First time--Switzerland rail passes and reservations--need help please!!!

Our Switzerland itinerary: Day 1: Ride Bernina Express from Lugano to Chur Day 2: Train from Chur to Lauterbrunnen in Bernese Oberland Days 3 and 4: Take postal bus and lifts from Lauterbrunnen around to various hikes in the area Day 5: Train from Grindelwald to Kandersteg (2 hours duration) Day 6: Train from Kandersteg to Zermatt (2 hours duration) Day 7 and 8: Stay in and hike around Zermatt area Day 9: Train to Montreux (to see Chateau de Chillon) in morning and then on to Paris in afternoon/evening Thank you for any advice/help!
Lana

You can see that we have 1 travel day on the Bernina Express, plus 3 travel days taking the train within Switzerland, plus 1 day when we travel from Switzerland back to Paris... I'm not sure whether the last travel day we would be able to use a rail pass or not, since the train goes to Paris. So I'm not sure whether we would need to get a 4 or a 5 day rail pass....?

There is one Swiss card that is not mentioned too much on the Swiss website. It's the Swiss half-fare card. It costs 110CHF and it provides a 50% discount on all trains, buses, boats, gondolas, etc. in Switzerland. You can only buy it in Switzerland. Thus, you can buy it when you reach Lugano. It's good every day and every time for 30 days. It's especially valuable if you are going up to the Jungfrau or Schilthorn. It works there as well. When you buy your ticket to Paris, show your Swiss card to the ticket agent and you will get a 50% discount on travel to the Swiss/French border.

Hi Lana, it does seem confusing but don't worry; it is Switzerland and everything works like clockwork. I like your itinerary. How did you choose Kandersteg? Most people on this board have not heard of it, but it is one of our favorite places. Be sure to go up to the lake ( Oeschinensee). You can make your reservations on the Bernina Express now. You are only paying the reservation fee, so it does not matter if you have your pass yet. The trip starts in Lugano whichnis in Switzerland ( Ticino) so the whole way is covered with your Swiss Pass. Larry above is describing the Half Fare card but you asked about a Swiss Flex Pass so I will address that. The 4-day pass should work fine for you. Use it for the Bernina Express, Chur to Lauterbrunnen, Kandersteg to Zermatt, and your last day, Zermatt to Paris. For Lauterbrunnen to Kandersteg, that is an inexpensive trip not worth using a pass day; just use the half fare feature to buy tickets at 50% off. The Flex pass will also give you 50% off all the high mountain lifts and trains, including Gornergrat at Zermatt, but not the Jungfrau. That is 50% part of the way and 25% for the last part. Your last day on the pass will take you from Zermatt to Montreux and from Montreux to the border. You can save a LOT on these tickets by buying well in advance on SBB ( www.rail.ch). The full fare from Montreux to Paris on the TGv is 135 CHF; the Swiss pass brings that down to 95CHF, and the advance " special offer " price is 71 CHF. These fares are available for July travel but I did not check June. To buy on the SBB website, select the train you want and hit "buy". The international journey screen will appear, and it will ask if you are entitled to reductions in France or Switzerland. Use the GA ( general abbondement) selection for Swiss pass holders.

Continuing. . .you do not have to actually have your pass in hand when you purchase on the SBB website, but you will have to show the pass when you show your ticket. I haven't compared the cost of the pass in dollars versus buying in Switzerland lately. You should do that before you decide when and where to buy.

Larry and Lola, Thank you so much for the info! Larry, if we opt for the half-fare card, do we just make seat reservations on the Bernina Express online and then purchase the ticket in Switzerland and get half price? Can we purchase a ticket like that ahead of time from any station in Switzerland, like as soon as we get in the country? Or I guess it doesn't matter so long as we book the reservation in advance, since we would be guaranteed a seat? So it makes sense we can reserve the Bernina Express online. The Swiss Flexi Pass will only cover the train portion, from Ticino to Chur? What about the bus portion from Lugano in Italy to Ticino? Lola, it's good to know that we can reserve the TGV to Paris online too. However, if we are using one of our flexi pass days to cover Zermatt to Montreux and Montreux to the border (to go to Paris), then that portion of the trip is "free", correct? So we will only be paying from the France border to Paris (and can save $ by buying now it sounds like)? We chose Kandersteg for the hiking, which is what we plan to do quite a bit of on the trip, I saw it while looking around on wanderland.ch website. We will definitely hike to the lake! Thank you again!
Lana

Yes, the part from Montreux to the border is free with your pass, and the website takes that into account if you buy online, selecting the "GA" reduction. Regular full fare to Paris is 135 CHF, regular fare with Swiss Pass reduction is 95 CHF, and the special offer price with Swiss Pass reduction is 71 CHF.

We actually had our half-fare card in hand for our journey on the Glacier Express. We bought the half-fare ticket plus the seat reservation at the same time a day before. I think you can just make the seat reservation online but as Lola explains above, and I agree, you need to have your pass to buy the half-fare ticket which you can buy in Lugano or any other train station in Switzerland. For the bus portion between Lugano and Ticino with the Swiss Flexi-pass, I'm not sure. It is half-fare with the half-fare card.

" I think you can just make the seat reservation online but as Lola explains above, and I agree, you need to have your pass to buy the half-fare ticket which you can buy in Lugano or any other train station in Switzerland." This is starting to get a little confusing between pass, ticket, Half-Fare Card, and reservation fee. For the Bernina Express, advance reservatons are strongly advised, especially for the bus portion. You can make the reservation online in advance, and you do not need to have a Swiss Pass or Half-Fare Card in hand at the time you make the reservation. You pay only the reservation fee (12 CHF). Then, on the day of travel, if using the Half Fare Card you show that when you buy your ticket from Lugano to Chur.
If using a Swiss Pass (Flex), you have the Pass validated by the station agent, which starts the period of validity. Then you write the date you are using it in the first box provided for dates. That will cover the bus portion and the train from Tirano to Chur. You just show the pass to the conductor on board the train; no need to stop at a ticket window before boarding. A 4-day Flex pass will have four boxes for entering the date. Do this before you board the train, each time you use it. It is good for free travel the whole day, even when you change trains and break up your journey with a stop (like Montreux to see Chateau di Chillon).

Thanks for the additional advice! This is starting to form a more solid picture in my mind of how it works. Lola, how did you get that cheaper (advance purchase) fare to show up on the rail.ch website? I could only see 113 for the regular fare from Montreux to Paris, and 90 for the fare with the GA discount? That date was in May, because I couldn't get any prices to show up more than one month in advance? So, I crunched the numbers and for total costs, based on what each journey's ticket would cost in May (rail.ch won't let me advance to June yet): Half-fare card for the 2 of us would cost 700 SF 3-day flexi pass would cost 704 SF 4-day flexi pass 778 SF Appears the half-fare card would be a little cheaper, and still allow us all the bus/lift 50% discounts. With the half-fare card, we have to wait in line each time we purchase a ticket, right? Or, for example, would it save a lot of time to purchase our tickets we need a few days in advance if we're waiting in line on a certain day anyway? Is it possible to do this, or must you purchase tickets the day of travel? How much of a hassle is it to wait in line to purchase the tickets? Thanks!
Lana

Hi Lana, you can buy tickets for Cross-border journeys into France or Italy on SBB up to 90 days in advance, and that is the best way to get the special offer price. I was using a day in early July. But I realized there is an easier way for you : just buy the France portion on SBB now, when you have the best chance of getting the low price. You don't have to decide if you are using a Swiss Pass or a half fare card. But you do have to choose between going via Basel ( cheaper) or Geneva ( faster). The lowest special fare from Basel to Paris is 31 CHF and from Geneva, 45. Given that you already have a long day, the extra 14 francs is worth it to save an hour or two. To purchase this way, enter montruex to Paris as usual, but on the next page do not a train. Scroll down to where is says " Basel to Paris as low as 31 CHF". And hit that red button. The next screen will give you a menu to Baselmor Geneva, and destination Paris, and the date. You'll see right away which trains offer the lowest price. If you are traveling in June they may be gone, but I hope you will find the good prices.