Swiss Train Day Pass tickets for four day trips

To help you with this we would need to know what you hope to do and see.

We’d just like to take DAY TRIPS to nearby lakes & towns (like Lugano?) & scenic places from LUCERNE & get back to the hotel in Lucerne at night.
Also, take train from Basel to Lucerne on arrival on April 21. And also take train from Lucerne to Zurich airport on April 24 for departure to San Francisco.

We are both senior citizens, but quite mobile
Prefer to travel in First Class if tickets are not exorbitant; like HALF-PRICE SAVER PASS, if it is applicable.

Thank You for your help.
JEEPU MUKERJEE

There is really no discount for seniors in Switzerland, except for GA cards, which are for 1 month at a minimum, and not worth it for your 4 days. The Saver Day is good for travel all day, but you need to buy it now as the price goes up, Currently, bought today, it is 70 CHF per person for April 21. The full fare ticket price from Basel to Luzern is 36 CHF, so you would need to have a lot more travel that day to make it pay.

So if you also wanted to go to the top of Rigi Kulm on the same day, with a boat to Vitznau, Rigi Bahn to Rigi Kulm and back to Luzern, that would be 160 CHF, but would be included with the Saver Day Pass.

The Saver Day Pass is only valid for trips within the GA area. Rigi Kulm, Stanserhorn, and a few others are in the GA area, but Mt Pilatus is not in the GA area.

Also, if you are staying in a hotel in Luzern, you will receive a Guest Card, valid for free public transportation in the city, plus other small discounts for other travel in the region.

Thank you for your reply.

Does this mean we MUST get SEPARATE SAVER DAY PASS TICKET for EACH DAY per person at 70CHF for each pass?

Can we purchase ONE SAVER PASS for each person VALID FOR FOUR DAYS online now before going on trip, instead of purchasing a SAVER DAY PASS each day for each person?

Or, will it be cheaper to just purchase point-to-point SAVER DAY PASS at the ticket counter in the station EACH DAY for ALL FOUR DAYS?

Can we take a train from Lucerne to Zurich ONE WAY on the day of departure, April 24? How long does it take to reach Zurich Airport and what is the cost for First Class ticket ONE WAY?
The flight back to San Francisco is at 1:30PM on Swissair on April 24.

Thanks & regards,
Jeepu Mukerjee

Amitava Mukerjee
E-mail: jeepu@comcast.net
Sent from my iPhone

Can we purchase ONE SAVER PASS for each person VALID FOR FOUR DAYS online now before going on trip, instead of purchasing a SAVER DAY PASS each day for each person?

Well yes, this is called a 4-day Swiss Travel Pass. You can just buy it when you get to Switzerland.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-travel-pass.html

Can we purchase ONE SAVER PASS for each person VALID FOR FOUR DAYS online now before going on trip, instead of purchasing a SAVER DAY PASS each day for each person?

I think you misunderstand how this works. The price for this Saturday is 119 CHF 2nd class, 199 CHF 1st class. If you had bought this 3 months ago for this Saturday, the price was 61 CHF 2nd class, 88 CHF 1st class. The price goes up as time goes by.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/saver-day-pass.html

Can we take a train from Lucerne to Zurich ONE WAY on the day of departure, April 24? How long does it take to reach Zurich Airport and what is the cost for First Class ticket ONE WAY?

Of course you can. That is what most people do. They buy a ticket and get on the train.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/buying/pages/fahrplan/fahrplan.xhtml
You probably will want to take the 9:09 departure from Luzern. You will have to change trains at Zurich HB (main station) by going down 2 escalators to the underground Platform 34. That will get you to the airport by 10:12. 1st class costs 53 CHF pp.

Thank you, I purchased ONE-WAY, half-rate train ticket from Lucerne to Zurich airport for CHF 15.40 each, (which is a good deal) departing Lucerne @ 9:09AM, arriving Zurich FH @ 10:12AM. Flight for SFO is at 1:30PM on April 24.

However, SWISS DAY PASS advance purchase online tickets seem to be zVERY EXPENSIVE!
Even 2nd class Day Pass tix for April 21 is CHF 244 ( ~ $273). As you pointed out, it gets more expensive as the travel date approaches!

IF all we want to do is take the train from Luzerne to Interlaken for the day ( or from Luzerne to Zurich for the day) l,, is it best to purchase “ point-to-point” train ticket at the physical ticket counter at Luzerne train station on the day of travel? Will tix price at the counter be a lot less than CHF 244? There may not be any Half-rate tix available for the travel date, but that’s the risk we take by not purchasing tix in advance. Is this understanding correct?

Thanks for your help.
Best regards,
Jeepu Mukerjee

Are you buying Half Fard Cards? They cost 120 CHF each and are good for a month. The half-price ticket from Lucerne to Zurich airport is only valid with a Half Fare card. You don’t need to have the HFC at the time you buy the ticket, but you must have it show the conductor when they check tickets. Or you might be fined.

The good news is you can get a better price on each Saver Day Pass ( or on regular tickets). With a Half Fare Card.

Thanks for your explanation. I have NOT purchased a separate HSLF-RATE CARD when I paid for HALF-RATE ONECWAY tickets from Lucerne to Zurich airport. That requirement was NOT MENTIONED in BSS online web site - just the reduced price of CFH 15.10 was shown and the transaction completed successfully WITHOUT any prerequisite of HALF-RATE CARD. How can I cancel these tickets because I DO JOT WANT to pay separate CHF 120 for a card I will not use?

Separately, my previous question was: Is it best just to purchase point-to-point tickets physically at a Ticket Office inside Lucerne train station, since the rules fir advance online discounted tickets are VERY DIFFICULT to understand?

Since we will be in Lucerne ONLY THREE DAYS, even SWISS DAY PASS FOR THREE DAYS seems to be VERY expensive at CHF 244 for Second Ckas tickets. What is your informed opinion?

Thanks,
Jeepu

Sorry, but that 15.40 ticket is invalid unless you buy a Half Fare Card to go with it. Sorry that it is confusing for you, but the SBB site is primarily for Swiss residents who are familiar with the way things work in Switzerland.

So at this point, you can either toss them or spend 120 CHF for the 30-day Half Fare Card for each of you. This might not be a bad idea if you will do a lot of travel while you are in Switzerland. You will at least have the train from Basel to Luzern on the 21st. Since you want 1st class, you probably will have no trouble making them pay. You probably will end up spending less than with the Swiss Travel Pass.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-halffare-card.html

Swiss train travel is unfortunately expensive—-so are hotels and restaurants. If you are finding 244 CHF too expensive for 3 days of travel in 2d class, you may need to re-think your plans for daytrips on each of your 3 days.

Here are the approximate prices for the trips you propose in 1st and 2d class, if you buy point-to-point tickets:

Luzern to Interlaken—-34 CHF full price in 2d class each way in 2d, (possibly 25 CHF for a Sparbillet, but these must be bought in advance and are scarce in summer); regular price 58 in 1st. Those are one-way so double for a daytrip. So if you want to travel in 1st class on this daytrip it would be 116 CHF each.

Luzern to Lugano—-regular price 64 CHF in 2d, 109 CHF in !st. So 218 CHF round-trip is you wish to travel in 1st; otherwise 124 CHF.

You might consider getting Saver Day Passes for each person, for the day you go to Lugano, or you could use it elsewhere. If you buy well in advance (like 3 months) you can buy this for 59 CHF if you have the Half Fare Card; otherwise it is 88 CHF. If you are OK with 2d class then the Saver Day Pass is 44/52. And the prices go up after they are first released.

So if you get the Half Fare Cards to make the best of your purchase so far, you will get half-off everything else during your whole trip, and a very good price for a daytrip to Lugano (or other long trip). You can decide what else you want to do while you are there, and still get 50% off with the HFC.

I've never felt the need to buy 1st class rail tickets anywhere. Choosing first class is one reason you are seeing such high fares. You can take a look at the interiors of Swiss rail carriages on the Seat61 website. For me, second class is perfectly nice.

https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-switzerland.htm

Just scroll down for the pictures.

Since it is SO COMPLICATED to understand how SBB train tickets can be purchased online in advance, I have decided NOT TO PURCHASE any rail tickets online. Making it so COMPLICATED images no sense at all - hope SBB understands that! I’ll wait until I get to Switzerland and purchase tickets at the Ticket Office inside the Lucerne train station.

You are overthinking this. You are also using to many capitals. Makes your posts hard to read.

Train travel in Switzerland is not complicated. You go to a station. You buy a ticket. You get on a train. You do not need to worry about train travel a month in advance. This is mass transit. Taking a train is as trivial as taking a subway. Just a nicer one.

Because public transit in Switzerland is so good it does not need to be heavily discounted like in other countries in order to attract passengers. That is why it does appear at a first glance to be expensive. However it is priced in a way that it gets cheaper the more you use it. This to encourage people to just get rid of their cars and use public transit for everything. And that works. A third of the households in Switzerland do not have a car (and this is the richest country in Europe...)

One of the ways it gets cheaper the more you use it, is by paying up front for a pass. For example there is the Half Fare Card. This exists in two versions, a yearly one aimed at locals, and a monthly one aimed at tourists. With that all tickets are half price.
Because all regular public transit users in Switzerland have this half fare card (you'd be daft not to get it) the SBB website does default to displaying half price tickets.
However I wonder how you manage to buy a half price ticket by accident, as you do need to indicate you what discount card you have when purchasing. You must have actively selected "Half Fare Travel Card" in the discount box, or you would not have gotten a half price ticket.

But anyway. It is not necessary to buy a ticket for 24th of April now. Do you really think that all those people going about their daily business on our trains plan their trips months in advance?

For a stay in Luzern a good option is probably the Tell Pass. Some hotels even offer package deals that include it. WIth that pass you have unlimited travel on public transit in the region, as well as most mountain railways and cable cars. Just look in to that. And for Basel - Luzern and Luzern - Zurich just buy tickets at the station when you are there.

I have NOT purchased a separate HSLF-RATE CARD when I paid for
HALF-RATE ONECWAY tickets from Lucerne to Zurich airport. That
requirement was NOT MENTIONED in BSS online web site - just the
reduced price of CFH 15.10 was shown and the transaction completed
successfully WITHOUT any prerequisite of HALF-RATE CARD. How can I
cancel these tickets because I DO JOT WANT to pay separate CHF 120 for
a card I will not use?

You must have selected "Half Fare Travel Card" in the discount drop down box, or you would have been charged full price. That is how the web site works. Now with normal tickets you can indeed cancel them. But I would not do this in your case. Just go to the ticket office in Luzern, and pay the difference between a normal and a half price ticket there.
There was no need to buy this ticket in advance. This is mass transit. Would you buy a ticket for the BART to SF months in advance?

First, thank you for explaining and simplifying the process of buying tickets for SBB trains. Also, your composition was excellent and easy to understand. Why aren’t you the chief public communicator for SBB?

I will follow your advice and buy train tickets, from point-to-point, on the day of travel at the ticket counter in Lucerne station. My rationale for trying to buy in advance is that some railway companies allow short & long term train travel for tourists, like me, at promotional prices, But, these must be bought online, in advance, preferably even before you leave home. I thought the Half-Rate option was precisely one such option for tourists. In trying to save on the cost of day tickets, I got entangled in bewildering SBB. options and benefits, much of which are not applicable for one-time foreign visitor like me, according to your clarification. The chance of any confusion can be avoided completely if SBB created a completely separate web page only for foreign tourists with options available only for them.

As for my plan, I am going to stay as far as I can from any SBB online advance buying option. Just like you said:, go to the station, request for your relevant ticket, and pay for it right at the ticket counter, as though it is all public transit!
And I composed all this without caps, so I am listening and learning!

By the way, I do buy BART tickets to SF months in advance by loading sufficient funds on my Clipper Card, which gets debited as I ride BART and then I just replenish the Clipper Card when required. Simple!

Thank you so much for your considerate help.
Regards,
Jeepu Mukerjee

Switzerland has a similar plan to the "Clipper Card", called confusingly, the "Swiss Pass". It is not really a pass at all, but an ID card with your photo and account and you load value onto it which is deducted as you ride the train. It also has your Half Fare card loaded onto it, any local commuter passes, Saver Day Passes, etc. Since it has to be mailed to your street address, it is primarily for residents, and residents of neighboring countries who use the Swiss transport system frequently.

Just as a tourist in SF would not go to the trouble of getting a Clipper Card, but buy BART tickets as needed. Each city has its own way of ticketing, peculiarities, be it SF, Seattle, Chicago, New York, and they all take some getting used to in order learn the system. Switzerland is no different. Actually, Switzerland has so many options for saving as that is what confuses tourists. Do I get the Half Fare Card, or the Swiss Travel Pass, or the Tell Pass, or Saver Day Passes? So many choices, and in the end, you always end up spending a lot.

However, when you go to the purchase page, you must enter your email address, then your name and birthdate, then a drop down box where you enter your discount card. Choices are, No discount, Half Fare Travelcard, Junior travelcard, and Children's Co-Travelcard.

You are correct. I will remove my post.

It worked for me as I described the last time I bought tickets, because I was logged in to my SwissPass account and had a Half Fare card connected with it. So there was no need to select (or de-select it).

I now see that if someone purchases “as a guest” they must affirmatively choose the Half Fare Card discount.

I was going to post the exact same thing, but decided to do a trial booking to make sure. Logging in as a guest it was clear. Logging in with my Swiss Pass account, not so much, since it knows if you have an HFC or not.

I composed a reply earlier that either disappeared or was removed by an editor of this forum.

However, I’ll be brief and cut to the chase:
This general confusion with bewildering SBB ticketing policy is exactly my main peeve and complaint! Even informed stalwarts, like some in this forum, who use SBB trains regularly seem to be flustered with a myriad options, corresponding benefits, and mind-boggling login procedures.
How do you think an infrequent, or one-time, tourist user would react to such an array of membership options, saver choices, benefits accrued, login labyrinths, when just trying to buy a couple of day trips from point A to point B and back? That is exactly the case for me!

I am a Silicon Valley geek, and can clearly see that SBB ticketing system is Byzantine and there’s tons of room to improve. For starters keep the promotions for tourists and light users completely separate from the ticketing options for regular Swiss users, locals and commuters (who can be drowned with all these endless permutations and combinations of bizarre policies).

For regular SBB users, although it may feel like a walk in the park, for a first time user of SBB ticket purchasing web site, it is a veritable nightmare!
I can bet even the Swiss dweebs who designed this IT hairball, would be trapped in the spider’s web of their own making! But, who is listening?

I will never buy any advance train tickets from any SBB site. Just take WengenK’s advice: treat it like rapid transit: walk up to a ticket office, describe your trip itinerary, buy a paper ticket, and go ride the train. That’ll be hard for the SBB geeks to screw up!

Thanks to all for your discussion and advice, specially to WengenK. I learnt a lot about “super-efficient” Swiss Rail ticketing processes to avoid.
Best regards,
Jeepu