Supersaver ticket

Kctong

My wife and I are travelling to Swtizerland and Italy in October 2024, visiting Zurich, Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen and Milan. The planned itinerary is to spend 6 days in Zurich, Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen, Zurich (utilising Swiss Travel Pass), and the next 3 days in Milan (on individual train tickets).

Based on the itinerary, we were supposed to travel from Zurich to Milan (on the 7th day) on 27 October 2024. However, I noticed that there is no super saver ticket available for this specific day (27 October). I suspected that the reason being is that 27 October is a Sunday but this reason was dismissed when I researched on other Sundays which have super saver ticket available.

May i know if SBB would “change” their mind and offer super saver ticket on random basis - and that i should wait and try my luck to see if that happens?
Or should i alter my plan so i travel from Zurich to Milan on other days where super saver ticket are available? The price difference is rather significant for us and we would like to take advantage of the discount if possible!

Preferably, I would like to stick to the current plan as it allows me to utilise the 6 days Swiss Travel Pass for the first 6 days of my journey.

Grateful for any advice!

RedBaron

Kctong
The lack of supersaver tickets is not related to Sundays or SBB “ramdomly” re-issuing supersaver tickets (… which they don’t: There’s simply only a limited number of whatever saver offer for a particular train, price or date available. Once the last one has been sold, they’re gone for good)

The point is that supersaver tickets are generally not available on routes outside Switzerland. Therefore if you’re fine with the risks involved with supersavers as a tradeoff for saving some money, do the following:

Disregard all direct EC connections between Zurich and Milano
Split your tickets into a Zurich - Lugano (IC or IR) and a Lugano - Milano (RE80) leg
Get your supersavers for the ZRH-Lugano leg now, as the choice still looks good for 27. Oct.
For your intended RE80 connection, get Arcobaleno Transfrontaliera tickets for only 16.40 (regular price, unlimited availability, ticket validity = 4h) a few weeks before travel, as such tickets are currently not yet available for october.

Kctong

Hi RedBaron,

Thank you so much for the explanation and advice on alternative! I think i would do that!

Few more questions:

When viewing the ticket, it says “1x Supersaver Ticket, Half-Fare Travelcard”, would this mean that i need to have a half fare card to utilise or purchase the ticket on supersaver discount?
For the return trip, i can do the same trip but reversed? RE80 connection first, then Lugano-Zurich?

Kctong

Kctong Also, just wondering if there is a sleeper bus/train available that runs from Zurich to Milan?

RolandP

Hello Kctong

When viewing the ticket, it says “1x Supersaver Ticket, Half-Fare Travelcard”, would this mean that i need to have a half fare card to utilise or purchase the ticket on supersaver discount?

You need to have the (Swiss) Half Fare Card when using the ticket; otherwise you pay a hefty surcharge.

For the return trip, i can do the same trip but reversed? RE80 connection first, then Lugano-Zurich?

Yes, this is possible.

Also, just wondering if there is a sleeper bus/train available that runs from Zurich to Milan?

There are bus services operated by the bus company Flixbus, yet this company is not renowned for its punctuality and safety. I, personally, would never use it given the excellent, and especially very safe, train system we have.

Kind regards,
Roland

Kctong

RolandP

Regarding “You need to have the (Swiss) Half Fare Card when using the ticket; otherwise you pay a hefty surcharge.”, does this mean that i need to look for tickets that say only “1x Supersaver Ticket” if i do not have the half fare card?

All clear for the other questions, and thank you!

RolandP

Hello Kctong

Yes.

The ticketing system will not issue half fare tickets if you haven’t chosen the Half Fare option in the reduction card settings during purchase.

Use the SBB Mobile app to purchase tickets, it’s a lot easier than via website.

Also, note the conditions for Supersaver tickets: only valid for the chosen connection, no refund, no changes.

Kind regards,
Roland

Kctong

RolandP Thank you for the explanation.

Separately i am also contemplating getting an Eurail Italy Pass or Eurail Global Pass for the trip.

Does the Eurail Italy Pass allow me to board the same train route (or any part of it) you have suggested above (Zurich-Lugano-Milan)?
Would you recommend booking out of pocket with the supersaver ticket and booking in advance, or getting the Eurail Global Pass? I have done a quick comparison and the price does not appear to differ much.

I am planning to visit Milan, Lake Como and possibly Bergamo/Bologna within my 3 days 2 nights stay before returning to Zurich.

Krist

An Eurail Pass would not be a good fit for your plans. You still need to reserve seats (at 10,- each) on long distance trains in Italy, and local trains in Italy are quite cheap.

Regarding no saver tickets on Zurich - Milano on october 27th: For the direct EC trains a different tariff system is used, and the discounted fares there have other names. It appears that however the schedule for October has not been finalised yet. SBB hopes to have the Gotthard base tunnel back in operation by then. So I would just wait a bit. Cheapest tickets (called “smart” are normally around 35,- on that route.

Have a look at www.trenitalia.com, and pick a date in August to have an idea about prices.

Kctong

Krist Thank you for the information!

Kctong

I am looking to book the ticket from lugano to milano. However, my train will only arrive lugano at 9.58am and the connecting train to milano will depart at 10.02am. The map on SBB app shows that it is 1 platform away. Just wondering if this is sufficient time for us to get out from the train and board the connecting train to milano?

Or would i be better off booking a later connecting train, which is 30 minutes later?

Also, does the train ticket generally affixed to a certain number of seats?

RolandP

Hello Kctong

And what is the counter-argument of not booking a ticket from your point to departure to Milano straight?

Kind regards,
Roland

Kctong

RolandP Hi Roland, i am still booking the ticket from lugano to milano. Now the train from zurich will arrive at lugano at 9.58am. I am thinking if i should book the connecting ticket departing from lugano at 10.02am or 10.30am. Just concerned that if i book the 10.02am ticket it may be too rushed.

Krist

If you are going from Zurich to Milano you should book a ticket Zurich - Milano. You do not need separate tickets.
And don’t worry about short connections. They are doable, and protected.

Kctong

Krist Krist, I have 2 options now.

First being i book first leg of the journey from Milano to Lugano (_16CHF) and second leg of the journey from Lugano to Zurich HB (_37CHF). Both of these trains have a 4 minutes connection time as highlighted above.

The second option would be to book 1 ticket directly from Milano to Zurich which oddly would cost around 75CHF (22CHF more than the first option) and appears to be taking a different route. I was looking at the second option as it somehow offers more protection, if the first train is delayed, at least i imagine my second leg of the journey would be protected given the 1 ticket purchase.

First question - why is there a difference between the 2?
Second question - am i able or allowed to book 1 ticket but via the same route as it would have been per the first option with similar cost?
Third question - when selecting the ticket for second leg of the journey for first option, there is a warning of journey being affected by engineering works and it says "tickets between Zurich HB and ARth-Goldau/Luzern/Zug/Baar via “direct” are also valid via Rotkreuz or Affoltern am Albis". What exactly does this mean and how would this affect my journey?

Kctong

@Krist @RolandP Hi, as my trip is coming in the next week, it would be extremely helpful if i could get your advise on the query above.

Krist

For the direct trains you are probably looking that the EC trains that have their own tariff system. If you want to save money by taking the regional train across the border then I’d suggest you split the ticket in Chiasso. Buy Zurich - Chiasso, and Chiasso - Milano. Make sure you get an RE train across the border. And in Chiasso you can just stay on the train.