Concerto

Actually, you can still get quite good deals if you book a ticket somewhere with a 'via' in the itinerary. Like Zurich-Lausanne via Bellinzona or some other similar side trip, within reason of course. The downside is that the trip must be completed the same day. I feel absolutely no guilt buying a Swiss ticket in Germany and using it when I feel like it (is now valid 14 days, used to be 1 month, before that 2 months. When are they going to squeeze the death out of it, never mind the life out of it?)

Don't know what those 14 Euro tickets were this Summer, might have been a special promotion, or a mistake. I bought quite a few of them, and used bahn.bonus points to upgrade to 1st (500 points per trip).

Acid

I've bought non-refundable firm tickets from OBB Austria site for ZRH Airport to St. Anton Austria which have a connection at Zurich HB.

I was wondering if I could get on the earlier train from Zurich Airport to Zurich HB or I have to use the one indicated on the ticket. I would like to go earlier if possible(once I get my bags) and hang out in center rather than wait at airport.

The ticket said it has to be on the train indicated - is that for both the IC and Railjet parts of the journey?

thanks!

Fireflyer05

If it's a ÖBB SparschieneEuropa, then the train restriction applies to IC and Railjet.

TheBlackMamba

Does anyone know if the price of train tickets of Swiss SBB vary in time? So I know whether I need to book on beforehand?

Fireflyer05

You always can buy the regular (flexible) fare, where the price is fix and allows you to use any train during the validity. However, you also can buy a discounted fare (Sparbillett), but you need to choose a specific train timetable and those prices can change depending on the time you book and on the time of travel (e. g. friday afternoon tends to be more expensive). Also, a Sparbillett is not refundable.

TheBlackMamba

Thanks! This is really good to know, cause I was confused that prices were cheaper now than when I booked this summer. It's strange to me that a local train with non reserved seats can have fluctuating prices

Gotta Requalify

I think I understand how the Swiss Rail Pass works, but I would like to just clarify if I have this correct.

We are a family of 4, including 2 under 16 spending 3 days in Switzerland.

We plan to take TGV from Paris and the routing tells me that I will get off at Basel and then take Swiss trains to Lucerne. Q1 - If I have a Swiss Travel Pass, do I only need to book the Train to Basel at the TGV site?

Q2 - Do I need to get the Travel Pass validated before hopping on the first (or any other train) or just get on the train and find a seat?

Day 2 we are going up to Rigi and down the mountain via the cog railway. My wife and child #2 want to go to the lake via the railway and I will take child #1 via the Cable Car, and we will meet up again on the boat or in Lucerne. Q3 As we will split up, do we need two STS Family Cards? One for each adult, or do they come as a PDF, so I just print it twice?
(We are also doing other sight seeing around Lucerne, so will use the local Trains and Trams, plus discount into the transport museum).

Day 3 - We are going from Lucerne to Como through the old Gotthard route before the new tunnel is opened. With the travel pass, I know I can get as far as Chiasso free of charge and nothing booked, Q4 do I then need to get off the train and buy a ticket to get across the border and wait for the next train, or do I just buy a ticket in Lucerne, show the Travel Pass and they will only charge the few CHF for the last leg? Trying to book on the SBB site doesn't show any discounts for travel pass. Or do I just buy a ticket from Chiasso to Como online?

blueferrari

Hi,

I plan to travel from Interlaken to Innsbruck. In SBB site, I notice that there are two connecting points in Bern (9 mins) and Zurich (12 mins).

I heard that Swiss trains generally are punctual, but I also heard that it is not really strange to have a late trains.

The problem is SBB told me that the supersaver ticket will be forfeited in case of missed connection (why should they sell it in the first place?). The next problem is regular ticket would price twice. If I purchased segment by segment, it's skyrocket of euro either.

I just have this anxiety as this is quite unusual for me. If there's regular Swiss train user here, please spare me some advice

Fireflyer05

The super saver ticket will only be forfeited, if the missed connection is your own fault (i.e. you went shopping, or slept or anything like that). In case of a delay on SBBs fault, you should get a confirmation from the personnel in the delayed train, then you can use the next available connection.

dinoscool3

Yeah. And in addition, I wouldn't worry about a late train. Swiss trains are very rarely delayed, and will often be able to make up time anyways, at least in my experience.

:D!

OK, you live in Switzerland so probably have taken many more Swiss trains than me, but I have found that many Swiss trains are often a little bit late. It's not as bad as Germany, where this Christmas all my trains were at least 10 minutes late (except for RB on dedicated tracks ) Actually, I took my wife on the Zurich S10 to Uetliberg and it was 5 minutes late as well...

If you have a 12 minute connection at Zurich HB, your arriving train is late by 5 minutes and you have never been to the station before, then it is slightly risky. I would suggest studying maps of the station very carefully and memorising the platform numbers and the route you will take to get to the next train.

dinoscool3

I will admit that I'm in the south and only moved here within the last year, but most of the regional TILO trains in Ticino are on-time or never more than a few minutes late. In addition every train I've taken to/from Zurich arrived on time and I have been able to make an 8 minute connection to a regional train up to the airport.

However, it is always a good idea to familiarize one's self with the train station when facing a short connection. It can be quite a hike between some of the platforms.

nrr

Zurich has 2 passageways (one is relatively NEW) which run perpendicular to the tracks. These make connections faster, since you won't have to go to the front of the track.

greg5

The second passageway has been there for quite some time. As long as the 10 or so years I've been in Switzerland. Probably much, much longer. Actually, many stations have dual passageways like this. For example, Basel has a second bridge over by the post office. You can find maps of all of the stations on sbb.ch.

blueferrari

Thanks for all swift response, guys. really appreciate it. Finally decided to book the tickets.

I think SBB can improve their reservation web as I find it lacking informations. For example, I suppose platform information is essential for connection, moreover for these limited time. These obtained after booking.

User can't just pick their seat via seat selection map or something, unfortunately. So we have to enter the criteria (window/aisle, open/corridor, family zone/business zone, etc) should we want to reserve seat.

If we can customize the connection trains (fare might be different, understandably so), that also would be great!

I'll arrive in platform 4 and connect to platform 7 at Bern. This is completely doable, I suppose.
Then arrive in platform 34 and connect to platform 10 at Zurich. Oh my...

Now my homework is to find stations map