It also gives 50% off for mountain rails, cable cars, etc.>

One exception - between Wengen or Grindelwald and Kliene Scheidegg and the Jungfraujoch Swiss Passes now get 25% discount rather than 50 % previously a few years ago - only exception I know of of the 50% rule on everything that moos in Switzerland - I meant moves, except cows!

Great! Thanks PalenQ. That's probably what we'll get then.

Here's another questions for ya! Can my husband use one of his 4 days to go from Switzerland to Vienna on an overnight train? He'd probably fly back so he'd only need to use 1 of his days. But I wasn't sure of international travel and I wasn't sure if we are able to travel separately. I think I read that we have to travel together on the first of the 4 days. Is that correct?

The Swiss Pass passes only to the Austrian border - you would have to buy a supplemental ticket from Buchs SG, border point I believe in Switzerland, to Vienna. Normally on a Saverpass you need not be on the same train but you cannot use one of your fourth days separately - I am not sure if this 2 for 1 offer is a Saverpass or two individual passes, which I suspect as 2 for 1 on solo passes fetches Swiss Rail more than 2 for 1 on cheaper Saaverpasses. Call Byron at www.budgeteuropetravel.com for a definitive answer IME as to what type of pass is actually issued on the 2 for 1 offer.

Again to be clear you hubby could use the 4th day of his pass to reach the Austrian border and if both passes are individual passes you can use the 4th day elsewhere - but if it is a Saverpass then for him to use the 4th day by himself - perfectly possible under the rules you could not unless you say traveled part way with him, like to Zurich. Whether or not the special is a Saverpass or two solo passes sold 2 for 1 is the key to find out.

Oh I see on the BudgetEuropeTravel site the 2 for 1 special is definitely only on Saverpasses - two names on one actual pass.

So he could use it by himself to get to Austrian border, but then i wouldn't be able to use it to get back to Zurich from Lauterbrunnen. I think I got it. Thanks!

Yup I see no way other than that. But at least fare from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich is not too much.

Sorry to keep hounding you with questions. I really should call Byron...and I may tomorrow. Anyway, do we always have to travel together with this 2 for 1 Saverpass? I'm assuming if we can't travel separately on the last day then we can't travel separately on the first day of use either right?

Only one person on the Saverpass need travel with the pass - the other person does not have to be on board - thus if you want to take separate trains both on that first day at separate times it would be fine - if that is your question? But it seems one of the person's will not be able to have the pass - there is just one pass with two names on it so the same situation I guess.

Tant pis!

Ok. No need to split up our train travel anymore. He's going to Vienna via plane. So we are now flying into Geneva so I'm trying to see if there is a Super saver ticket from Geneva to Lauterbrunnen but I'm not seeing any great steals. I think I'm going to get the pass.

If there were super saver fares Geneva to Lauterbrunnen then it would probably be by the express fastest route via Lausanne and Bern and not via the much much more scenic Golden Pass route which does not really take that much longer.

what's the deal with the Geneva snafu - you and spouse arriving at separate times or what? Wonder if you could buy a half-price train ticket with the pass for one and have the other use the pass?

curious?

We just came back from Switzerland. We got the Swiss saver pass for 8 days. It was expensive ($700 U.S. including delivery charge), but when I figured out where we would use it, it came to about the same as if we had bought the tickets individually. So for convenience sake, we bought the Saver Pass. (No need to wait on lines for tickets - just hop on the bus, train, boat, etc. that you want).

When we got home I sat down to figure out just how much we would have spent on individual transit tickets considering the REAL use we made of the Saver Pass on our trip. (Examples: Took advantage of 3 museums - no extra cost and didn't really think before hand that we would go to these; hopped on trams all the time; decided to take two extra boat rides not initially considered, etc ., etc.)

Result: Individual tickets would have cost us close to $1100 U.S.!! Thus, $700 was well spent.

Hm. Never thought of that. You may be right...probably could buy a half price for one of us and have the other use the pass. Oh well. We worked it out. He needed to go to Vienna for a quick business thing, but we worked it at the beginning of our trip so we could use the pass together when he returns.

We now will be using the pass from Geneva-Lauterbrunnen and again from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich when we depart. We have more than two days in between those two journeys so we'll just try to do most of our sightseeing on two of the remaining five days of our vacation and just pay half fare for the days when we don't use it.

Our flight out of Zurich is at 1pm. Would you recommend doing a scenic route from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich? I heard it's not that much more time, but I'm not sure it's worth it. Also, is it going to warm up there any time soon!?! Hoping for some nice picnic weather by the time we get there!

like kenav says I always end up using my pass more times than I dreamed I would - not only for museums that I was just passing by and would not have paid to enter but once in I may have found delightful but also on a whim to just hop on a lake boat in Interlaken, etc. I would only eschew a pass if I knew exactly what I was going to do - like go hiking in some remote area - otherwise the pass is for the average traveler visiting more than one region almost always a bargain IMO.

kenav,

I am curious about the figures you quote. It seems you got the point-point fares from Raileurope -- since you use a $ figure rather than chf, which Swiss rail would give you. You may know that Raileurope inflates their point-point rail prices.

I also wonder if you compared the fares with the Half Fare Card? Using your $1100 figure, you could have purchased those tickets for $550, plus the cost of the Half Fare Card (110 chf) for a total of $671. So the HFC would have been a competetive value for your trip.

Just adding this information so future travellers can compare --

s

If you have a Swiss Pass then the stupendously awesome IMO loop from Lauterbrunnen up to Grutschalp via awesome aerial cable car and the cliff-side train to Murren overlooking the deep Lauterbrunnen Valley far below and the cable way from Murren to Gimmelwald and stunning aerial gondola plunge back to the valley floor at Stechleberg and postal bus back to Lauterbrunnen - all of that would be 100% covered by a Swiss Pass - so if doing that totally awesome loop (IMO) use one of your 100% covered days if you have a flexipass.

Hi swandav - I got all my prices from sbb.ch. They were in Swiss francs (CHF) and I converted them into U.S. dollars to help those reading this make more sense of the real dollar amounts. As for the Half Fare Cards: We would have had to purchase two Half Fare Cards (110 CHF x 2) as it was for two of us.

It cost $25 U.S. ( I believe) for the mailing of the tickets to me. I included that fee in the overall price of $700 U.S. total for the Swiss Saver Card which covers 2 people traveling together.

I don't know if the Half Fare card would have helped more than the Swiss Saver Pass, but again, the ease of using the Swiss Pass is a bonus. No waiting on lines or having to purchase tickets each time you need to; just run onto the trams, buses, boats, trains.

Again, I know that we used transportation more than we would have if we had to continually pay for individual tickets. We thought nothing of jumping on as many trams as we wanted or taking extra boat rides. Also great for the free museum visits. The three we visited would have cost 20-25 Swiss francs per person ($22-27 U.S.) without the Swiss Pass.

It DOES take time to figure out which offer would work best for one's trip. I definitely looked at the numbers over and over before we made our decision. But I do advise everyone that the amount of transportation you may really end up using may be more than what you figured you would use.

PalenQ - Ah, that trip to Grutschalp sounds wonderful. Next time...

PalenQ - will do!