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Economical way to Travel from Rome to Zurich.

Economical way to Travel from Rome to Zurich.

Old Mar 21st, 2013, 06:45 AM
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Economical way to Travel from Rome to Zurich.

We plan to travel from Rome to Zurich on May 1st. I tried several European sites to get best fare, and the cheapest I am getting is on sbb.ch where 2 adult, 2 seniors and 1 infant fare cost is 528 CHF when purchased in advance (special offer) or 764 CHF under standard offer.

Before I book it on sbb site, I wanted to get opinion from experts to check if there is any better option available in regards to cheaper fare through any other rail company or air. Is there any benefit to purchase rail plus card?

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Thanks!
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Old Mar 21st, 2013, 06:54 AM
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Check out this site: http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp
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Old Mar 21st, 2013, 07:17 AM
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no budget airlines fly from Rome DIRECTLy to either Zurich or to Geneva as far as I can tell

www.whichbudget.com

www.skyscanner.net

HOWEVER, you can fly direct from Rome to Basel on Easyjet

www.easyjet.com/en

and you could take a train from there to Zurich

BE AWARE of possible extra costs associated with seat selection, baggage check, as well as the baggage WEIGHT restrictions on any flight
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Old Mar 21st, 2013, 08:46 AM
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Trenitalia: Rome dp 8.00 - Milan ar 10.55, Tariffa Economy, 49 EUR
Trenitalia: Milan dp 11.10 - Zurich ar 14.51, Tariffa Smart2,32EUR Ryanair: Rome Ciampino dp 6.35 - Memmingen ar 8.10, 35 EUR
Allgaeu-Airport-Express (bus): Memmingen airport dp 13.50 - Zurich ar 16.40, 13 EUR
Easyjet: Rome dp 14.45 - Basle ar 16.30,104 EUR
SBB: Basle airport - Zurich: 30 EUR
Skywork: Rome dp 15.10 - Berne ar 17.00, 119 EUR
SBB: Basle airport - Zurich: 46 EUR
Meridiana: Naples - Zurich for 64 EUR
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Old Mar 21st, 2013, 08:50 AM
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Fares for 1 adult. Recuctions for kids according to their age.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2013, 04:46 AM
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This is easy, comfortable and relaxed by train.

To get the cheapest prices, you need to split the booking, that's the trick, as SBB cannot access Trenitalia's cheap fares.

1) Book Rome (Roma) to Milan (Milano) from €9 at www.trenitalia.com with a cheap super-economy fare.

2) Then book Milan to Zurich at www.italiarail.com from €22 with a smart fare.

Simples!

Actually, you can book Rome to Zurich all in one go at www.italiarail.com and it'll add the cheapest fare for each leg.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2013, 04:49 AM
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I should add that Rome-Milan now takes as little as 2.5 hours by 175 mph high-speed train;

I'd allow at least 45 minutes to change in Milan.

Milan to Zurich takes 3 hours 45 or so through the incredibly scenic Gotthard route through the Swiss Alps.

With zero check-in to worry about (just be on board each train a minute before it leaves), city centre stations not airports an hour outside the city, this is a pretty good option, better than flying.
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Old Mar 22nd, 2013, 05:50 AM
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Which begs the question, just who is ITALIARAIL?
They do not seem to be a reseller like Raileurope. Who are these guys???
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 03:22 PM
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Thank you, everyone for a great input.

Man_in_seat_61 / neckervd: I checked fares on www.trenitalia.com for Roma Termini - Milano Centrale and they are coming to be in the range of 156. 00€ - 316. 00 € depending upon what time of the day we plan to leave. and same for Milano Centrale - Zuerich Hb (284. 00).

Definitely not getting cheap super-economy fare. and smart fare. From italiarail.com, Standard fare is $472.00 that is already sold out from rome to Milan and from Milano Centrale at 19:10 and Arrives Zuerich Hb at 23:29 2nd Class is $390.00.

We are looking to travel on May 1st, 2013 preferably in late evening.

Any pointers you can provide to get cheap super-economy fare. and smart fares.
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 05:36 PM
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If you are traveling from Rome to Zurich - why is the fare in francs? Shouldnt it be in euros - since you are buying the ticket and starting the trip from italy?
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 07:30 PM
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@nytraveler - It depends on the Website you buy tickets from.
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 07:45 PM
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Hopefully Kybourbon will see this as she is pretty knowledgeable on the trains coming from Italy.

We are taking the train from Rome to Zurich, spending the night in Milan along the way. We booked through trentalia for an early June trip. I dont believe our fares were that expensive...
I did check and all I can find is 240E for the trip.
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 08:58 PM
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>>>Man_in_seat_61 / neckervd: I checked fares on www.trenitalia.com for Roma Termini - Milano Centrale and they are coming to be in the range of 156. 00€ - 316. 00 € depending upon what time of the day we plan to leave. and same for Milano Centrale - Zuerich Hb (284. 00).
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 09:13 PM
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FWIW - I checked Italotreno which departs Rome's Tiburtina (not Termini!)station to Milan's P. Garibaldi (not Centrale!) and fares are 30€, but travel time is about 30 minutes longer. You would also have to go from P. G to Centrale to catch your Zurich train. Walking - a mile?, Metro - 2 stops. I wouldn't fool with it for a 9€ difference in fares.

https://biglietti.italotreno.it/Book...?Culture=en-US
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Old Mar 27th, 2013, 11:38 PM
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Thank you again for detailed information.

I feel I am already late to book my tickets. Wasn't sure that I should book 2-3 in advance to get flexibility in timings and lowest fares. Now, I noticed the timings that I am looking for doesn't have smart and smart2 rates.

The best option I have at this time is from Roma Termini (11:25) - Milano Centrale (14:45 ) 'Business Area Sizenzio' has a super Economy fare of 49 Euro each.

Then the connecting train from Milano Centrale (15:10) - Zuerich Hb (18:51 ) is 71 .00 € each which if very expensive.
I noticed if I get a swiss pass or Flex swiss pass, then under 'GA switzerland 2' the price gets reduced to 15 .00 Euro.

My question is if I get a flex pass, will it considered to be pass used for one day if I get ticket under this category with flex pass.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:03 AM
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>>>>I noticed if I get a swiss pass or Flex swiss pass, then under 'GA switzerland 2' the price gets reduced to 15 .00 Euro.>>My question is if I get a flex pass, will it considered to be pass used for one day if I get ticket under this category with flex pass.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:36 AM
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In order to see the reduced fares, you must choose a train and press the "continue" bottom. The fares I mentioned 1 weeek ago were for tickets bookable 1 week ago.
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 11:40 AM
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Thanks again for sorting this out for me. I have booked tickets from Rome to Zurich. I have not got best options based on my travel plans as I should have booked tickets well in advance, but it's a lesson learned for a first time Europe visitor. I have definitely received much cheaper fare I was getting on sbb.ch for which all appreciation goes to you all. Thank you very much.

I am able to get my tickets

Roma Termini 14:25 - Milano Centrale 17:45 (Super Economy - Premium) - 156 / 4 Euro = 39 Euro
Milano Centrale 19:10 - Zuerich Hb 23:29 (SMART - Posto 2ªClasse) - 98 / 4 Euro = 24.5 Euro

My next step on Europe plan is to find cheaper tickets from Lucerne to - Venice for which I will open another topic on this forum.

Thanks again!
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 12:29 PM
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Below is a request to find economical fare from Lucerne to Venice.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...to-venice.cfm#
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 12:31 PM
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For Lucerne to Venice, you will need to book Lucerne/Milan on the Swiss website - www.sb.ch and the Milan/Venice on Trenitalia.

Lucerne/Milan look for the Supersaver fare advertised below the list of train selections (after you've entered your date/city). Click that instead of selecting a train. It will default to Zurich departure so you will need to change it to Lucerne. You will need to enter your date again. You will get another screen that looks the same and has defaulted back to Zurich. Select Zurich again and date again (yes, you have to do this twice for some reason - flaw in webpage). You will then get a fare choice (choose cheapest 2nd class for your date you see). The next screen wants age and then click next. Finally the supersaver fare appears!. It will say special offer - click it. Regular fare is 84chf and the supersaver starts at 23chf and goes up as seats start selling.

For Milan/Venice, try to get super economy.
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