Obtain SwissPass Customer ID as an International Traveler

aaronyogurt

I have purchased Half Fare Travelcard online (sbb.ch), which supposedly would provide a SwissPass to me. How can I obtain the customer ID? I’d like to register my Half Fare Travelcard with the SwissPass, so I can use it to purchase tickets that requires Half Fare Travelcard certification. Thank you.

RolandP

Hello aaronyogurt

Are you a resident or a tourist? Are you talking about the Half Fare Card or the Swiss Half Fare card?

Kind regards,
Roland

aaronyogurt

RolandP Thank you for the quick reply. I’m a tourist, and speaking in regards to Swiss Half Fare Card.

RolandP

Hello aaronyogurt

The SwissPass card is for residents, only. As a tourist, you do not get a customer number.

May we suggest reading this reply, it will certainly clear things up:
https://community.sbb.ch/d/26418-how-can-i-save-the-info-of-swiss-half-fare-card

Kind regards,
Roland

aaronyogurt

RolandP That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the prompt reply. May I also assume that Swiss Half Fare Card is different from SBB Half Fare Card, seeing that those have different effective duration? Thanks.

RolandP

Hello aaronyogurt

They are equal in terms of validity. And you are welcome to use/delcare the Swiss Half Fare Card as “Half Fare Card” wherever you can select ‘Half Fare Card’; Swiss Half Fare Card is not explicitly mentioned when it comes to discount selections.

But, you should not make a confusion and name it Half Fare Card when talking to staff, since the Half Fare Card handling is different from the Swiss Half Care card. The former is for residents, with customer number, on a red plastic card; the latter is a PDF ticket, without customer number, for tourists.

Does that make sense? If not, please let me know; then we will further work on the knowledge transfer 🙂

Kind regards,
Roland

aaronyogurt

RolandP Thank you for the explanation. The reason for the question is because I’m in the process of purchasing gondola tickets for Riffelberg Express, and it explicitly stated to use SBB Half Fare Card, and required me to input my SwissPass ID for verification, which it doesn’t look like I’ll have as a tourist. Hence the confusion.

RolandP

Hello aaronyogurt

These tickets you can only get on-site; it is not possible to pruchase Zermatt local ticket online using your Swiss Half Fare Card. The SwissPass is for residents; thus, you do not have a customer number.

This website makes us great head-aches because all tourist do misunderstood.

We would never suggest purchasing mountain excursion tickets in advance. What if the weather will be stormy, are you willing to go anyway? Will you get a refund?

Kind regards,
Roland