 Poster: A snowHead
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I have just got some Geneva to Zermatt.
I almost forgot that the usual UK scam (railway companies reselling tickets of other companies and jacking up the price, so buying them individually is much cheaper) is alive and well for Switzerland too.
https://www.thetrainline.com (top of google hits) quoted €362.
I got lucky in that their payment form failed, so I did more googling and found the website for the Swiss trains, https://www.sbb.ch/en/buying/pages/fahrplan/fahrplan.xhtml. I got them for half the price! Exactly the same tickets.
Hopefully somebody will find this useful, rather than telling me I am an idiot. There is a lot of hostility on this forum sometimes...
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 9-12-18 18:45; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@peter_h, I have always referred to the Swiss site, its really good for timetabling information as well as prices. Its always good to point out helpful websites.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Intersting discovery. I've used https://www.trainline.eu/ a bit and it quotes €33.90 for Geneva airport ot Bourg st Maurice, which looks pretty good value to me. The site looks pretty similar to https://www.thetrainline.com so I suspect are run by the same people (it quotes £31.83 for the same journey, not a great exchange rate).
The .com site quotes £73.43 for Geneva airport to Zurich.
Please note the https:// URL
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Google gives a much higher ranking to https websites than http ones, so everybody is moving to https even though for most uses it is pointless.
Websites can be made to look similar for dishonest reasons.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| peter_h wrote: |
| .... There is a lot of hostility on this forum sometimes... |
Depends on the delicacy of one's sensibilities (or level of snowflakery  ).
OTOH, sometimes, there's not enough....
| peter_h wrote: |
| ..Certain nations, one in particular, find it very hard to be polite.... |
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@peter_h, just to check, on the SBB website, did you uncheck the half fare card? IIRC, the default on the site is that you have one...
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@Gämsbock, default is NOT that you have one... (having one and using the site once or twice a week...)
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@under a new name, just checked, it is for me, not logged in.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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There was a similar thread a few weeks ago.
Swiss Transfer Ticket (STT) is cheapest and around €135 / £120 return from GVA to Zermatt.
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I just had a look for a random Saturday (19th Jan). Trainline shows all tickets at Fr102.46. SBB shows tickets FROM Fr.51, this is with half fare card so Fr.102 without.
However what Trainline does not show is the discount (limited availability) advance fares which for one train is Fr. 51.20 without half fare card. So it seems to me that Trainline are not ripping people off but that they may just not have access to the discounted fares with however their website is working.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'm a regular winter user of the Zurich - St. Anton railjet service operated by OBB (Austrian railways) and usually the cheapest fares are to be found on the OBB website, "Sparscheine" tickets. However, on recently checking return prices on both OBB and SBB (Swiss rail) websites, SBB was almost half the price, £95ish (OBB) against £49ish (SBB) for a return ticket on a weekend next February. Surprising, as based on previous experience, the Swiss are not known for value.
Note that on SBB website specific seat selection, coach plan, is not available but is on OBB, where you can select exact seats. However, you can get round this by buying the ticket on SBB and then reserving an exact seat on OBB paying just 3 Euros per seat.
Ticketing agencies such as Trainline and Loco2, in addition to train operators SNCF and DB, can provide a decent and easy service. Ticketing agencies will of course charge a fee.
There is a very good website https://www.seat61.com/ . This is the home of "The man in seat 61" and it gives excellent advice and info on train services worldwide.
I hope that SBB are not monitoring this forum! 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Note that the Swiss Transfer Tickets will no longer be available after some point in December this year though they will still be valid into next year
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Just priced Zurich to St Anton via the link (SBB) on Zurich Airport site, 58CHF return. The booking system identifies a change but won't tell you where. I assume it is in Zurich HBH, can someone who's done this confirm likely distance of platforms, time the booking engine allows to transfer platforms. I have experience of OBB allowing 1 minute to transfer at Jenbach which is well nigh impossible.
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You know it makes sense.
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https://www.sbb.ch/en/buying/pages/fahrplan/fahrplan.xhtml
If you click on the plus to the right of the list of trains is shows a break down of the journey. The ones I see with a single change are all at Zurich HBF.Generally Swiss trains are set to connect to each other (i.e. arrive at main stations some minutes before the (half) hour and leave some minutes after the (half) hour to allow people to change easily.
The one I just checked arrived at ZRH HBF at xx:27 and left at xx:40
There are probably also more trains running between the airport and city so you can just hop on the first that comes along if possible to give yourself more space if you are worried.
I think also the smaller local trains will wait at larger stations if a connecting long distance train is running late to allow passengers to connect.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks. Half term week looking cheaper by the minute. £178 to Zurich with KLM.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I would.concur with the above. From airport virtually everywhere is change at, or go straight thru (if lucky) Zurich HBF, and there are stacks of trains to HBF.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Ghost Dog, There are, as mentioned, frequent train services from the ZRH airport to Zurich main station (hbf), both terminating and through ones. Some are shuttle/commuter trains and some are intercity. Doesn't really matter which one you get from the airport, as long as it is going to Zurich hbf, bear in mind that some trains at the airport go elsewhere not Zurich. Arrival platforms vary alot at Zurich hbf, some of those platforms are underground and are at least 10 minutes from the platform from which the OBB Railjet departs, usually platform 8 or 9 or thereabouts in the main station area at street level. The Railjet that departs 2 hourly, i.e. 1040, 1240, 1440 is direct to St. Anton, Innsbruck and beyond. It goes via Sargans and Buchs, where the train reverses direction thus causing panic with passengers who've not used the service before. It is actually backtracking a short distance then heads off into Austria, stopping at Feldkirche and Bludenz. Some services stop at Langen (for Lech and Stuben). The train only stops for a short time in St. Anton so if you're seated deep in a carriage and have lots of kit, it is advisable to gather your stuff together and make your way to the door area as soon as the train enters the Arlberg tunnel after Langen. Friends have ended up down line because they couldn't get off in time. 
One other point tickets bought at the lower price are not interchangeable, that is if bought for the 1040 it is only valid for that and not an earlier or later. Tickets are checked on board, I have twice been questioned using different time tickets and fortunately let off, but it was close call.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The lower price tickets mentioned by @davidthornton, are the so-called Sparschiene tickets. As David says, they are restricted to a specific train/time.
The pricing of the Sparschiene tickets is a bit opaque - a bit like airline tickets. They vary over time; usually the earlier you buy, the deeper the discount, but that does not seem to be always the case. They also vary by train, eg the 08:40 train to St Anton might attract a deeper discount than the 10:40 train.
All that said, sometimes you can score really deep discounts, eg St Anton to Zürich, first class, for around €20.
There is also good advice David’s post about the time to move between platforms at Zürich HB and getting off the train at StA. Anecdote: one morning, walking along the StA platform, after getting off the train, a plaintive American voice rang out, “Please hold the train. My friends are still on it”. The answer was succinct... the doors locked and the train moved.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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A recommendation for scenic views on the Zurich- St. Anton train is to choose seats on the left hand side, that is left when facing the direction of travel. The OBB website coach plan indicates the direction of travel to Buchs, you choose the left side.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Usually find OBB cheaper but for the coming New Year trip SBB worked out a bit better. Booked a standard ticket for Zurich - St Anton and a saver for the return journey for a total of 90 Swiss Francs - which isn't bad.
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FAQ
