PalQ

taxatty: did you have a Swiss Pass or other tickets - did the Family Card come with the Swiss Pass - did you buy it in Switzerland for SF20 or get it free abroad with the pass? Thinking there may be a difference with the SF20 Family Card you buy in Switzerland vs the free Family Card you get abroad when buying Swiss Pass. If you didn't have Swiss Pass what kind of tickets did you have? thanks in advance.

Digbydog

PalQ, thanks for the compliment about my name. My dog thanks you too!

I just talked to the Swiss National Tourist Office. They said that the Family Card is free with a Swiss Pass or Swiss Card. It can be purchased for 20SF with a Eurailpass. It does not give free travel on some mountain railways, such as the Jungfraujoch, only 50% off. I guess Taxatty was just lucky. I am still waiting to hear from the SBB.

annetti

Thanks, PalQ for the web site and the 800 tel. no. We spoke to someone there today and they are sending us some info to read. Kmbp: It sounds like you used the Swiss half fare card for your trip. Do you think that would work for us, given the information I wrote a few messages back? Since we will be using public buses daily, I thought the half fare card would be useful. Does the Swiss Pass give you any discount on public transportation? Thanks everyone for your help.

taxatty

We had the Swiss Saverpass and got the Family Card for free through Rick Steves, who in turn uses Rail Europe..

kmbp

Annette,
I chose the one-year half-fare card because I'll be in Basel for over six weeks this year, during at least three separate trips. I use the (excellent) tram and bus system every day and I do day-trips and longer trips as well.

I've not done the calculations of comparing all the possibilities, but I would think that, for a stay of seven weeks, the one year half-fare card would give you the savings and the most flexibilty. You will not be limited as to the number of days it can be used and you'll find it handy on the days you stay in Basel.

The best way, I think, to be certain of your choice might be to price out each of the journeys that you plan on the SBB site and then run the numbers.

For weekend trips into France (not certain if it's same-day only), some tickets are deeply discounted.

Looking forward to reading more about your plans for Basel this summer!

PalQ

annetti: yes Swiss pass is valid on nearly all public transit in Switzerland - trams, city buses, most postal buses and most private railways - if you buy a flexipass for a certain number of travel days in a one-month period you travel free on the flexible travel days and get 50% off everything that moves in Switzerland, including buses and trams in cities and all trains, even Jungfraujoch trains for the whole month and don't need to use a flexible travel day to get the 50% off - thus the Swiss Pass also serves as a Half-Fare card except for only one month. But this way you use the flexible travel days - a minimum of three is what Swiss Passes start at for long train trips, such as to get to the jungfrau area and back to the Swiss border or airport and then get 50% off everything once there. Could be better than the Half-Fare card which gives you 50% off but no days of free travel. Yes go to www.sbb.ch site and check fares for half-fare card and your train journeys that would be free on the Swiss Pass flexible travel days and see what's best. If buying Swiss Pass remember currently it's best (cheaper) to buy them in US than at station in Switzerland as has been pointed out in recent posts. This has not always been the case in the past and could change in the future due to currency fluctuations. Half-fare cards can only be bought in Switzerland at stations i believe.

Digbydog

Here is what Swiss Rail says: A Junior or Family card is free with the purchase of a Swiss Rail pass. It can be purchased for 20 SF with the purchase of a Eurailpass. It gives free travel everywhere in Switzerland, even to the Jungfrau. So even if you have to purchase it, it is a great deal.

PalQ

Thanks Digbydog - seems like everyone had it wrong - including Swiss Tourist Office and this seems definitive word and in case of Jungfrau and other pricey mountain top trains makes Family Pass a greater value than even i understood it to be, and a reason for someone with a Eurailpass to buy one for SF20!

PalQ

Well i'm remiss in saying everyone had it wrong - some posts had it right like Schuler and taxatty, the latter's personal experience jives with the sbb's response. They should publicize this more to people who buy Eurailpasses and Swiss Passes - the free Jungfrau aspect.

annetti

PalQ: Thanks for such precise information. You made it clear for me why the Swiss Pass may work for us. I did not understand before that the Swiss Pass included a 50% reduction on the days we don't use the Swiss Pass for free transport. It sounds like this is the first yr that this offer is being made. If so, we're in luck. We're a bit intimidated by all the stories of the high prices in Switzerland. This should help us. We investigated point to point with and without the Swiss card and with just the half fare card. It sounds like the Swiss Pass might work for us, even if we have to buy it twice for the seven weeks we will be there. Thanks again for your help and everyone else, thanks, too. Annette

PalQ

Annetti as they say in Switzerland "merci" kind of pronounced like "mercy" - or thanks for your comments. Yes last year the discount with Swiss Passes was 25% and only granted on days you were using for free travel - thus this year Swiss Passes offer so much more for their value, which was already great.

enzian

Okay--I've read all the way through and still am a little bit confused. We have used the 6-day Swiss Saver Pass before, but it looks like things have changed since last year. My questions are: (1) for the last part of the trip up the Jungfraujoch, IF we choose to do that (a big "if&quot, will we pay 50 % regardless whether we are using one of our travel days or not? In other words, we could save our travel days for longer trips and still get the 50 % discount? And (2) our daughter may or may not be covered for that trip on the Family Card? Taxatty says yes, others say no, it's 50 % even with the Family Card. Thanks for your help.

PalQ

2) is still murky to me - i'd say don't expect free passage until we have more than some unnamed sbb responsdent's info - could be wrong but taxatty's experience is hopeful - i guess only a call or e-mail to the Jungfraubahn would shed more light on this -
but 1) yes 50% the same whether you use a day of travel or not - so you wouldn't - instead of buying a six day flexi you'd buy a 5-day but only if you had long train trips that warranted it - if you could buy your trips at 50% and it were cheaper than buying more days you'd go with the shorter flexipass.
In any case Swiss Passes pass for more benefits this year as good ole Ingo first reported in the initial post.

enzian

Yes--this is great to know. Thanks PalQ and Ingo. We won't count on the discount for our daughter, but maybe we'll get lucky like Taxatty.

cod

Enzian, to the best of my knowledge, children under the age of 16, travelling with you with a Family/Junior card are free everywhere, including the Jungfrau trip. We were there with lots of children in 2004, and they all went free, everywhere, including the Jungfrau - all seven of them.We had a great time.

PalQ

Here's what Rick Steves site says about Family Pass (not saying he's right, like with Romantik Road bus last year he was wrong, but one would think has researched well):
"The Swiss Family Card allows children under 16 to travel free with their parents. Based on the validity of the parent's pass or ticket, this works even on the high mountain routes. The Swiss Family Card is available for 20SF per child at major Swiss stations, but you can request a free Swiss Family Card when you order an adult Swiss Pass, Swiss Card or Swiss Transfer Ticket in the U.S. NOT VALID WITH PASSES THAT INCLUDE OTHER COUNTRIES (Caps i added as this is the important point vis-a-vis Eurail and passes like France-Switzerland, Austria-Switzerland, etc.)
I mention this because of above posts about using Family Pass with Eurailpass - don't know if Steves is right or wrong!

kleeblatt

Swiss Family Card = Junior Karte.

Is this correct?

Phil

annetti.

If you stay at a hotel in Basel, there is a "mobitlity ticket" included, which entitles you to use the local transport system free of any charge for the duration of your stay.

Enjoy your trip

Phil.

enzian

Schuler---the SBB website makes a distinction betweent the two. The Junior Card can be purchased in Switzerland for CHF 20, and is good for free travel for kids under 16 when accompanied by a parent traveling on a valid ticket.

The STS (Swiss Travel System) Family Card is offered in the section of the website for international guests; it is free with the purchase of one of the Swiss passes available for use by foreigners (Swiss Pass, Flexi Pass, Transfer Ticket, etc.)

The Family Card obviously won't work with a Eurail Pass. But I think there is still a question as to whether the Junior Card can be purchased and will work with a Eurail Pass.

kleeblatt

I don't think you need any pass with a junior card. My kids have one and I have a 1/2 Price card but they aren't dependant of each other.