Can someone walk me through the process of purchasing a ticket on the Swiss railway with a half fare card? We will be arriving in Geneva from Paris and will have a short time to make our connecting train. I thought I’d be able to purchase tickets on the app but I found out you do not load a tourist half fare card onto the app. So does that mean we have to purchase all of our tickets in the station? I just want to have a clear idea of the process so we don’t miss our connecting train! Thank you!
If you will have the Half Fare Card in your possession when you board the Swiss train, then you can just buy the tickets at the half fare price now. When they check your tickets on the train, show your Half Fare Card to show you are entitled to half fare. It is as simple as that. If you do not have your Half Fare Card when they check your ticket, then you are traveling on an invalid ticket and will be fined. That is the way it works in Switzerland.
That you have the half fare card is not checked during ticket purchase, so you do not need to have the card loaded on the app.
All you need to do is select half fare reduction. In the app when you purchase a ticket you will see that on the purchase page there is your name at the top with a pencil icon where you can modify your details. There you can enter that you have the half fare card there.
You can also add co travellers there, (and add that they have the HFC as well).
Have you booked Paris - Geneva already? If not, just book "Paris -> wherever in Switzerland you are going" on www.sbb.ch, indicate you have the HFC, and buy your through ticket. This is cheaper than buying both separately.
No, you can purchase your tickets in the app. As above, the app does not verify in any way that you have a Half Fare Card.
If / when you are checked for tickets on the train, that's when you will have to show both the ticket and the Half Fare Card for each passenger to the staff member checking tickets.
I just bought my Swiss Half Cards for use in September. Please confirm that I can board a train and then pay the conductor rather than wait at a long ticket line in the station.
Secondly….If I purchase a Day Saver pass will I also be able to board the train without stopping at the ticket window?
Betty. Not sure that it is possible to "buy your ticket" from the conductor, someone else will have to answer that question. I suspect you might be penalized for not having a valid ticket. However you CAN purchase all your tickets from the comfort of anywhere using the SBB app on your phone, and your half fare card will also be on the phone if attached to your account per the SBB website (set up SBB account 1st, not sure if you can add already purchased Half Fare to account). My experience you can "board" any train, no one checks for tickets at that point. The conductor will wander through the train at some point checking, usually. We traveled Switzerland in August and January with the Swiss Travel Pass and just showed to the conductor when requested.
Day Saver Pass just get on any train for the day the ticket is dated.
I traveled on Swiss trains last fall after purchasing a half fare card online. I downloaded rge app and loaded it on the app.
I believe the default price on the app assumed you had a half price card.
My tickets showed up on the app.On more than one occasion the conductor checked tickets first and then asked for the half price card which was on another screen on the app.
I also used the app for public transportation in Zurich and for some gondolas . Those I purchased just before boarding.It was all easy and convenient . No hiccups.I wish all transportation system ticketing worked so well.
The important thing to know is this:
- Before you buy anything on the SBB website or APP set up an account do this first.
- You do not need a customer number (so select no customer number). If you were to do that you would be send to the ID verification. That is only for Swiss persons.
Process is explained here:
https://community.sbb.ch/blog/35831-swiss-half-fare-card-how-to-buy-and-details
Betty - No, you can not board a train and buy the ticket from the conductor. There are not long lines to buy tickets at the stations. There are machines everywhere that most people use, but if that's too confusing, just go up to the counter. Rarely is there more than 1 person in line, unless you're at places like Grindelwald First. And yes, if you have the Saver Day Pass it's your ticket for all included routes.
An important principle in Swiss public transit is that you need to have a ticket before you board. There is no ticket sales on the train, and there is also not sales on most busses and trams nowadays.
If you are on board without a ticket then the conductor will write you up for a very hefty fine.