EXPERT HELP NEEDED FOR TRAIN PASS
 

After reading everyone else's train pass questions I still remain confused! HELP! We are arriving in Zurich on September 3 (four adults) and need to get to Zermatt, where we will stay for 3 nights. A day trip to Sion from Zermatt is a possibility and cable cars to hiking.
On Sept. 8 we will travel to Wengen for three nights and want to do the usual sightseeing trains and cable cars in that area. Sept.10 we will take the train to Lucerne for two nights and then leave (VERY early) on the morning of Sept.12 back to Zurich to fly home. WHAT TRAIN PASS SHOULD WE BUY?

Hi K,

You might not need a trin pass.

Have you entered your itinerary at www.railsaver.com?

Follow Ira's advice...for only three or four train trips I somehow doubt it would be economical for you to buy a railpass. And, if you DO decide to get one you can avoid processing and shipping fees by buying one when you get to Switzerland.

Because you will be riding the SBB, the federal rail system, quite a bit AND riding mountain trains and cable lifts, I suggest strongly that you look into the Swiss CARD. (Not to be confused with the Swiss Pass.)

The following web page will give you a good description of all 6 discount instrument available from the Swiss Federal Railways including the Swiss CARD.
http://www.sbb.ch/pv/sts-offer_e.htm

The Card can be bought at the Zürich Airport train station for 175 chf.
Better yet, trains to Zermatt leave from the airport station. You will need to change trains, probably in Bern and Brig.

The Card for me has one major advantage:
it includes a free trip from Zürich to your first destination and return to Zürich. In between, almost all train tickets and mountain cable rides are 50% off. The discount includes the most expensive rides in the Berner Oberland, i.e. the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn, and in the Zermatt area.

A few mountain cable rides are only 25% off, but these are mostly short haul trips where the discounted difference is a minor expense relative to the whole trip.

There are so many variations on this basic theme that figuring the breakeven point for the cost of the pass or card is not easy. You have to predict fairly accurately what you are going to do, and then procede to do it!

There are regional passes available, such as the Berner Oberland Regional Pass, but these limit you to that region. If the weather is bad and you want to move on, you can quickly move out of the validity area of the pass. The Swiss Card by contrast is good for all of Switzerland.

Reaching the breakeven cost of 175 chf for the Swiss Card will be relaitvely easy in your case. If you ride to and from Zermatt, as an example, the cost per adult is 212 chf. You have paid for the Card with the basic to and from train trips. In fact, you have already saved 37 chf!

So before you spend your money, take a look at the Swiss Card.

I don't think a train pass is cost effective. Go to www.bahn.de for European train schedules. Print them out for your itinerary and take them with you. We did and they are very accurate and make buying a ticket a snap - just show the schedule you want to the agent.

krintinekarol:

If you are going to be in Switzerland, use the SBB website for your train information: www.sbb.ch. There is an English version; just click on the term Swiss Federal Railways From this site, you can get many cost figures and many schedules.

To supplement coste figures in the Berner Oberland, use this site:http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/english/pages/SE/SE_KrTe.htm

The price table will give you the fare costs for many, many rides in the Jungfrau Region.

The best bet for the Zermatt region is here: http://bergbahnen.zermatt.ch/d/preise/

There are English subtitles available.
Representative prices with the Swiss Card are:
Gornergrat: 33.50
Klein Matterhorn: 39.00
Zermatt - Rothorn 27

You would save 99.50 with the Swiss Card if you took all three trips.

And I can tell you that the Klein Matterhorn is a thrill.

And the view of Monte Rosa from the Gornergrat is simply awesome.

I consider myself a veteran of those Alps, and nothing speeds up my pulse like some of those rides and views.

As for the Swiss Card not being cost effective, total and utter nonsense.
I think you have enough information now to demonstrate very easily to yourself that you can reach the breakeven point very quickly.

Let me cite two more examples, just to show Professor Nit that it is effective.
Of course citing hard data often dispells myths.

The Swiss Card costs you 175 chf.
The one way cost to Zermatt is 106 chf which you get for nothing if you buy the Card.

If you then went to the Berner Oberland and took the Jungfraujoch train from Interlaken Ost to the top and return, the undiscounted cost is
168.80. You get that ride for 50% off, or 84.40.

106 + 84.40 = 190.40

Just on those two trips alone you have already saved money!

If my set of assumptions is even near valid, will someone explain to me how it is that the Swiss Card is not cost effective? Granted it does take a few assumptions, but if one is going to the Berner Oberland, is it not logical to assume that one would take the big daddy ride to the Jungfraujoch?

If we rule out the Jungfraujoch, but include the Schilthorn trip from Wengen, the undiscounted cost is 95 chf, half of which is 47.50. The total alone for those two trips is 153.50.

And if the travelers take the Luftseilbahn up to the Männlichen, which almost on their doorstep in Wengen, the return ticket cost is 37.00 chf, half of which is 18.50, which just about puts them at the breakeven point.

And they will need to ride out from Wengen, which saves them another 12.40 just to get to Interlaken Ost!

And throw in the cost savings from Zermatt, and you can add even more.

Thank you everyone for your input and advise, I think the Swiss Card will be our best bet. Does anyone happen to know if it is cheaper to buy it here or at the Zurich airport?