I've read too much and confused myself. Questions.
When I buy a half fare card, does the time limit start immediately or does it start when I follow up and buy additional tickets or the Jungfrau Season Pass?
As a tourist and not a resident of Switzerland, can I purchase the one-year half fare card?
Thanks...
The time starts on the date you specify it to start when you buy it.
You can buy a yearly half fare card, but it is complicated for a non-European. It is a subscription and renews automatically every year unless cancelled in writing. Rea all about it here: https://www.sbb.ch/en/help-and-contact/products-services/travelcards/ga-and-half-fare-travelcard/half-fare-travelcard.html
Why would you want the one-year card? The Tourist Half Fare Card is good for one month ( 30 days) and costs 120 CHF. You specify the start date when you buy it.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/inspiration/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html
Sam, Lola, Maureen, Thanks. I'm staying five weeks this October and again a month next September, hence the reason for the yearly half fare card. I am going to just go with the one-month card to avoid hassle this time.
When I purchase the half fare card through the SBB you provided, can I just pick it up at Zurich station. I don't think they have time to ship it to me before I leave.
Earl
When I purchase the half fare card through the SBB you provided, can I just pick it up at Zurich station. I don't think they have time to ship it to me before I leave.
Earl, Will you have a smartphone along? If you have the SBB app, which I highly recommend, and you buy the HFC while logged into the website, the HFC will be in the app under “Tickets.” This is also where you can buy and display all tickets you buy. Alternatively, you can print out the HFC or download it as a PDF to,your phone.
I see no place on the SBB app to buy the half fare card.
OK, Got it. Thank you all. Bought it online while logged in and it did show up in my SBB app.
Hi - I created an account on the SBB website, and then went to buy half fare cards for my wife and myself. However it won't let me continue without a customer number, but then it says the customer number is found on the card or receipt which I don't know how you get without purchasing the pass. So I'm stuck in a loop... I feel like I'm missing something, any guidance is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Andy
You are probably trying to buy the yearly Half Fare Card for Swiss Residents. To do that you do indeed need to have a (confusingly called) Swiss Pass account.
You want this: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/inspiration/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html
Cost 120,-
When I bought my half fare card - they asked me the start date. I bought the card prior to arriving in Switzerland. You can only buy the month long half fare card. You need to go into the non resident area of the Swiss half fare card. How long are you planning to be in Switzerland? If longer than a month - I assume you may to purchase multiple cards. I would debate buying two cards unless you can recapture both card costs in savings. For example the Swiss 15 day pass was more expensive for us than buying the month long half fare card and paying the applicable fares. Buying the JungFrau Pass or the BO pass in addition would not pay for itself based on our use for the 2 weeks we were in Switzerland and being in the BO area for a week.
Ok thanks very much, I did not realize that!
I was just able to do it now.
Thank you all for helping make my month in Wengen a huge success. It's comforting to have some knowledge of things beforehand at my age of 64. Wengen was perfect as a 28-day base. I was disappointed to see so many tourists in October but being in Wengen tempered that to a degree. Lauterbrunnen was packed in large part because of tour bus access. At night, around 8 PM in Wengen, it was total silence.
Yes, things started to close on the 15th and more on the 22nd, but it turned out to be a win for me because I was able to witness Wengen across two seasons perfectly, 14 days of fall, followed by 14 days of winter. I was able to watch the town return to "mostly" non-tourist. I was easily able to reach out and access Grindelwald, Interlaken, Murren and all places in between. COOP grocery stores seem to be perfectly located regardless of where I was. Even the few hardships, if you call them that, were great. For example, learning that to get ibuprofen, I needed a consult with a pharmacy person. At least that was what I ran into. The lack of true cold beer was painful, but I did find one at Karder Kulm with ice on the mug.
I found that some groups of people seemed to have no issue throwing cigarette buttes on the ground and others seemed to think they owned the sidewalk. It appeared to be mostly tour bus groups. I finally had to stop stepping out into the street and just stand my ground on my right to sidewalk access. I found the Swiss-German people to be friendly and I so enjoyed my interactions with them. It was a large part of why I went. I think they enjoyed my attempts at speaking German. They seemed to appreciate the tourism. Sophia, a young 29-year-old lady who worked at the shop in Wengen I frequented a lot was super helpful and educated me on many things about the area.
As for train passes, I found that the Jungfrau Summer Season Pass was perfect because I knew the uses of it and never had to worry about a ticket, or even using the SBB app. Even if it had not saved me money, it would have been best for me to have it for ease of use of the trains and gondolas. I will be researching Zermatt for this same type of pass. I found the Lauterbrunnen bus, Stechelberg gondola and Grutshlap transportation to be packed early on in the month but there was always a seat going to Wengen or back to Interlaken. Construction at Stechelberg may have led to some of that.
I discovered things about the area that I had not found written and sort of enjoyed watching my 44-year-old son discover that the electric fencing in the area is much hotter than that on his ranch in New Mexico.
Thank you all for the help. I hope I can return the favor to someone on here. I will be asking questions about three possible options for next year. Hut to hut hikes without serious elevation gain, a lengthy Zermatt stay or a lengthy stay in another part of Switzerland that might be closer to a border with another country. Thank you all..!
Thanks for the update, and glad you enjoyed.
a lengthy Zermatt stay or a lengthy stay in another part of Switzerland that might be closer to a border with another country
You can walk into Italy from the top of the lifts in Zermatt.
Thanks for the update. Good to hear you had a good time here.
It does indeed often catch tourists unaware that you cannot get medicines in grocery stores. You need to go to a pharmacy, and unfortunately we no longer have one in Wengen. I usually pop in to the one near Interlaken Ost when I am there, or otherwise just order stuff over the internet. For emergencies there is our GP, who is well stocked.
I hope you used to summer pass to at least go up the Jungfrauhoch once. We just did our end-of-season trip up there, and had a very cold beer up out at the glacier bar. Was great. And yes, we do have proper cold beer here :-)
Did you eventually manage to buy a 1-year Half-Fare Card, or not?
I have recently done so as I am going to Switzerland for work on a regular basis at the moment, and I had no problem as a French resident. I even received the SwissPass in my mailbox. But I am not sure if this is possible if you do not reside in a neighboring country.
Nice to hear back from you! As it turns out, our trips overlapped as we were in Lauterbrunnen Sept 16-Oct 13. Plan to be back there at the same time next year, too (as always). I agree the crowds in Sept at the stations and on some gondolas as frustrating. and the shallow Instagrammers about drove me insane this year, but once out on the trails we found our bliss. Plus we got to see many "cow parades," some formal and some just farmers moving a few animals.
a lengthy Zermatt stay or a lengthy stay in another part of Switzerland that might be closer to a border with another country
We have enjoyed week-long stays in Pontresina twice and will likely return in 2025. You might look at that local. You can daytrip to Italy. Also stayed in Lausanne a week and while I would stay, instead, in Vevey, it is an area worthy of an extended stay and close to France. Locarno is also an option although I think it is rather car-dependent for hiking so we have skipped it so far. But location and potential is great if you don't mind driving.
Balso I did not buy the annual half fare card but rather opted for the one month. I intend to go back within the rolling year, but I am also considering Italy.
WengenK, I did go to Jungfraujoch once while there, but I had been before. I hiked twice, once with my son and once alone, the short hike from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg and had a great meal at Grindelwaldblick each time. We hiked back from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen one day but not on the trail by the tracks. We sort of went on which trail we wanted on that hike. Had lunch at Eigergletscher a couple of times. I spent several days just attempting to be a Wengen resident.
Laurel, We may have actually met. I met two people from Oregon while there. I generally try to avoid politics, but since I want to get back to Oregon soon, I did talk to at least one of the folks about the state of Portland and if it is safe. I also talked to that person or another about the Spruce Goose and the coastal towns. Beautiful state.
I'm going to look at those places you mentioned. I really want to go where I can avoid car rental and just use public transportation, mostly trains and gondolas. Within that, I hope to find a pass as good as that wonderful Jungfrau Summer Season Pass or something similar.
