Glacier Express booking from Happy Rail

  • Mookie
    Participant
    5 posts
    14 November 2019 at 20:54:38 #824456

    Hello,I purchased a Glacier express pass from Zermatt to Chur . I believed this a reservation because we have a SWISS TRAVEL PASS for 8 consecutive days. I went to your website and purchased thru your linked to HAPPYRAIL. I have an invoice sent to me but no passes?.. It says on email that my passes can be downloaded from my account and I tried creating an account from Happy Rail but there’s no link or whatsoever . And also ,I happened to screen shot the booking reference number before I proceed to check out , so I have that number. I emailed HappyRail last night but until now there’s no response. I hope someone can help me. Thanks a lot in advance . love your forum and your website .I am so excited with our coming trip with my husband starting Dec 1, 2019.

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    15 November 2019 at 2:09:16 #925071

    Hello Mookie and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

    I’m not sure how to break this to you but the Glacier Express does not actually recommence operating until 15 December. It closes down mid-October. See Dates of Operation at http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress/gettingth ere.

    I presume Happy Rail will refund your money when they work that out.

    In the meantime all is not lost. You can take regular trains from Zermatt to Chur and see the same scenery. You also get to avoid seat reservation charges but you will have to change trains a couple of times. For another perspective on the Glacier Express read what 1960man has to say on the subject.

    Use the timetable on the SBB website (bit.ly/2HH1U7B) or the highly-recommended SBB Mobile app (bit.ly/2ICIUHi) to plan your travel. You need to look for Zermatt to Chur via Andermatt.

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    15 November 2019 at 5:35:55 #925072

    Hi Mookie,

    Rockoyster is right, the Glacier Express resumes operations on 15 Dec after a short break. During its non-operational period you can still follow the Glacier Express route, taking the regular trains instead. A short info explaining regular train versus the Glacier Express is available from this link: http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress — just scroll down to the bottom section.

    We hope you’ll enjoy your trip. Below are a few more links you might find useful for your trip:

    Regarding your booking enquiry with Happy Rail, please give it another day and if you still do not hear from them, let us know.

    Best regards,

    Anna

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    15 November 2019 at 6:15:04 #925073

    Hi Anna,

    Not only does HappyRail charge higher prices for their own independently and arbitrarily defined “seasons”, their website doesn’t check that the date you nominate corresponds with one of their seasons. 🧐

    Attached is an incomplete order to purchase a “High Season” reservation for 3 December 2019 even though their list of season start and end dates does not include any periods after 13 October 2019.

    I think it would be good if you guys could use your influence to get them to smarten their act up. It might also help if they described it as a “Seat Reservation” rather than a “Rail Pass”!

    I was wondering why Mookie referred to it as a “Glacier Express Pass”.

    Mookie
    Participant
    5 posts
    15 November 2019 at 8:18:17 #925074

    Hi, ROCKOYSTER,

    Thanks for letting me know.I remember I read that part somewhere but I totally forgot. But anyhow I will just wait for the HAPPYRAIL reply hopefully sometime this week. So me and my husband will be in Switzerland from Dec 4-11, 2019. any tips and recommendation?.All our hotels are booked 2 nights in Zurich, 2 nights in Grindelwald, and 2 nights in Zermatt. We have the Swiss travel Pass but my question is do I need to have reservation for seats or we can just hop in when the regular train comes. I am open for suggestion on what to see on those days. We have limited time .

    Mookie
    Participant
    5 posts
    15 November 2019 at 8:22:49 #925075

    Thank you Anna.

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    15 November 2019 at 9:04:50 #925076

    Hi Mookie,

    As you will be travelling with the Swiss Travel Pass, there’s no need for tickets, you can just get on the regular trains without making seat reservation. Reservations are only needed when you are travelling on selected panoramic trains.

    December is the perfect time to explore the various Christmas markets in Switzerland and experience Swiss winter traditions such as candle dipping or eating raclette. Links below!

    December 6 is Samichlaus Day (St. Nicholas Day). Samichlaus is the so-called Swiss version of Santa, so you will probably come across him a few times during your trip. He gives out oranges and travels with a scary-looking assistant called Schmutzli.

    Regards,

    Anna

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    15 November 2019 at 9:42:42 #925077

    Hi Mookie,

    Here’s another link to add to the collection Anna gave you – http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt/activities.

    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    15 November 2019 at 11:06:50 #925078

    Hi Mookie! Sending digital Glacier Express seat reservations generally takes one business day. HappyRail mentions this under their “Delivery” information in the lower right corner of https://www.happyrail. com/en/pass/europe/swi tzerland/passholder-fares-glacier-express. So under normal circumstances you should receive your reservations today. However, if you indeed somehow made a booking for the Glacier Express break period and contacted them about that issue, they should get back to you on that. Please let us know if this gets solved, thanks!

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    15 November 2019 at 23:46:28 #925079

    Hi Annika,

    However, if you indeed somehow made a booking for the Glacier Express break period . . . .

    It is entirely possible to do this on the HappyRail website. I think MySwissAlps should apply their influence to get them to fix that, or put a warning on the HappyRails entry at http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress/packages.

    Mookie’s experience is not the first time this anomaly has been reported on these pages.

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    16 November 2019 at 2:01:19 #925080

    Also the HappyRail website does not seem to match the “start date” you select with the actual season you choose. So you can easily pay CHF52 for a high-season reservation in January even though that is low season, according to them, and only attracts a charge of CHF30.

    Mookie
    Participant
    5 posts
    16 November 2019 at 7:28:17 #925081

    Hello

    Thanks all for your help. All is well .HappyRail responded as expected and credited payment on my account .Thank you HR. You guys are AWESOME 😊😊😊.Your website are the best…THANKS

    Mookie
    Participant
    5 posts
    16 November 2019 at 7:39:13 #925082

    Thank you😊

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    16 November 2019 at 13:28:47 #925083

    Thanks rockoyster!

    I’ll make sure Annika (and Arno) gets the memo 🙂

    Regards,

    Anna

    Anna
    Moderator
    6274 posts
    16 November 2019 at 13:31:36 #925084

    Hi Mookie,

    That’s wonderful!

    Cheers,

    Anna

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    17 November 2019 at 12:05:50 #925085

    Hi Rockoyster,

    Happyrail is working on this for a while now and expect to improve this in the short term. I don’t have an exact date yet though.

  • The thread ‘Glacier Express booking from Happy Rail’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.