Good morning
If I book a train from Basel to Martigny for a specific time and date, and I end up being late (since you never know with international flights....), am I allowed to take the next train? Or is the reservation fixed for that specific time and date? The reason why I am asking is that it would be cheaper if I buy it now in advance but I have no idea what exact time I will be at Basel train station :(
(I will buy the Half-Fare Card)
Thanks a lot!
By default train tickets are not for a specific time, but are for a specific date. Tickets are for a route, not a train.
So even though you start the purchasing process buy selecting from a schedule that does not mean that you are bound by that schedule. It depends on the type of ticket you buy. Generally speaking there are up to three options that you will see:
= Standard "point to point" ticket. This ticket allows you to take any train on the route on the date you selected. The price is always the same, wether you buy it a year or a minute beforehand, so the only reason to buy that in advance is for convenience.
- Supersaver tickets: Discounted tickets that limit you to a particular departure. They are a fairly new thing. Tickets that limited what train you could take were until recently completely unheard of in Switzerland. Do not buy this if arriving by air, as a delayed flight indeed means that your ticket is useless.
- Saver Day Pass. Gives you unlimited travel on all public transit in Switzerland. Will be offered if a SDP for your selected day is available at a price lower than the standard ticket. This is a good choice when arriving by air, as it is fully flexible.
Note: You can buy a ticket Basel Euroairport - Martigny. There is no need for separate tickets for the bus and the train.
Oh wowww thank you so much! :)
I have no idea I could buy the ticket from the airport to Martigny :)
That's exactly what we are doing. Airport Basel / bus to the train station downtown / train to Martigny :)
Ok I thought Standard "point to point" ticket would be cheaper if I buy it in advance :)
Saver Day Pass is fine then. I note that too
I will avoid Supersaver tickets then
again thanks a million!
I tried it again and yes on one of the train option, it says
Supersaver ticket 32.20CHF
Point to Point 45.30CHF
the next one is
Supersaver ticket 49CHF
Point to Point 53.80CHF
The supersaver ticket is not on all the train options then, as far as I can understand
I think the price vary according to the connecting city?
Danger, Will Robinson....
The SBB app and website default to half price because most users are Swiss and many if not most Swiss locals have a Half Price card.
You can get one too, valid for a month, for CHF 120.
Make sure that if you don't expect to have one (you don't need it when you are buying tickets ahead, just when your tickets are checked) you are sure that the price quoted is the 100% price, not the 50% price.
Ah ah yes I will have the Half-fare swiss card :)
I know that is the price they indicate on the website or the application :)
Prices for point to point tickets are purely distance based. The normal route to Martigny from Basel goes via Bern and Lausanne or Vevey. However due to some quirk in Swiss geography you can also do this via Visp. Via Visp means less transfers, but the distance is larger, hence the price is higher.
Since the price is the same regardless when you buy it you can wait till you are here.
If you book sufficiently in advance however you should also be offered the Saver Day Pass. When is your trip?
That makes sense :)
3 weeks starting July 19th :)
I also need to buy the Berner Oberland pass
Might wait till 1 week in advance then before booking aything
If point to point class upgrade is much cheaper, I guess I should go for it?
Should I just monitor all the trains i need and book them as soon as I see a cheaper offer? I will not be 100% sure about the times though, but if it's just for a routing it's ok then :)
The supersaver tickets do not just limit yourself to a routing but also to a schedule. You will see that if you click on the ticket details. A normal ticket is valid a whole calendar day, till 5:00 the next day. A Superrsaver ticket is only good for the selected connection. It is not a good idea to buy a supersaver ticket when arriving by air.
A class upgrade just upgrades a presumably already available 2nd class ticket to 1st class. So if you buy that the conductor on the train will also want to see a 2nd class ticket.
Yes sorry i meant the Saver Day Pass. Not the other one as you explained to me earlier :) Omg i am confused ah ah!
But if a class upgrade is cheaper, should I buy it? I dont care about traveling first class but on one of the train I checked there was a 15$ difference in fare between the regular point to point ticket (53.80 chf) and the point to point class upgrade (35.55chf)
There might be something I do not understand :)
A 1st class upgrade with a Half Fare Card is 35.50 CHF for Basel Airport to Martigny. That means a 2nd class ticket is 53.80 CHF and a 1st class ticket is 89.30 CHF. 89.3 minus 53.80 equals 35.50. Not too hard to understand.
A class upgrade is not a ticket. So if you only buy a class upgrade, and then travel you will get a hefty fine, for travelling without a ticket.
Ahhhh ok got it! No need to buy this then. Thanks :)
