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Another train/travel pass question

Posted by on

I am trying to figure what might be the best options for train travel for a trip this summer and would appreciate any help. I have scoured these boards (invaluable help), and SBB/OBB/DB and the man in seat 61.

We (family of three - two adults, one 13 year old) will be visiting in July - Munich to Seefeld (3 nights), Seefeld to Wengen (5 nights), Wengen to Munich (1 night, catch plane next morning).

Big train travel days are Munich to Seefeld (thinking Regio-Ticke Werdenfels, 58 euros for all three), Seefeld to Wengen (priciest, long train day, 198 euro for all three w/HF - anyone have better price ideas on this? I could also do a Saver Day pass, 132 for all three w/swiss HF but I am not sure this helps bring the cost down) and Wengen to Munich (239 for all three w/HF, Europa Sparpreis zurich/munich). Other train days outside of BO will be minor.
Goals: Kind of a three way tie between cost savings/convenience/flexibility, with a willingness to pay a bit more for convenience/flexibility.
Options:
I am thinking of definitely doing the BO pass for our four days in the BO. First thought then was to do Swiss Half Fare in addition to that, and point to point for the big train travel days.
But:
Pricing that out, Eurail plus BO (no Swiss HF) is only slightly more (10%) than PtP + Swiss HF + BO. I thought it might be more convenient, but people on this forum really seem to be advising against the Eurail due to ease of use issues (and of course cost - but in this case it might price out). Understanding that the Eurail only goes through to Interlaken, so have to pay from there. The man in seat 61 indicates that these three countries are easiest of use for the Eurail.

Another thought: Do Swiss HF and 6 day BO and PtP. The two extra days are relatively minor (90 CHF total) and that might be enough to overcome some of the higher price tickets on the big train days. My big stopper here - I don't know how that would work - for example, when leaving Seefeld, do I just buy a ticket seefeld to Bern and then show the pass from there? So I am unclear how to price that out. If it is through Bern, that saves a bit (Seefeld to Bern, 172 for all three, Bern to Munich 163 for all three). So maybe that's the best?

Posted by
20096 posts

With a 13-yo, the Regio-Ticket Werdenfels is only 44 EUR.
If you get two Half Fare Cards in Switzerland, you can also get the free Family Card and the 13-yo travels with with you free.

Posted by
415 posts

Yes, when you train from a place that is outside of the pass validity to somewhere within the validity, you get a ticket from A to B and then B to C is covered. So as you said, you get a ticket from Seefeld to Bern and then once you're within validity you just show your pass. Even if you never leave the train.

For example, we did a train once from somewhere in Italy to Switzerland where the area of validity started before we exited the train, so when they checked tickets in Italy we showed our paid for ticket and as soon as the train entered the validity, even though we never left the train, we showed our pass when they came through again a few hours later.

Sometimes you'll go hours on a train without being checked and then sometimes someone will come through multiple times within a short span as they make stops and people are getting on/off.

When it comes to pricing out your long days, make sure to check pricing from both countries. For example, we're training from Munich to Murren this summer and the price on Deutsche Bahn was significantly cheaper than SBB.

All those things to say - it sounds like all your options are within a marginal price difference because you've done the calculations, so I'd just pick whichever feels most convenient to you after looking everything over. Passes are almost always more convenient in terms of being able to hop on/hop off, especially when it comes to flexibility because you could think you want to do one thing and then change your mind and you don't have to factor in train cost to your decision, you just get to go.

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you Sam and Kristyn.

I had the 58 price for the flexible regio-ticket (can cancel up to a day before).

The Free family card is a really good point - I had priced that out for the seefeld to wengen trip, but not wengen to munich. So that brings that total down by about 100 euros - making PtP a bit more price competitive.

Here is why that is hard to price out - I take it that I do not buy tickets for my 13 year old if I am using the Family Card? It is not an option in SBB w/the drop down discounts. So if I am buying the three of us tickets, I would buy the two adults the whole way using the Swiss HF discount , and then buy the 13 year old a separate ticket from the closest stop in the neighboring country? So Seefeld to Bregenz maybe? And then no ticket for the swiss portion of travel, just show the family card?

The tip on checking pricing from both countries is a really good one. In general, it looks like DB has better pricing/routes than SBB for my travels. However, I can't get it to price out Seefeld to Wengen - so far I can only get a price on that w/SBB. And only SBB will give me the HF discount option - am I right on that, or is there a way to do that w/DB?

Posted by
16278 posts

Two points:

If you are buying tickets on SBB using the HFC and free Family card, choose the HalfFare discount for the 2 adults, and the “GA 2cl” for the child. That means “General Abonnement” which is the full price reduction for all kinds of Swiss Pass and Family Cards. That will apply to the Swiss portion of the trip and the rest—in Austrianor Germany—-will be priced accordingly.

The Half Fare Card also reduces the cost of the BO a pass significantly. And because you will have a Family Card, you won’t need to spend an additional CHF for a Junior BO Pass.

You will not get these benefits with a Eurail Pass.

Posted by
20096 posts

I had the 58 price for the flexible regio-ticket (can cancel up to a day before).

You can just buy this out of a vending machine at Munich airport train station when you arrive. The ticket cost is 29.50 EUR for the 1st adult and 14.50 EUR for each additional adult up to 5 adults traveling together. Up to 3 children age 6 to 15 travel free. So that makes it 44 EUR. Here is the webpage witht he description. Unfortunately, it is in German, but your browser should translate it for you.
https://www.bahn.de/angebot/regio/bayern/regio-ticket-werdenfels-plus-innsbruck

Posted by
13 posts

Once again, the advice on these boards are invaluable!

Lola, thank you so much for the tip on the GA2cl - exactly what I needed to get the tickets priced out right!

And Sam, you have helped out me out so much. Another great tip on the Regio-Werdenfels. We will just wait to get that ticket until we get there. That helps me with the "what if our plane is delayed by a day" anxiety as well!

So the answer for us is definitely: BO, Swiss HF, and PtP. Thanks everyone for all the help!

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