We also have 3-day France pass and 8-consecutive-day Switzerland pass. We will be leaving Paris for Switzerland very early in the morning and will already have France pass validated from earlier travel. Can Switzerland pass be validated in Paris earlier than on the day on which you want the 8-day period to begin, or does validation start the 8-consecutive-day period running? Thanks!
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
There are people on this site who know much more than I about train travel. Since you haven't yet received a response, I'll give you my experience.
The last time I used a rail pass it was a flexpass. I validated it by signing and dating the ticket on the days I used it.
When I ride now, I look for cheaper ticket options and they are validated by stamping the ticket before you board.
In either case, I never validated until I was actually using the ticket because the clock is ticking on your pass when you validate.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
If you will be stopping or changing trains at the Swiss Border then just have the Swiss Ticket Agent validate the passes there.
If your connection is too short or you will not be stopping at the border then just fill in your initial travel date and passport number on your Swiss Pass. When you arrive in Switzerland take your Pass and passport to the nearest ticket counter and they will validate it.
We traveled via train from Venice all the way to the Swiss Alps to the tiny little village of Muerren. We had point-to-point tickets from Venice to the Swiss Border and we also had non-validated Swiss Passes to cover the rest of our journey into Switzerland. The only problem was that our connection times were too short to get off the train, validate the ticket, and then get back on.
Both the Italian and Swiss train personnel told us to just fill in the data and have the official stamp added later at our Swiss stopping point. We actually arrived in Muerren past the ticket window closing time so I took the passports and Swiss Passes the next morning to the ticket window. I explained what we had done, and he added the official stamp then. It was not a problem at all.
We did stress out a bit during the trip wondering if we were doing the right thing. You know, the tickets say to not write ANYTHING at all on them until they are validated at the Swiss ticket counter. Actually the Swiss people were VERY laid back about the official validation stamp.