Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare? Berner Oberland Pass?

Just be sure that when you are adding up the fares, you are not using already discounted fares. I have seen it mentioned here that fares shown on the website are assumed to be half fare.
I found it marvelously confusing myself (math is hard). I went with half fare.

The 30-day Half Fare Card is 120 CHF per person. You mention 340 for 2, but I believe you are looking at a 1-year subscription.

Where are you going after you depart Muerren? What is the total number of days you will be in Switzerland?

Here is the information on the Berner Oberland Pass prices:

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/prices-tickets/

And the map of validity:

https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-23-WEB.pdf

You will see it covers all regular transport from Bern or Luzern, around the Bern Oberland and as far as Domodossola if your are traveling onward to Italy. The high mountain lifts such as Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch get a discount rather than full coverage.

It fully covers the First lift T Grindelwald, and the lift up to Eigergletscher station above Kleine Scheidegg. These are both places you may want to go if you are hikers ( I know I would).

Note that there is a discount on the pass price if you also have a Half Fare card. The discount would cover the cost of the Half Fare Card itself, and you could still use that for travel outside of the BO pass validity.

Total days in Switzerland = 8. Departing Murren to Varenna Italy on day 8. I listed the Half Fare Pass for 2 incorrectly - it is 240CHF.

Next question, how are you getting from Muerren to Varenna? Are taking the Bernina Express or going to fast way via Milan?

I read here from a poster that some of the Swiss passes go on sale April 15. Sorry I don't have more details.

Thanks for the replies. Fast route to Varenna through Milan.

If you buy the Half Fare Cards, you save 130 CHF per person on an 8-day Berner Oberland Pass. Since the Berner Oberland costs 250 CHF with a Half Fare Card, that comes to 370 CHF per person. Use the Half Fare Car to cover the train from Zurich Airport to Bern. Then the train to Muerren is covered the next day and all the trains and lifts on the Wengen up to Eigergletcher. The Schilthornbahn is covered above Muerren at 50%. If you take the slower, more scenic route via Kandersteg, you are covered fully to Domodossola. If you take the faster route which uses the Loetschberg Base Tunnel from Spiez to Brig, then you have to use the Half Fare Card for that.

One advantage of the Berner Oberland Pass over the Swiss Travel Pass is that the lifts and rails above Wengen are fully covered, whereas they are only covered by a 25% discount with the STP.

Thanks for the clear analysis Sam. It will be the Half Fare plus BO Pass for us.

From Domodossola to Chiasso is shown as covered by the BO Pass. Going on SBB website it shows a route to Milano through Domodossola, but I can't determine if the BO Pass helps from Domodossola to Milano Centrale. Trying to decide between the slower, more scenic route versus paying half fare for the faster tunnel route. Advice?

No, once get past Domodossola on the way to Milan, It is Italian railway, and you have to pay for that, although Italian railway tickets are a whole lot cheaper than Swiss railway tickets. If you go from Domodossola to Chiasso via Locarno on the scenic Centovalli Railway, that is covered by the Half Fare Card, but not the B-O Pass. If you went that way, you could just take a taxi from Chiasso station to the ferry dock in Como and take a lake boat to Varenna. That way is slower than just going to Milano Centrale and changing trains to the one to Varenna.

Thanks Sam. It looks like SBB will sell us tickets from Lauterbrunnen to Milano Centrale via Domodossola for 94CHF pp with Half Fare Pass, a 5-hour trip, but I can't seem to figure out how to use the BO Pass for this. The faster tunnel route at 3.5 hours is 117CHF pp. The ferry plan will get us to Varenna too late. Sounds like you know this area well.

What is your travel date? I'll take a look at it.

That 5-hour trip with 3 or 4 changes might still be using the fast route through the Lôtschberg Basistunnel, unless you put in “ Kandersteg” under “via”. Then it will route you on the longer route by regional train, skipping the long deep tunnel between Spiez and Visp. I see a 4.5 hour option for that route.

Question for Sam: can he use the “GA” reduction option to claim credit for the BO Pass for a free ride to Domodossola, assuming they are on the acceptable route? That brings the price down to 10 CHF from Lauterbrunnen to Milano Centrale.

I would say yes to using the GA reduction as long you go via Kandersteg.
I looked at it like this: depart Muerren at 8:28 am via Gruetschalp and Kandersteg, arrive Domodossola at 11:54 am. Then buy a Trenord ticket for 15.20 EUR to Varenna-Esino, departing at 12:56 pm, arriving at Varenna-Esino at 5:24 pm after changing trains at Milano Centrale. 1 hour at Domodossola station, time to grab a quick lunch. This routing also gives 1 hour 49 minutes change time at Milano Centrale.
Looking at June 8, so all the Italian schedules are showing.

You are an impressive bunch! Travel date is 13 September. I get the impression that the vistas offered by the longer Kandersteg route are preferable to being in a tunnel for extended periods, in the opinion of some. Cost savings are a lower priority than joy, as long as we can get to Varenna late afternoon/early evening. I had no luck in researching schedules that far out, so have tried similar days of the week in earlier months, not knowing if that is even similar. Looking on the SBB website I did see what appeared to be a selection for applicable passes, but did not know if the BO Pass was the "GA" designation. Thanks again!

If you have a valid B-O Pass, you do not need to buy a ticket, you just board the trains. When you get to Domodossola, you can buy a ticket in the station, or from a vending machine, or the modern way, by downloading the Trenitalia app and buying the ticket with that.

Italian train schedules change on June 11, so you will not see any trains on the schedule now beyond that date. Regional trains are the last ones to load, often not until the day before, so just wait until after June 11 to get serious about travel planning. The schedules usually do not change much, if at all. Italians all know the routine, so they don't worry about it. Tourists all have conniptions when they don't see any trains on the schedule for where they want to go in the distant future.

Thanks Sam. It's been a little while - previous Swiss/Italian travels were pre-app days, so I'm in the curious middle on the "who cares? to conniption" scale. We'll get the SBB and Trenitalia apps and look after June 11.

I am curious about the earlier posting suggesting a Pass sale on April 15. No clue where to check.

Another thing to wait and see regarding a Swiss Travel Pass sale.

You can also buy the Italian tickets on-line and print out the ticket. These tickets, as well as tickets bought with the app and displayed on your smart-phone, come pre-validated for specific date and time. Tickets bought in the station or from a vending machine are "open" tickets, so you must remember to validate them in the stamping machine on the platform before boarding the train.

HI Bob! I love Orcas and will be there in a few weeks for our almost annual trip to Beach Haven. I have a similar trip planned but staying 2 nights in Lucern, then Murren for 7, and on to Milan. We will be in Murren at the same time! Anyway, I am curious as to why it would be beneficial to get the BO pass plus the half price card? It seems to me that the BO pass will cover everything except Zurich to Lucern and then Domodssola to Milan. It is all a bit confusing to me as well

Camy - If you're getting a Berner Oberland pass for 8 or 10 days, you're going to be getting a Half Fare card for "free" with the reduction it gives you.

For example...

The 8 day BO pass is 380 chf, but if you have the Half Fare card, the pass is discounted to 250chf, which is a savings of 130 chf. The Half Fare card costs 120 chf. So you come out 10 chf ahead and have the Half Fare card to use for your trips outside the validity zone, which will save you additional money.

If you do the 10 day pass, its 420 chf. But if you have the Half Fare card it's discounted to 275 chf. So after buying the HFC for 120, you're at 395 chf total...So you've saved 25 chf and have the HFC for your trips outside the validity zone.

Cheers!

I think I just found my own answer. The half price card would not cost any extra as it is deducted from the BO pass. So it would help just a bit on the small train fee from Zurich to Luzern which is only about $15 or so. (and probably about the same for Zurich to Bern which is what you are doing) Does that sound about right to some of our experts here?

Wanderweg! I didn't' see your reply before I responded. Yes that makes complete sense now. I have been struggling with all of this and now I am clear. Thank you so much!!! :-)