2 the fact that tonsss of Bollywood movies have been made here 🙂

Booking the tickets gives me a feeling that I’m 1/2 there already 🙂

Thank you so much for your patience and answering all my questions.

Megha

[Arno]

10 January 2018 at 9:31:10 #873930

Note that Wengen is car free, so a direct taxi won’t be available. A taxi/hotel shuttle to the train station is possible, then take the train to Lauterbrunnen. From there you could take a taxi, but it’s easier to just take another train to Interlaken I would say. You can take an earlier train to have some slack.

Have a wonderful trip Megha!

[Removed user]

13 January 2018 at 5:20:51 #873931

Hi Chantal,

I don’t think the SBB website issue has been resolved! I still cant book tickets from Wengen to Milan.

I can however book this journey for 2 adults.

I used Trainline.eu to query Spiez to Milan for my family and it works just fine. The adult price on SBB and Trainline for 2 adults is absolutely same (one in Eoro and one in CHF)

Do you think I should just book on Trainline.eu?

As for the Wengen to Spiez, since this is Swiss domestic I can perhaps buy ticket at the station?

Can I buy the Swiss domestic ticket the day before and validate before boarding the train?

Thanks,

Megha

[Removed user]

13 January 2018 at 9:08:09 #873932

Hi Megha,

Yes trainline.eu is perfectly fine to book with. Any of the companies on that link can be used!

Yes, if you don’t have a rail pass then you can just buy a ticket for inter-Swiss train trips before boarding the train at a machine or at an SBB office at train stations or buy them online here.

[Removed user]

13 January 2018 at 20:03:26 #873933

Hi Lucas,

Thanks for responding. That’s great will do that then.

Megha