Which option is better City Ticket or Saver Day Pass?

mellyndc

Hi,

We will be flying from Zurich Airport and we were wondering which type of ticket (Saver Day Pass or City Ticket) would suit best for this route. We only plan to do sightseeing around Zurich City and head back to Wilderswil.

Based on the SBB App, the Saver Day Pass would cost CHF 119 and the City Ticket at CHF 85.80 (from Zurich Flughafen to Wilderwil). But I am not sure if the destinations we intend to visit would be covered in the City Ticket.

Route:
Zurich Airport > Kloten area > Munstebrucke area > Wilderswil

Thanks in advance!

Chiara_S

Hello mellyndc

If you choose the City Ticket, in addition to the journey between the selected place of departure and the destination, you will get a day pass for local traffic (tram, bus, S-Bahn) at the place of departure (in your case, City Kloten).

With the Saver Day Pass, on the other hand, you will be able to travel freely on almost every means of transport in Switzerland (including, of course, local transport in every cityl). Here you can check the validity map.

If you are staying in Switzerland for more than two days and plan to use public transport frequently, I recommend you take a look at our offers for international guests and especially the Swiss Travel Pass (which has the same area of validity as the Saver Day Pass and is available in different packages).

I wish you an amazing stay. Regards,
Chiara_S

RedBaron

Unless you have a VERY particular reason (e.g. family/ancestor related) or are an avid planespotter, there are no reasons for visiting Kloten as a foreign tourist… better save your time for Zurich! Also, Kloten is in a different public transport tarif zone (121) than Zurich downtown (110), so the city ticket surcharge for your airport point of departure would be useless.

The SBB point-to-point tickets and saver day passes are not tied to particular train services, so interrupting your train journey for a few hours in Zurich or Berne (leaving your luggage in lockers) is absolutely fine. However if doing so, any local tramway or bus rides in those “in-between” cities would not be included in your long-distance SBB ticket.
But as long as no medical conditions prevent you from walking approx. 2km/1,4mi within 2-3h, you don’t really need public transportation for visiting the Zurich Old Town from the Main Station. E.g. the Bahnhofstrasse is much better experienced on foot than by sitting in a tramway, the same actually applies for all other Old Town tourist spots.

Saver Day Passes should always be cheaper than equivalent point-to-point tickets, not sure how you figured out the higher price…?

RolandP

RedBaron

Saver Day Passes should always be cheaper than equivalent point-to-point tickets, not sure how you figured out the higher price…?

That’s a wrong assumption. The Saver Day Pass is valid for the entire public network for 1 day while a point-to-point ticket is only valid for a particular route; hence, the cost of a Saver Day Pass can be higher, depending on the demand and availability.

Kind regards,
Roland

mellyndc

Chiara_S Thank you for your response.

So if we buy a City Ticket from Zurich Flughafen to Wilderswil, this will cover transportation from Zurich City and Wilderswil area? Also, is a City Ticket Flexible?

For clarification, to get to Kloten from Zurich City, we will have to purchase a standard single ticket as this won’t be covered in the City Ticket?

All the best.

RedBaron

You might be missing the fact that any train leaving the ZRH airport underground station westbound (e.g. toward the Bernese Oberland) will inevitably stop at the Zurich City Main Station (Zurich HB). Therefore you don’t have to worry about any city or other separate tickets between the airport and ZRH city.
Chiara above is right, any local transportation in Zurich Downtown would even be also included if chosing Saver Day Pass between ZRH Airport and Wilderswil. Local transportation would not be included in a point-to-point or Super Saver ticket. I mixed up the two “saver” options while typing that sentence in my above post, sorry for that possible confusion.

Bottom line: If chosing a Saver Day Pass for the ZRH Airport - Wilderswil itinerary, this ticket would also cover ANY local transportation for that day (excepted the Schynige Platte cogwheel railway leaving from Wilderswil)

RedBaron

RolandP I checked the current full fare options for that itinerary around mid-June: A Saver Day Pass is currently offered for CHF 52.- while the point-to-point ticket is CHF 80.80. It is also my own experience that “saver” ticket options are never more expensive than a regular point-to-point ticket between the Zurich area and the Bernese Oberland, hence my comment above.

mellyndc

RedBaron Thanks for your response. We are planning this itinerary on the 17th of February and the City Ticket costs CHF 85.10 pp whereas the Saver Day Pass costs CHF 119.00 pp.

Bearing this in mind, would it make sense if we buy the City Ticket from Zurich HB to Wilderswil? (As we plan to just go sightseeing in Zurich City. Our accommodation is in Wilderswil.)

And is this ticket flexible in terms of the trains / buses we use?

RolandP

Hello mellyndc

Yes, with a city ticket you can take as many intermediate stops as you want, yet no backtracking.

However, when you travel from the airport, the city ticket is not valid in Zurich city. You would need to split the tickets:

A ticket from Zurich Airport to Zurich (valid 2 hours).
A ticket from Zurich to Wilderswil.

In Zurich city, you do not need public transport, as all is in walking distance.

Kind regards,
Roland

RedBaron

mellyndc
Alright, on such short notice, the Saver Day Pass isn’t actually a “Saver” option anymore. That >34 CHF price difference just for one or two included short tramway rides in Zurich Downtown (which are not really necessary as indicated in my 1st answer above) would clearly be overpriced here.

In this case, separate, tickets for ZRH Airport - Zurich HB and Zurich HB - Wilderswil could be an option. However avoid the City Ticket surcharge for the second ticket, as your 1st ZRH Airport - Zurich HB ticket would include any ZRH Downtown local transportation for 1 hour after the start of validity of that 3 zone ticket, and that 1h period (as mentioned on the ticket) would begin with the scheduled departure time of the train leaving the Airport underground station (which you bought the ticket for when using the SBB Mobile app!).
So after arriving at ZRH Main Station and having stowed your luggage in the lockers, that 1st ticket would still allow for approx. 30 minutes of free use of all tramways and buses in ZRH Downtown. One scenario then could be to immediately take a tramway to Paradeplatz (near Münsterbrücke) and then to somehow walk back all the way to the Main Station, using as many historic old town lanes as possible (e.g. don’t miss the views from “Lindenhof”)

Just keep in mind that the city ticket surcharge for Zurich City (2nd ticket) would be CHF 8.30, while a single tramway ride (“ZVV short distance”, validity = 30 minutes) would be just CHF 2.80.