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Issues purchasing Swiss Half Fare Card

Posted by on

Can anyone confirm that they have been able to purchase the Swiss Half Fare card via the SBB.ch website? I have created the SwissPass account, logged in, added all of my information (and co-passengers), selected the Swiss Half Fare card, but when I select the continue to checkout, it throws an error stating that there is nothing in the basket, and it is unable to process the query. This has been going on for several days. I have tried it with both Chrome and MS Edge, same issue/error. I'm really surprised, as the Swiss train systems are usually very reliable, and I thought the websites might be as well. Is it just me, or have others had issues in the last few days trying to do the same thing? I'm logging in from US BTW.

Also, it does not appear that the Swiss Half Fare card can be purchased from the App. At least I have not been able to find where it can be purchased.

Posted by
17 posts

Hi, Britt,
I had this same trouble over the weekend and yesterday. Somewhere in a google search for a solution, someone suggested using the website https://www.swissrailways.com/en/buy-swiss-half-fare-card. It is another arm of the sbb.ch. I used this and had no problems purchasing the Half Fare Card - just click on the "Swiss Travel Pass" heading and it will take you to the Half Fare card. Hope this helps!

Posted by
4 posts

I did send SBB an email and received a reply this AM, in which they indicated the system has been having problems for the last few days with the Swiss Half Fare Card (SHFC), so it was not me. I was able to get on the SBB.ch website tonight and purchase the SHFC, and it all worked smoothly.

In addition, they indicated that you CANNOT buy the SHFC using the SBB app, however, if you create an account with SBB (SwissPass), and you use that account when you log into the app and then the SHFC will show up in the app.

I have seen several folks asking if you can purchase tickets for multiple people (family lets say) using a single phone/device, and the short answer is, "yes." You just need to add them as co-passengers and purchase the number of tickets you need.

Finally, you can get the SHFC at other sites, but these are reseller sites. The downside of using these sites are:
- They charge an additional fee (usually $10-$15)
- The pass won't show up in your SBB app on the phone
- SBB will not be able to help you if the pass does not work.
So, I would not recommend using them unless you absolutely have to.

Posted by
17 posts

I will say that my 2 passes purchased on the Switzerland Travel Centre website, which is a subsidiary of SBB and other local railways, as well as Schweiz Tourismus, definitely showed up on my SBB.ch app and easily transferred to my Apple Wallet. The cost was 120 chf, or $137 USD, just as on the SBB website. I'm so glad the SBB folks were able to troubleshoot this issue for you, but the STC site is a good option for folks who run into difficulty. Happy travels!

Posted by
75 posts

Your computer should have the time setting set to "Automatic", not manual. Check your settings.

Then it works even for sbb.ch

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