enzian

LarryinColorado's comment on another thread about Sparpreis tickets motivated me to check this on the DB website. We will be traveling from Zurich to Stuttgart, and then from Stuttgart back to Zurich and on to Luzern 2 days later. The Swiss portion of the return journey (but not the outbound one) will be on a FlexiPass.

I was planning on just buying separate tickets for each leg at the station---i.e., buy Zurich to Stuttgart in Zurich, then on the return just buy tickets from Stuttgart as far as Schaffhausen, where the Swiss pass will start.

Curious what the ticket would cost, I priced Schaffhausen to Stuttgart (actually to a small town a short S-Bahn ride past Stuttgart), and got 38 euro one-way. Then I hit "Ruckfahrt", and was offered a full price ticket at 76 euro, and a Sparpreis ticket of 56 euro. And when I put it in for two tickets (what we will actually need), the Sparpreis for the 2 tickets dropped to 85,50 euro, instead of the 152 euro for 2 tickets at regular price. So I can save almost 70 euro by buying the Sparpreis tickets in advance.

My question is, will we have any problems doing this? It is a direct IC train from Zurich to Stuttgart, and back. But we would be paying for that unbroken journey partly with a Swiss pass (or a Swiss ticket on the outbound journey from Zürich), and partly with a Sparpreis ticket that I bought in advance on the internet and printed out. Is there any reason this won't work? I'm assuming I would just show the conductor both the Zurich to Schaffhausen ticket (or the pass on the return journey), plus the Sparpreis ticket, and we're OK. Correct?

Also, are the Sparpreis tickets something that is only offered a certain number of days in advance? I was using hypothetical dates in May, but the actual tickets I need will be in June. When will the Sparpreis offerings appear on the website?

Final question---is there any advantage to buying in the German-language section of the website as opposed to the English area? I know the English tickets have to be printed out, and the German-language ticket shop tickets are mailed, so that seems like an advantage for the English area of the site. But are the prices the same? I was offered the above Sparpreis in the English language area, so I'm thinking that's the best possible deal. But is there anything else I should know befor doing this? I've never bought my tickets on-line before; just bought them at the station.

Thanks for your help.

bob_brown

As far as I know, the prices are the same regardless of language.

For example, I bought my tickets from Munich to Basel SBB station via credit card and a PDF file which I printed myself at home. The price was the same as nearly as I could tell.

I just checked the savings fare for 2 people from Munich to Zürich. In English the price is €58.

In German, the price is the same amount.

My understanding is that the special savings fares must be purchased 3 days in advance and they are subject to availability.

If I put in a date of Thursday, March 15, I was not offered a discount. If I put in Friday, still no discount. If I put in Saturday, March 17, I got the discount. It is already Wednesday morning over there, so 3 days as of 11:23 EDT.

You are doing essentially what I did last year, only in reverse. I had a Swiss Card, so I bought a ticket to Basel SBB and used my Swiss Card to pay for the leg from Basel to Lauterbrunnen.

When I left, I took the train to the Zürich airport. That was my exit trip.

traveller1959

The Sparpreis ticket is bound to a certain train - exact date, exact time. It is invalid on other trains. That's the only difference.

And you have to buy Sparpreis tickets in advance - ASAP, because the number is limited.

enzian

Thanks to both. But I'm still wondering if it is OK to pay for a 3-hour trip partly with a Swiss pass and partly with a SparPreis ticket?

enzian

ttt hoping Larryincolorado or PalenQ will see this. . .

PalenQ

well i don't have any definitive answer to this but it would shock me if you couldn't combine the two tickets or ticket and pass.

Guess i would just ask at the Swiss station before setting off to be sure. Zurich is not all that far from German border and wonder if Stuttgart-Zurich online discount fare would be much more than Schlauffhausen-Stuttgart.

But i can't say...just seems OK. Not sure Larry, with his wealth of knowledge of German trains can answer definitely either.

Musicteacher

I don't see any problem with this except if you have a Swiss Pass that has to be validated in the station before getting on the train.

I would suggest, however, getting a Sparpreis all the way from Zurich to Stuttgart, which saves you the one-way fare Zurich-Schaffhausen and doesn't use a day of your Swiss pass on the return.

PalenQ

Passes normally must be validated by a railway official - be that the agency that issues your pass (can validate at time or purchase for dates you wish) or someone at a station.

But the rules say if coming into a country on a train that continues into that country then you can activate your pass on the train. In effect i believe most conductors don't have the right stamp and will simply tell you to activate it when you get to your destination station - they will make sure i think you use a day of travel however.
But i think you're going the other way so no problem.

enzian

Thanks for responding. I plan to get the Swiss pass validated in Zürich before we leave, so that's covered. As for buying round-trip from Zurich rather than Schaffhausen, I don't think I can get a SparPreis from Bahn.de for that. In any case I don't mind using a day on the pass for the return trip because we are going well beyond Zürich that day, to Weggis (by boat) and up to Rigi Kaltbad (which will be covered 50%). But I'll compare just to be sure.

In thinking further about this, I don't see how it is any different than if we got off the train at Schaffhausen, and then caught a different train the rest of the way. In that case, the two separate paying portions would be fine.

So I'll just go ahead and buy the SparPreis ticket (3 months in advance?) and hope it works out.

PalenQ

yah - can't think why it would not be the same as getting off the train. let us know.

bob_brown

Although it is better to get the pass validated, and remove all doubts, I did NOT have my Swiss Card validated last year when I arrived in Basel. The Swiss conductor, who boarded the train at Basel, told me to have it validated when I got to Lauterbrunnen. He went ahead and punched it.

I see no problem in doing what you are doing. The pass takes you to the last station in Switzerland if going out, your German ticket takes over when the train leaves Schaffhausen or what ever the last station happens to be.

Going into Germany is no different, just the reverse situation.

Because you are using a Flexipass with a limited number of days on it, you may elect to buy your ticket in Switzerland and save a pass day. There is no obligation to use the pass just because you have one. You pick the days within the validity period on which you want to use the pass. If you want NOT to use it and buy a normal ticket, that is your choice.