Transportation in Switzerland - based in Lauterbrunnen, trying to decide pass vs. individual tickets

"when I go to the sbb site, how do I enter the individual passenger information?". Why would you need to? There are no reservations on Swiss trains.

"do I need to buy the ticket online or is it pretty much the same whether I buy today or in June?". Tickets on Swiss trains (unlike some other countries) are fixed price. There is no discount for booking ahead, and all tickets are valid on all trains on the route. Just turn up at the station, and buy the tickets from the ticket machine or manned ticket counter.

Price list - yes, the first price quoted is with the half fare card (CHF 28.80). The full fare is exactly twice that (57.60).

"does it print out the train numbers". No. As I said above, the ticket will be datestamped and valid on any train.
Click here for an example of an SBB ticket. It is for a trip from Thun to Luzern, valid from 16/12/12 to 25/12/12 (at top). It was stamped by the ticket inspector on 16/12, so It can't be used again. It is for 2nd class (bottom left), return (two arrows), 1/2 price and cost CHF 49.

If you are landing at Zürich airport, your first trip will be from "Zürich Flughafen" station to Lauterbrunnen, NOT from "Zürich HB", which is in the city centre.

"can I make a few stops along the way", yes, so long as you keep to the shortest route.

Children 6 to 16 pay half price, same as adults with the half fare card.

Oh, and by the way, At only a few large Swiss railway stations, including Zürich airport do they take US dollars. They take Euros at all stations and all ticket machines. Shops and restaurants in tourist areas often take Franks and Euros, very rarely US dollars. You will need Swiss Franks :-)

Chris:

Thanks for answering my train questions, as usual :-) I am back with follow-up questions.

I was asking about passenger information to see if kids could travel free. But looks like they will pay half fare, regardless of whether or not there is a half fare card (it won't go down to 1/4 of full price with the half fare card, will it?). Now, the half fare card is per passenger, right? In other words, can I buy two tickets at half-price with one half fare card, i.e., for me and my wife? Or would we need to have two half fare cards?

So, the only way kids would ride for free is if one of the parents with the kid has a travel pass or a flexi pass. No other way kid is free, right?

Thanks for the info about cash as well ... most (all?) hotels do accept payment with credit cards, right? What about supermarkets - do I need to have cash on hand for those as well? And tickets I can pay with credit cards as well, can I not? I know last year the couple of transactions I did - purchase ticket at counter, pay city tax when checking out of hotel - I had used my credit card. But don't know if that was just in Zurich or the system is same everywhere in Switzerland.

Porcupyn

If you choose point-to-point tickets (with or without a Swiss Half Fare Card for about $125), I recommend buying those tickets in stations as you go, when you're sure of your destination. The fact that the web site is already throwing up questions means it's not the simplest option for you. The pass vs ticket equation does change based on your itinerary plan. This new plan sounds like it's not yet firm.

Laura:

I am trying to see how much it will cost for us to make it to Lauterbrunnen and then stay put there for four days, purchasing individual tickets to local sights (Schilthorn, Jungfraujoch) then return to Zurich vs buying a Swiss Travel Pass. Either way, I will be making the purchase in Zurich Flughafen upon landing. I am familiar with Zurich Flughafen (and the Hauptbahnhof as well) :-)

Porcupyn

The half fare card is valid for one person for one (or 2 or 3) years. It has your picture on it. If there are 2 adults, you both need half fare cards. You will have to do the arithmetic yourself as to whether it is worth buying half fare cards for your stay.
The ticket machines have two options on them, "full price" or "half fare", the latter for children or half fare card holders.

There are other card options that allow children to travel free. I don't know the details myself, but it is all on the SBB website, and in English.

Hotels should all take credit cards. The two large supermarket chains (Migros and Coop) take credit cards, smaller shops may not. I would expect most restaurants in tourist areas to take cards, but it is always safer to check. A food stall in the street is probably cash only.
Some ticket machines take credit cards, some not. Even if they do, according to many posts on this site, US cards do not have the latest security technology and are not accepted. I would always have some cash on me, for small purchases (under 50 Franks).

I was actually trying to be sarcastic, after your previous posts about trying to use US dollars. No way would I expect to be able to travel around a country without enough cash in the local currency to pay for 1-2 days expenses.

First, shouldn't this be in the Switzerland forum?

Anyhow, Migros and Coop both take plastic no problem. Note that you have to bag your items yourself and there's a charge for the bags. Larger restaurants take plastic, no problem. Some locations have do it yourself checkout, I did that but needed a little assistance from a friendly employee who was standing there just for that reason.

Whether to have local cash before departure or get upon landing is actually quite a contentious issue, if you look back at forum postings. It's a classic do what moves ya situation. It's tougher to find swiss francs before you get there, unlike euros, but not impossible. My credit union had a very favorable deal with a local money changing establishment that saved me several monies.

phred:

Good point re: forum choice. I thought that since this was an exclusively travel question, I could post here - besides, I don't think I've seen Chris too often in the Switzerland forums. Thanks for your insight into the credit card transactions and Swiss Franks/Euros.

Chris:

Thanks for your response, and your points is well taken, of course. BTW, I thought Franks was spelled Franc (maybe that the old French currency).

In the meantime, I will be crunching numbers trying to figure out which pass, if any, is best for us.

Thanks,
Porcupyn

Porcupyn, the Swiss currency has different names in different languages.
In German, 100 Rappen = 1 Frank
In French, 100 centime = 1 franc
In Italian, 100 centesimo = 1 franco
In Romansh, 100 Rap = 1 franc
The bank notes have all 4 languages on them (click here), the coins just have the number or "Fr." on them (click here).
Which name you use in English is up to you, but as I live in German speaking Switzerland, I use Frank and Rappen.