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Swiss Rail Pass or Half-Fare Card in June

Posted by on

I am not sure what I should purchase for train/boat/bus in Switzerland. Swiss Rail Pass or Half-Fair CArd.
We are traveling by rail to Wengen, Switzerland from France on June 22nd.
Plan to do the Schiltzhorn and maybe send our kids up to Jungfraugh. (There are four of us traveling)
We will also do some hiking around Wengen and maybe go to Grindenwald.
We will train to Luzerne on June 25th then take a boat to Viznau where our hotel is.
We plan to tour Rigi/Pilatus and Lucerne.
Boat/Train back to Zurich for a night then homeward bound from there. Just trying to figure out if the Rail Pass is the way to go or half-fair.
Let me know what you think. Also, should I use the SBB website? Has anyone had the passes mailed to you instead of printing them out? I want to pre-purchase one or the other and last night I printed them out.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Posted by
8889 posts

Unfortunately there is no alternative to doing the arithmetic yourself - sorry.
Make a spreadsheet, list all trips with 3 columns: Full price, half price (plus cost of Half Fare Card), and Swiss Pass cost.
If your "kids" are under 16 they get free travel with a Swiss Pass. Be sure to include them in your calculations.

"should I use the SBB website?" - Yes, accept no substitute: https://www.sbb.ch/en

"Has anyone had the passes mailed to you instead of printing them out?" - SBB doesn't mail passes. You can buy self-print passes on the SBB website, or buy at a border or airport rail station when you arrive. Same price both ways. If you are arriving by train from France, it would be inconvenient to get off the train at the border to buy your pass.

Posted by
354 posts

Assuming you have a smart phone, I highly recommend you download the SBB App in the App Store. Easy to price and plan journeys and if you end up going with the half fare card, you can pay for your journeys within the App to reflect the 1/2 off price. Even if you never plan on purchasing tickets from the app, it is a good tool to have.

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