I will be in Switzerland for 8 days next month, traveling with one adult and one 13 year old. We are flying to Geneva, taking the train to Bern; train to Murren; train to Lucerne; train to Zurich.
Which pass should we buy? I seriously feel like a dingbat trying to figure this out when I'm on the SBB website.
And how far in advance do I need to purchase the tickets?
Thanks!
I start with this assumption: A Swiss pass is pretty much break-even for the AVERAGE user. Do I expect to use trains and cable cars MORE than average? Then it's a good deal.
Same thing for something like the Berner Oberland Pass. Do I expect to use a LOT of cable cars and trains in the regions from Bern and Lucerne on South? Then yes. That's the one I typically buy, and I do so when I am changing trains in Bern. Why? Because if it looks like a week of rain, I'll know I won't be using the pass that much, and I'll forego it then.
If you are still totally confused, or have no idea of how much you'll use, but you'll be travelling in Switz. for a week or more, just get the half-fare card for around 130 dollars/CHF.
Regardless of which pass you buy, ask for a "family card" for your 13 year old. It's about $20 and will allow the teen to take almost every train/cable car for free.
Buying the Half Fare Card there will cost 120 CHF, and I believe the Family Card is free, you just have to ask.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/transport-reisen/billette/tickets-oeffentlicher-verkeher/swiss-family-card.html
With an 8-day 2nd class costing 398 CHF, it is usually overkill. You really do need to price out every single journey, and see. Complicating matters, the Swiss Travel Pass now includes free rides on the Schilhornbahn cable car all the way to the top at Piz Gloria. It also includes the Rigi mountain top. It also includes many museum fees, city transport. It only gives a 25% discount on the train to the Jungfraujoch above Wengen (free up to that point).
The Half Fare Card is 50% off everything without exception. No museum entrance fees. To make it pay, you need 240 CHF pp worth of transport tickets. You still have to buy tickets for each journey.
So I'll give you a sample calculation. You have 186 CHF worth of tickets for just you getting to all your destinations. Assume you will get the Family Card. Assume one round trip from Muerren to Piz Gloria at 82.20 EUR. So that comes to 268.20 CHF of tickets. You buy the Half Fare Card for 120 CHF and you pay 134.10 For those tickets, so it costs you 254.10 CHF. With the Swiss Travel Pass you pay 398 CHF. So the Half Fare Card saves 143.90 CHF over the Swiss Travel Pass.
You need to buy one product or the other to get the Family Card. But if it was just you, you would save money over the Travel Pass just buying full fare tickets. People go to Switzerland and buy the Travel Pass and they love it. It is so convenient. SBB loves it too. They make an extra 100 to 200 CHF off of every tourist.
And you do not have to buy ahead. You can buy these products at the Geneva airport train station.
So I'll break down why I'm banging my head over which pass to buy: I'm the kind of person who will get in the car to go to work and realize half way there that I'm not wearing shoes. I'm the kind of person who lost her passport, searched the house like a crazed thief to try to find it and ended up buying a new one on speed order because I was leaving the country in 4 days...only to find out my old passport was in a zipped pocket in my purse. I arrived in Venice last summer only to realize I had deleted some pretty important reservations/tickets/reminders etc.
In other words, I'm an absent-minded professor, quite literally.
I suppose someone with my quirks should just do the Swiss Pass because it's less hassle? I wouldn't say this very often, but I am leaning towards paying more in order to have as little to hassle with and remember as possible. Nuts?
One of the benefits of the STP is that you don't have to stop and buy tickets all along the way. Yes, that's definitely one of the perks.
Yes, the Swiss Pass is a less hassle as you don't need to buy tickets. But you do have to remember to bring the pass and your passport with you. And the child card for the 13-year-old.
I was on a (Swiss) train earlier today, and somebody presented the ticket inspector with a pass but no ID. He told her the pass was only valid with ID, but let her off with a warning. He must have been in a good mood, he saved her a CHF 100 fine for invalid ticket.
Not to mention Swiss law says you must carry ID, but I don't want to go there as the subject has been done to death on this Forum.
If we start with Shoe's assumption that "a Swiss pass is pretty much break-even for the AVERAGE user," then I would get it for a fair amount of convenience. Accept the up-front cost as covering most of what you probably will want to do, especially since the 8-day consecutive version sounds like a good fit, with less to pay later. You skip trying to predict the future and skip doing a math project that still may not identify a clear winner. See also our own summary of the options.
Given your status as a self-described "absent minded professor," you're going to LOVE a Swiss Travel Pass. Nothing to remember except the pass itself (don't leave your hotel without it). Just show your pass (and if asked, your passport) whenever tickets are checked.
Just one potential problem for you. You have to remember for any trips that are not 100% covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, you must buy tickets BEFORE boarding! After days of not having to think about buying tickets, you may forget. You show your Pass when you buy the tickets, and they apply the appropriate discount (25-50%).
Here are some trips you will need tickets for BEFORE boarding, that you are likely/recommended to take:
The trip up the Jungfraujoch (it's covered as far up as Wengen, but the trains go direct from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg, so unless you want to get off, buy a ticket, and wait for the next train, make sure you buy the appropriate ticket in Lauterbrunnen).
The cable car from Wengen to Männlichen (to start the Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg walk), and the train down from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen (from Wengen further down to Lauterbrunnen is included).
The funicular from Mürren to Allmendhubel.
The trip up and down Mt. Pilatus. Note that the trip from Luzern to Mt. Rigi and back is fully covered, by whatever combination of boat, train, and cable car you choose.
When you buy the Pass, you will get a copy of the Swiss Synoptic Map. Anthing on it that is a dashed line rather than a solid one, is not 100% covered, and you need a ticket before travel. If you want to study the map beforehand, here's a link to the PDF: https://www.mystsnet.com/fileadmin/doc/02_Produkte_Services/01_Swiss_Travel_System/02_Ueber_das_Swiss_Travel_System/UEbersichtskarte_Synoptic_Map_2018_low.pdf
When looking for what is and is not covered, be sure you are looking at 2018 information - it does change from year to year!
