Please sign in to post.

Deciding between Swiss Travel Pass (8 day) and Swiss Travel Pass Flex (4 day).

I will be vacationing in Switzerland for 5 days. I plan to travel by train for 4 of the 5 days. The other day I will be in the Berner Oberland regions (staying in Murren). I understand from my research that having the Swiss Travel Pass will provide discounts when purchasing separate tickets for the various modes of transportation in the high mountains (i.e. cable car to Schilthorn). I am wondering if this day will also count as a Swiss Travel Pass day. If that is the case, then I will need to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass for 8 days. Or or do I simply need to have a valid active Swiss Travel Pass in hand, but not need to apply it to travel on that day?

Thank you for any guidance.
Beth

Posted by
16893 posts

This year, the Swiss Travel Pass only gives you lift discounts 1) when you're using one of the counted travel days, OR 2) if you buy the Half-Fare add-on to the Flexipass for $75 more. The version for 8 Consecutive days at $385 gives you more lower-level coverage than does 4 Flexi + Half Fare feature at about $378. Another option would be to get a pass for 4 consecutive days and pay separately for your last travel day.

Posted by
19654 posts

I go by the Swiss Railways website for prices, which are in Swiss Francs, so you may see differences in prices quoted in US$ by Raileurope. For instance, the Half Fare adder is 60 CHF from Switzerland. The CHF and US$ are within a couple of percent of each other, so I'm not getting the $75.
You might also look at a 3-day flex with the half fare adder for 299 CHF, or about $305.
Finally, always consider the straight Half Fare Card for 120 CHF ($122). If you will have over 240 CHF of full fare railway/lift tickets, it will save money, and often beats the cost of buying the passes.

Posted by
16893 posts

That was my mistake to estimate the price of the Half-Fare add-on at $75. It's actually $63 from Rail Europe.

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you both for your responses. Very helpful. I may actually consider the 3 day Flex pass plus the half fare travel card combination since the other day that we are in the Berner Oberland region, we plan to travel from Murren to Jungfrau. So I will cost out paying for the round trip transportation from Murren to Lauterbrunnen and then take the Jungfrau train from there.

Does that make sense?

Also, do you recommend reserving seats on the train to Jungfrau in August?

Posted by
19654 posts

For the Jungfraujoch, I don't believe there are any seat reservations available. And you really want to get a bead on that day's weather before you commit.