I noticed that the one month swiss half fare card is not advertised on the SBB website, only the 1 year or more.
I would assume that it is possible to buy only a 1 month half fare card upon arrival in Switzerland rather than a whole year. Is that accurate?

Thanks in advance...

It seems to be advertised here

http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalf...rd.asp?lang=EN

Stu Dudley

You can buy it here in advance. www.swisstravelsystem.com/
But any Swiss train station sells it.

Thanks. If any Swiss train station sells it, that is good enough for me.
I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something that you could only buy if you lived out of the country or went through a specific website as I would have thought that if it was available, SBB would have sold it...

I think you did not look in the right place because information about the Swiss Half Fare Card is well hidden.

If you will go to this page of the SBB web site you will find it:
https://www.sbb.ch/mct/wi/shop/b2c/tree.do?key=40

If you are taking a "top down" approach, you need to go first to the ticket shop. Then select Guests from Abroad. To my thinking this part of the web site is not obvious nor is it well presented.

The half fare card is 99 chf. Last year I bought one at the station in Lauterbrunnen and used it immediately.

The Swiss Card is similar, but differs in one important respect.
The purchase price includes a trip in and out of the country. It costs 182 chf.

In most cases the Swiss Card is hard to beat if you are traveling by train and your main destination is somewhere in the Swiss Alps.

For example we spent a week in Lauterbrunnen. We entered at Basel by train and left from the Geneva airport. Without the Swiss Card, those two rail trips could have cost me 62 chf and 74 chf respectfully.

As it was I paid nothing extra with the Card.

That meant I only had to find 46 chf of savings around Lauterbrunnen at half fare costs. That little problem was immediately resolved by a trip to the Jungfraujoch, which costs today 157.40 full price.

If previous practices are still in effect, you must order the Swiss Card in advance, or buy it at an entry point such as the Zürich airport. It is not as widely available as the Half Fare Card.

When I bought a Swiss Card two years ago, I was able to buy it a little cheaper from Rail Europe. In fact, I think I HAD to if I was going to have the card in my possession when I arrived at the Swiss border because I was coming in at Basel from Germany.

If you are a dog or a teenagers, the Swiss Cards are half price.

Although my wife looks younger than her years, we still have not figured out a way to pass her off as a teenager. That has become increasingly difficult now that she is past 71.

And I don't have anywhere near enough remaining hair to pose as a dog.

Thanks for that advice. I'm really debating a bit between the half fare card and the swiss card. I think, in the end, I'll come out pretty close with either.
We plan on entering into Switzerland at Zurich, heading down to Lauterbrunnen and spending four days there. On our way out, we'll be taking the overnight train (in a private sleeper car) out to Florence.
I would have assumed that the Swiss card would have covered the cost of the 2nd class ticket to the border of Switzerland/Italy (and the upgrade to a sleeper car as well as the remainder of the trip into Italy I would pay for).
Suprisingly, when I asked SBB about this, I am pretty sure that there response was that because I'm not leaving out of Zurich, I should not get the Swiss Card. (I think I deleted that email a couple of weeks ago and am now regretting it...)
I think, based on my calculations, we should be coming out OK with even the half fare card...

In years past I have never exited Switzerland the way I came in. My exit journey was always covered by the Swiss Card.

A few years ago, before most trains became totally non smoking, we could not get a reservation in a non smoking car. I decided to upgrade to first class just so we could get a non smoker. My Swiss Card paid the basic cost to the border and I paid extra for an upgrade and for the remainder of the trip.

Yes first class cost more, but given my allergies, it was dictated.

If you fly into Zürich you should be able to buy either card at the airport train station, which is located on the lower levels of one of the terminal buildings.