Train tickets question
 

Hello,

We will be travelling from Munich to Zurich and back on train. Right now I saw reasonable priced tickets on RailEurope website. I read on some forum posts that buying from official website is cheaper but when I search on Swiss website, the tickets appear to cost more. I don't know if I am doing something wrong on official website. We are 2 adults and 3 children.

Does the price change if I buy tickets closer to our travel date or is it better to purchase in advance ?
RailEurope seems like a proper website but just want to be sure before spending money.

We are planning on getting Swiss half fare card as that seems the most cost effective right now. We will be in Switzerland for about 5 days.

Appreciate any help.

What dates are you looking at?

I see tickets for next week for 59.7 euros on bahn.de, or 58 CHF on sbb.ch. - not identical, but roughly the same price.
There are fast, direct trains running every 2 hours.

For Mid march, I see 37.9 euros for the same train on bahn.de, 31 euros for mid April or later, so that seems to be the lowest price....

I just checked for a random date in March and got this on SBB (which defaults to half fare): Note that flexible offers will always cost more.

München HbfZürich HB

2nd class

• 1 × Super Sparpreis Europa - Non-flexible offer
  Valid: Tu, 12.03.2024
  Departure time: 16:53
  CHF 20.00
• 1 × Seat reservation
  Valid: Tu, 12.03.2024
  Departure time: 16:53
  CHF 5.00

Total price:

CHF 25.00

I checked the same date on the DB site and prices ranged from 19.90 euro to 29.90 euro, depending on time and routing.

Note these are one way tickets.

What is the price on Rail Europe?

The dates are in June. I read the earlier you buy the lower price you can get.
I entered München Hbf to Zürich HB for June 3, choosing the one that has no connection. It tells me tickets from CHF 46.
But when I go in and add passengers (2 adults with Half fare card and 3 children with travel co card), this is what I get

5 × Flexpreis incl. City-Ticket München Hbf - Flexible fares offer, München Hbf – St. Margrethen SG for CHF 177
Then among other things included for free
2 × Connection Ticket International - Flexible fares offer, St. Margrethen SG – Zürich HB for CHF 37.20
Total coming to CHF 214.20

In choice of ticket, there is only one option 'Flexible fares offer' which is selected by default.

Which site did you use to get those fares?

In the case of Switzerland, yes, buying tickets in advance can save you some money. They offer Super Saver Tickets, or Saver Day Passes in advance. These tickets can be combined with Half Fare Cards and save you quite a bit, but keep in mind that they are non-refundable. You will always pay more for flexible tickets. These tickets are only good within Switzerland and to towns that border Switzerland, same with the Half Fare Card.

International tickets are a different animal altogether.

In any case, I would not book a ticket this far in advance - at least for Switzerland. We visit Switzerland often, always buy Half Fare Cards (our trips are usually for a month or longer) and we check for Super Saver Tickets and Saver Day Passes a few weeks in advance. We then buy them only for our engraved-in-stone travel, usually for our long travel days within the country.

Super Sparpreis Europa tickets are already discounted, but they are not flexible. Bayern tickets are also a good option within Bavaria, but will not help you get to Zurich. I have used Super Sparpreis Europa tickets in Germany when crossing borders.

I have tried to check the DB site for your date, but it wants the ages of the kids before it gives a price.

I am not familiar with Rail Europe as I always purchase via the country's rail service, such as SBB and DB.

Our resident train expert for Switzerland here on Fodor's is neckervd. Perhaps he will weigh in.

You might also consider posting your question on Trip Advisor where you will no doubt get some local advice.

https://int.bahn.de/en/offers

https://www.sbb.ch/en

Thank you for your response.
I checked both sbb and bahn.de websites and I see tickets for more than $200 for our family.
I do not understand why sbb website only gives the option of flexible fare.

I am not planning on buying the tickets right now but want to have an estimate of what we might be spending.
I will post on the other website as well.

It is some time since we visited Switzerland with our kids but back then if a parent purchased some sort of discount card (in our case it was half fare cards), we would be able to buy a pass for the kids (under 16) for 30chf each. That gave the kids free travel within Switzerland. I haven't heard that this is no longer available so definitely worth checking out if your kids are younger. Terms, conditions and prices may, of course, have changed. There is/was an official Swiss website about passes so search for that or try sbb.ch.

Germany often offers family/group tickets which would be worth checking out to get to the border. Some of these are only for regional trains.