Swiss Pass questions
 

OK, I've gotten a lot of questions about Switzerland answered in a couple of other long threads but I just wanted to isolate on the specific mechanics.

1. Is it easy to get a Swiss Pass from any train station with a credit card, just before you board the train on which you want to first use the Pass? Or is there some value in ordering online and paying for shipping to the US? I have about a month before I go.

2. Can you board pretty much any train at the last second? This would be for the end of January, first couple of days of February. No doubt it's a busy time in the mountains, but I'm going from Zurich to Grindlewald and around various parts of the BO (Jungfrau, maybe Schilthorn) for a couple of days, then to Zermatt for a couple of days, then to Geneva. Could it decide the day before whether to take a morning or afternoon or evening train and pretty much be able to find a seat using the Pass and carrying a couple of pieces of luggage?

3. Besides the Panoramic or Golden Pass trains, are there any other than you can reserve? Obviously, there would be value in reserving these as far in advance as possible but is it possible to get reservations the week you travel?

4. I'm looking at the 4-day Second Class Swiss Pass for about $180. I could use a fifth day but it seems the 5-day Flexipass is about $240.

If I get a 4-day Swiss Pass, I would supplement it by paying for a ticket from Zurich to Grindlewald at the start of my trip or paying for a ticket from Zermatt to Geneva at the end.

As I priced these fares on sbb.ch, they each appear to be well under the $60 difference between the 4-day Swiss Pass and the 5-Day Flexipass. Of course, if I took additional trips, like stopping in Luzern before BO or stopping in Montreus before Geneva, maybe the 5-Day Flexipass makes more sense.

But am I missing something that the extra $60 is more than the price of the tickets I plan to buy separately? One thing is sbb.ch doesn't seem to let you price fares way out, just a couple of weeks out. So do they raise prices the closer you buy to the travel date?

There is not usually a demand curve price increase on the trains. Mostly, you go an get on. The only time I use a seat reservation is when taking a train into Switzerland, particularly a TGV from france or a Cisalpino where reservations are required.

Given you have an extra day to factor in, and that two of your longer trips seem to be when you are entering and leaving the country and you will be in the mountains where the Swiss Pass yields 50% off, why not consider a Swiss Card?

It carries a built in trip to your first night's destination and a trip to your exit point on the last day. You, however, define the first and last days. It does not necessarily have to be your last calendar day, just your last travel day.

You might come out ahead.

Hi scrb

I think you have to buy rail passes here in the US before you go. I used www.railpass.com to buy my Benelux passes earlier this year.

This website has a function where it will determine if a pass will save you money or if point to point tickets are cheaper.

If you and I are talking about the same type of passes, the answer to your question "can I board a train at the last second?" is generally "Yes." You need your pass and your passport to show the conductor.

Unless you have a trip on a TGV, ICE, Thalys or other high speed train, you can pretty much hop on and hop off the trains at will. The ICE, TGV, Thalys trains sometimes require reservations. You can reserve your seat at the train station before you board.

I had a First Class pass and I found that the FC section always had seats available. Even with a FC pass, I sat in Second Class a couple of times because it was more convenient.

Overall, I found www.railpass.com a great website.

the Swiss Passes can be bought just about anywhere in Switzerland. The Card in the past has been offered at the Zürich train station.

The current descriptions of the Swiss Card no longer specifiy any specific sales points within Switzerland. Why not ask the sBB directly.

If you are entering the country by train, it only makes sense to have the card in your posession before you get there. Otherwise you have to get off the train at the first station and go buy a pass and wait for the next train.

You can order the pass or card from the swiss ticket shop as well as your ticket from whereever you will be to the first station in Switzerland and know the SBB folks will sell you what you need.

Last year I arrived by train from Munich, so I had my Swiss Card when I got to Basel, which was the first station in Switzerland. The Card was my ticket for the rest of the way.

I think it depends on your situation.
If I were flying into Zürich, I would simply buy my Card there at the airport station. Otherwise, I would have it in hand before I arrived.

I just went through the motions of buying tickets in Switzerland through my account. I got down to the point where I think I could have actually made the purchase. Right now I don't want to do that, so I quit. But the Swiss ticket office now looks you can even print tickets on-line before you leave home.

I know you can print at home from the German system, Die Bahn.
I did that last year.

Hmm, I have to do some calculations then. Swiss Card is $133 for Adult Second Class while Swiss Pass for 4-days Second Class is $180 or so.

But it says the Swiss Card is for mainly staying in one are, hence shorter trips? Because you pay 50% for the tickets whereas the Swiss Pass is free on all trains and then the same 50% discount in the mountains as the Swiss Card?

Also says I have to take the shortest or direct route between two points, so I may have to skip certain trains to wait for direct route ones.

I fly into Zurich, spend the night, then sightsee and then head for Grindlewald for two days. If the weather holds up, I do Jungfrau and maybe Schilthorn. If the weather is bad, I might take the train back to Luzern or Zurich.

Then I proceed to Zermatt for a couple of days. Then I go to Geneva for the final night before flying out. Maybe I go spend time in Montreux for a couple of hours.

So I haven't priced each of these routes but it seems some of the longer ones would add up even with the 50% discount of the Swiss Card.

OK, I came across a Rick Steve's article that suggests the Swiss Pass can't be purchased in Switzerland itself?

"Who: Most railpasses sold in the U.S. cannot be used by residents of Europe. You are not a resident of Europe if you live on an American military base or have only a temporary student visa for Europe. You must provide proof of at least 6 months residence outside Europe (and outside the Russian Federation, Turkey, or North Africa) when validating most railpasses. A passport or green card is the usual proof. These passes require only proof of residence outside the countries covered by the pass: Balkan, Benelux, BritRail, Bulgaria, European East, Italy, Portugal, Scanrail, and Swiss."

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/howrailworks.htm

Is this true or just a ploy to get you to order from raileurope.com?

Rick Steves has a link where he apparently gets a cut of those sales.

scrb---I don't know what you mean by "ploy", but the Swiss rail site, sbb.ch, gives the same price for a 4-day Swias Flex-Pass ($212 in 2d class, $180 if buying 2 or more) as is shown on the Rick Steves website. I din't compare RailEurope. I don't know how much shipping and service charge is added by RS if you buy it there. But I couldn't find any way to buy it from the Sbb.ch website.

I am no authority, but I don't think you can buy this pass in Switzerland after your arrival. I have always bought them in advance.

Hi folks,

Yes you can buy the Flexi Pass in Switzerland (as bob brown noted above).

The Swiss Travel System (www.swisstravelsystem.ch) gives a list of Swiss train station where they are sold and adds this:

"Only Swiss Pass, Swiss Flexi Pass and Swiss Youth Pass are sold.
Train stations marked with * also sell the Swiss Card.
The Swiss Transfer Ticket can not be obtained at Swiss train stations."

You must have a passport to prove that you are a US citizen.

s

Hmm, at this page, the prices listed don't seem that great.

http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/index.php?id=73&L=2

Second class 4-day Swiss Pass is 250 CHF, which is more than the $185 quoted at raileurope.com.

Of course, whatever they charge for shipping, it probably becomes a wash.

scrb: exactly. To my mind, there comes a break-even point where the calculating to save $10 loses its value -- so I figure my best mix of value & convenience, make a decision, and don't look back.

If you decide to buy the pass outside of Switzerland, try to find the seller who gives the best stuff; used to be Rick Steves (he gave away maps & books with each pass purchased). Now maybe Budget Travel Europe.

Can't lose, imo!

s

bookmarking

swandav2000---thank you for clarifying this. I have never been persistent enough in navigating the STS site to find where you could buy on-line, or find the list of stations in Switzerland where the passes are sold.

I see that if you put in "US" as your home when you go to buy, they kick you to the RailEurope site. If you put in "Europe" as your home, they let you buy on their site, and list 42 SFr for shipping/handling to the US.

I'm still happiest with the way I do it---go to the Rick Steves office in person, and buy the passes without paying any handling charges.

enzian, yes it used to be SO easy. Now the information is all over the place, and you really have to be persistent to find it.

Ah well, the price we pay . . .!!

s

One other question.

I plan to use the 4-day pass from Tuesday, Jan 30 to Friday, February 2.

Now the first time I use it, it will be to go to Jungfraujoch from Grindlewald. So I'm not sure if that includes any of the Swiss Rail or if it will be all on the Jungfraubahnen.

If the latter, who validates it? Do they write in the date of first use? Or is it only validated by the Swiss Rail people?

Because I'm wondering if I can use it on Monday afternoon to get the 50% discount on some mountain excursions such as this one:

http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en/Deskto.../172_read-679/

Your Swiss Pass can be validated at the ticket counter of any train station within Switzerland.

The ticket agent will write the first and last date on the pass, and they will ask to see your passport and write your passport number on the pass as well. They also date stamp the pass with the name of the station where it was validated.

The link you posted indicates that offer is only good during the summer season from May to October.

Threads like this make my head spin. This is why I have simply purchased the one month half fare card for 99chf and paid half price for all trips. It may or may not save money, but I think it does. Plus, it's easier on my non-math mind.