 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi - some friends and I are planning to travel from Geneva to Zermatt by train.
It looks like it's not worth buying the 50% discount card as will only save about half of what it costs.
Wondered if anyone knows of any other way of reducing the cost a little?
There will be three of us so maybe there's some kind of group saving?
Thanks v much for any advice.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Neil Neige For your sort of travel requirement, Interrail tickets can turn out cheaper than anything on offer from SBB. The current Interrail offer is 3 travel days in one month for €146 - the travel days don't have to be consecutive and you can take as many trains on the travel day as you want to. So even if you don't use the 3rd. day, it looks a lot cheaper than the SBB alternatives, except perhaps for SBB Supersavers (next para.).
I can't see from the Ts+Cs whether you have to specify up-front your initial date of travel i.e. if when you buy the ticket you have to tie yourself down to a particular outbound travel day, which could be problematic if your travel plans change. Nor whether if they do change the whole thing is invalid because you haven't travelled on the specific 1st day - like with return flights where if you miss the outbound flight it invalidates the return flight. Perhaps it'd be worth talking to the Swiss Travel Centre in London who sell these tickets in the UK (the above link is to the STC website).
And if you had a very bad weather day on the trip, then you'd have the option of using the spare day to go on a day's train excursion, just for the fun of it.
SBB Supersaver tickets can be significantly cheaper than standard fares, but these seem to be available only arbitrarily i.e. they materialise on the booking system, then disappear (presumably because there's a finite number for a particular route/time). So they involve you (a) having to just go into the website regularly to see if they've been released and (b) committing to a specific day/time (so if you miss it because of flight delays etc., then like a 'plane flight, you've lost the ticket).
SBB Group tickets are only for 10+ people, according to the SBB website.
Another source of help might be the Swiss Travel Centre in London who you can ring or email.
As you've found, most of the SBB discounted ticket types are either for regular commuters, or someone on a rail touring holiday.
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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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| LaForet wrote: |
SBB Supersaver tickets can be significantly cheaper than standard fares, but these seem to be available only arbitrarily i.e. they materialise on the booking system, then disappear (presumably because there's a finite number for a particular route/time). So they involve you (a) having to just go into the website regularly to see if they've been released and (b) committing to a specific day/time (so if you miss it because of flight delays etc., then like a 'plane flight, you've lost the ticket).
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Whilst the SBB supersaver ticket is tied to specific date and time trains as you said, if you get their Saver Day Pass instead that covers you for the entire Swiss railway network (including certain bus links e.g from Basel airport to Basel train station). It covers you from 00:00 on the chosen day until 05:00 the following day, so gives you total flexibility if your flight is delayed. They go on sale from 60 days prior to the date of travel, getting more expensive the closer to the travel fate. If you book them when they first became available then the ticket is 52CHF (that's the full price without any Swiss Half Price card). https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/tickets-for-switzerland/day-pass/saver-day-pass.html
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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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Another vote for the Saver Day Pass - I've bought those for two trips already this season and another for Easter. Big savings. It's worth noting the sale date on your calendar by working back 60 days from your travel date. As Alastair says, you can then get them for 52CHF each which will be a considerable saving on the Geneva airport to Zermatt cost. You print them off at home so there's no faff at the railway station.
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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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+1 for the Saver day pass. Remarkably cheap. Just used for return travel to Zermatt
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Another vote for Saver Day Pass…. Which can also be purchased on the SBB app and tickets scanned from the app by the conductor during the journey. Alternatively or in addition downloaded into Wallet if you are an iPhone user
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Ditto
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Thanks all, that's really interesting. So it looks like an SBB Saver Day Pass would cost 2x CHF 52 = CHF 104 versus the Interrail CHF 149 which although it gives you three days, there's no value to you in the 3rd day if it's just being used as a outbound/return. Does anyone know what a Supersaver would be, if it was available?
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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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Didn’t know about the saver day pass - good to know!
@LaForet, to your question:
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If I recall correctly, the Supersaver was only valid on a specific train - bit risky if at the mercy of Heathrow baggage handlers and Geneva immigration!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| LOTA wrote: |
| If I recall correctly, the Supersaver was only valid on a specific train - bit risky if at the mercy of Heathrow baggage handlers and Geneva immigration! |
Yep it’s not a ticket choice you can make unless you’re 100% sure you will get on that specific train. Sometimes they are still available a few hours before at less popular times - that’s when I’ve used them. Visible with a % sign on the SBB app
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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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Wrong resort but you can do a combined train/ski pass for Verbier at weekends. Seemed good value.
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The Supersaver is only valid for a particular train BUT if you miss that one you can use the cost of it against a ticket on another train. Another way the Swiss trains are better than ours
The Saver is valid for a day (actually midnight till following 5am) and you can use any train, bus or boat included in the network
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You know it makes sense.
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The SBB app UI is also rather lovely in a clean, Swiss sort of way. It even gives local train info in UK.
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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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@PrimroseAndBlue Actually, I forgot that it's always worth looking at the MySwitzerland.com official Swiss travel site to see if there are any Special Offers that combine rail tickets and skipass (7 currently, but not Zermatt).
SBB also have Snow 'n Rail Offers which include a skipass. Currently there are 15 resorts but not Zermatt. These include the Verbier 4 Vallées you mentioned plus the Verbier Express (direct train from GVA to Le Chable without changing, and reduced stops)
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Poster: A snowHead
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@LaForet, I used the Verbier Express on Saturday and it was excellent.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks v much for all these suggestions.
Sounds like the Saver Day Pass is the one to go for!
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