How to choose a Swiss rail pass in 5 steps

How to choose the best rail pass

There are many rail passes. It may seem like a complex task to pick the right pass. Perhaps point to point tickets serve you better than a pass if you don't travel much. The steps below help you decide.

Quick rail pass overview

For a quick overview of the passes, please download this document (pdf).

Example Excel spreadsheet

To make your own calculations based on the below explanation, please download this Excel spreadsheet (zip). If you are not familiar with Excel, you can use a notepad and do it manually. The spreadsheet also has a column to compare rental car costs to rail passes.

Step 1: Make a list of travel plans

This step is important, as you can only pick the best pass if you have a detailed idea about all your travels. Make a list of each trip you intend to make and include:

• transfers from the airport or Swiss border to the (first) town where you stay, and back;
• day trip traveling, including buses, boats, cable cars, trams, etc.;
• town to town transfers, if you stay in multiple towns.

In reality, you can't assume all of your plans to be realized, as the weather may force you to make changes. Also you may discover other nice day trips while you’re in Switzerland or just feel like doing something else. However, the list you make should be a realistic overview of the kind of traveling you intend to do. If in practice you replace one mountain trip by the other, that mostly does not result in a big difference in travel expenses.

If you don't have an itinerary yet, we'll gladly explain how to make one.

If you have no idea about your travel plans and just plan by the day, it won't be possible to calculate which pass will be cheapest. In that case you can skip the other steps and look into a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card. Both allow you to be flexible and save money on almost any trip.

For an example of this step, please download the spreadsheet.

Step 2: Find prices of regular tickets

Now you’ll check what your traveling would cost without a pass. For each of the trips on your list, consult the timetable to find the ticket price. Be sure to take the full (regular) price from the timetable, not the half fare price.

To simplify things, we recommend to get the prices for one adult only. Children travel along for free in almost all cases.

For an example of this step, please download the spreadsheet.

Step 3: Select a few passes to compare

It’s not necessary, nor realistic, to compare the regular prices to all available rail passes. If you browse the rail passes, you’ll quickly see which ones do not make sense and which ones may fit your plans. For example: if you travel all across Switzerland it does not make sense to look into regional passes. If you plan to travel a lot, or if you want to prevent buying tickets for each trip, the Swiss Travel Pass makes sense.

Write down the price of the selected rail passes. You can find them in the 'Price' section of each rail pass page.

For an example of this step, please download the spreadsheet.

Step 4: Find the discounts for pass holders

You now have a list of trips (step 1) and the costs of each trip without a pass (step 2). For the first selected pass (step 3), find out what discount you would get for each trip. In order to do so, visit the relevant pass page (e.g. the Swiss Travel Pass page), download the network map, and check where the pass is valid. If the pass grants free traveling, enter a 100% discount, if it does not provide a discount, enter 0%, etc. You now have the regular price and the discount for each trip, so you know what you would spend. Finally add the price of the pass itself to the list and add up all amounts.

Repeat this for the other passes you selected in step 3.

For an example of this step, please download the spreadsheet.

Step 5: Select a pass

Now you know which pass results in the lowest overall travel expenses. Sometimes the difference between two passes is minimal. It that case it’s recommended to favor the one that includes unlimited traveling. That’s more comfortable as you don’t need to buy tickets for each trip, and you can change your plans without paying extra. Also, take into account that some passes include free museums entrance, so you may be able to save more than just the travel costs.

Most people end up picking a Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Half Fare Card. If not much traveling is involved, you may find that regular tickets are the cheaper option. Still not sure? Feel free to ask for help in the forum!

For an example of this step, please download the spreadsheet.