Swiss pass help please

"When travelling in Switzerland, be VERY CAREFUL to ensure your tickets are in order, as the Swiss have now adopted the same methods as the Italians and have started fining passengers that have any "irregularities". Of course, as they operate with such precision, even the slightest problem can be reason for a fine." To be honest, I'm not impressed with this article (OK, I'll have to admit I'm Swiss). To put things into perspective, around one million people ride the rails each day in Switzerland and the number of penalty charges per day is around 800, so I would not consider that to be excessive. But having said that, you should definitely take the time to ensure that your tickets are in order when travelling in Europe. The reason being that so many of the trains now have no ticket checkers and the only way they can ensure the people pay up, is to be very strict about the penalties.

Craig, where did you find a Jungfrau Railways pass for $325 for 2 people? I am only familiar with the 3-day VIP pass, which includes a free trip up the Jungfrau ($205 per person IF you have another Swixss pass like Flex or Half Fare card), and the 6- day pass which only discounts the Jungfrau trip($211 per person with another Swiss pass). Nore that neither of these provides any benefit on the Schilthorn, but you could use your other pass for that. Without knowing more detailed the specific Jungfrau pass you found, I'll just say that in general a Jungfrau pass does not add much to the benefits you already have with a pass that covers all of Switzerland. For that, I would say this about the 4-day Flex pass: your first and last day of travel are too short to be worth covering on the pass (26 and 27 CHF respectively for Geneva airport to Lausanne, and Pontresina to Tirano). So I wouldn't call that a good use of the Flex pass. The general rule is that if you are going up the Jungfrau, a HalfFare card (120 CHF) is your least expensive option. I sometimes recommend a Swiss Card, which adds two free trips on your first and last day, but again in your case those travel days are pretty short so maybe not cost effective.

Thanks so much for the info Lola. I saw the Jungfrau here Your text to link here...

Interesting. So that is the 6-Day Jungfrau Railway Pass. They price it at 250 CHF for the first adult (185 CHF if you have a Half-Fare Card), and 75 CHF for the second adult. That reduced price for the second adult is not a feature they talk about, and I was not aware of it. It does not get you all the way up the Jungfraujoch; it covers as far as Eigergletscher station and you pay an additional 58 CHF to go beyond to the top. And it does not cover the Schilthorn above Mürren. So for those parts as well as the rest of your travels, you would still want a Half-Fare Card (2 X 120 CHf) or the 4-Day Flex Pass, using it for Lausanne to Mürren; Mürren to Zermatt, Zermatt to Chur, and Chur to Pontresina (2 x 268 CHF). And as the saying goes, you would have to do the math to know which one comes out ahead (and be sure to add the 53 CHf for Geneva airpport to Lausanne and Pontresina for Tirano for the Flex pass total).

craig, I spent MANY hours last year trying to wade through the various combinations of Swiss Passes, and found it to be a daunting task. The most appropriate pass will depend on the specific places you'll be visiting, and it would take me some time to work through the places in your list. After an exhaustive analysis using an Excel sheet, I eventually settled on a Jungfrau Centenary Pass (which is no longer available), as it included a "free" trip to the Jungfraujoch. As I recall, they offered three and six day versions of that pass. You may find it helpful to have a look at this information from the Rick Steves Switzerland section in the "Railpass" section of this website. The chart at the bottom should provide a few ideas. When travelling in Switzerland, be VERY CAREFUL to ensure your tickets are in order, as the Swiss have now adopted the same methods as the Italians and have started fining passengers that have any "irregularities". Of course, as they operate with such precision, even the slightest problem can be reason for a fine. Good luck!

Ken-they still offer a 3-day Jungfrau Railway pass that includes a free trip up to Jungfraujoch. They just changed the name from Jungfrau Centenary Pass to Jungfrau VIP Pass: http://shop.jungfrau.ch/en/vip-pass The price is similar to the 6-day pass (235/180 CHF vs. 250/185 CHF w0/w Swiss pass). But the 6-day pass does not include a free trip up to Jungfraujoch; it only goes as far as Eigergletscher.

@Jim, It appears that the Swiss have become more aggressive at collecting fines lately, possibly as they want to take advantage of this new "revenue stream" which, according to the article, has become quite lucrative. The practices seem to have become a bit extreme, possibly due to the Swiss penchant for precision. Fining someone because his credit card transaction wasn't posted until four minutes after the train left the station is just plain "silly" (IMHO). I just wanted to make the OP aware that this could be an issue. @Lola, Thanks for the note regarding the Jungfrau VIP Pass. I wasn't looking this year, so didn't notice that.

This was the Swiss pass analysis for the trip we're planning next month: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=95855

OMG all this math is killing me... if at the end all I am saving is 10CHF... I don't know what I am going to do to myself?!
Lola you're right about the Zungfraujoch railpass 2nd person discount disappearance! Perhaps it was just a bug...

Mysterious. Now when I use Craig's link to the Jungfrau pass it does not offer the discounted price for the second person. It comes up as 250 CHF per person, not 75 CHF for the second person as it did before. Too bad!