Swiss Half Fare Pass for non-residents

Gab1210

I wish to purchase this Pass for my family of five adults as Australian tourists. As I understand it this allows half price travel on certain train lines throughout Switzerland as well as offering discounts on some attractions or other forms of transport such as cable cars.
I wish to purchase tickets to ascend the Matterhorn but I am a bit confused with the information from matterhornparadise.ch as the following is stipulated:
“Please note that discounted tickets are exclusively available with a valid SBB half-fare/GA travelcard and must be charged onto the SwissPass card. Please carry the SwissPass card with you (mobile SwissPass is not possible).”
I was under the impression that we could rely on storing the Swiss Half Fare Pass in our mobile phones. Do we need to have an actual card to be eligible for this discount? Are you able to explain this please?
Thank you kindly

Krist

The “SwissPass” card has nothing to do with the Swiss Half Fare Card or the Swiss Travel Pass. It is a plastic chip card, used by locals to store commuter passes, the SBB Half Fare or GA, ski passes etc on it.

As a tourist you do not have this. The person that came up with the idea to call this “Swiss Pass” probably did not realise how much confusion this would cause.

The solution in your case it to just buy the tickets for the Matterhorn at the ticket office in Zermatt. There is need to buy these in advance, and there are good reasons for not doing so.

Gab1210

Krist Thank you very much for your concise and prompt reply. It is called a “Card” not a “Pass” on some websites (including sbb.ch for Int Guests) so are they one and the same or different products and I’m horribly confused?!!
Sorry to be a pain but I am about to part with CHF600 which is quite a bit in AUD so need to make sure I am purchasing the correct Pass/Card. It is CHF120 for one month train travel so do I buy the Passes and then just purchase my train tickets? Do you have to register your card/pass number when purchasing?
Finally, may I ask the reason for you recommending I purchase tkts for the Matt in Zermatt and not online? We have limited time there in July and don’t want to miss out! Thank you so much for your input.

Krist

Gab1210 It is called a “Card” not a “Pass” on some websites (including sbb.ch for Int Guests) so are they one and the same or different products and I’m horribly confused?!!

Everyone is confused. I predicted this when a couple of years ago they introduced this “Swiss Pass”.

Now on the SBB site you will see for international guests the following products: Swiss Half Fare Card, Swiss Travel Pass (Flex) and Swiss Family Card. And none of those require you to have a “Swiss Pass”.

Now there is no need to worry to much. You have till you are here to get your Half Fare Card. You can even just buy it at the station. Also be aware that for children under 16 you do not need the Half Fare Card. Just get the complimentary Family Card for them.

Then to buy ticket you can just indicate when you enter the passengers that they will have the Half Fare Card. That you have it is not checked during purchase. It is on the train that this will be checked. But be aware that you do not need to buy tickets in advance. Trains are mass transit. The Swiss train network is about the same size as the Sydney train network, and functions pretty much the same. You buy a ticket. You travel. There is no need to buy tickets in advance. And there are good reasons not to do so, as your plans might change. For example, you may decide not to go up to the Gornergrat because the weater is bad. If you worry that you might “miss out” then stop worrying. The only thing you need to do to avoid missing out on a train ride is be on time at the station.

Gab1210

Krist Again I thank you so much Krist for your detailed response to my query.
Where possible I prefer to book tickets as we are a group of five adults and it can be tricky to secure seats.
We are approaching Switzerland from Domodossola in Italy and Brig is our entry point into your beautiful country. I worry about connection times already without having to purchase the Card so is there any other means of obtaining the Card or getting one prior to being in Switzerland? Do you know of any agencies in Australia that may issue the card? Or can I buy through the SBB website and nominate to collect at Brig?
Also I assume this card can be used to purchase tickets on lines such as Interlaken to Bern and Bern to Zurich? I hope I have not misunderstood this.
I appreciate your patience answering all my questions and thank you for taking the time to do so.
Kind regards
Gabrielle

Krist

Gab1210 Where possible I prefer to book tickets as we are a group of five adults and it can be tricky to secure seats.

In Switzerland tickets do not come with a seat. This is like travelling on the train in Sydney or Melbourne. You need a ticket, then get on the train and find seats. Buying tickets in advance does not affect the probability of you being able to sit together.

You should also not worry about connections, as on most routes trains run every half hour, and if you miss a train you take the next one. Taking a train from Interlaken to Zurich is as trivial as taking a train from Geelong to Melbourne. Do not overthink this.

If you are indeed coming up from Italy it may be good to buy the Swiss Half Fare Card in advance, and your tickets for the first trip. The SHFC can be bought at stations in Austria and Germany, but not AFAIK in Italy. The trip from Italy to your first base in Switzerland you can book on www.sbb.ch. And you actually do not need to already have your SHFC in order to buy those tickets. I will repeat this again: You do not need this card to buy tickets, you only need it to travel on them. During purchase you can just select “Half Fare Card” from the discount drop down box, and that is it.

Do not overthink this. This is mass transit. You have that in Australia as well. Would you plan train travel around Sydney months in advance?

Gab1210

Krist Once again thanks for your response. I have clarity about the SHFC now and I realise that tickets can be purchased without it but it is required to present upon ticket inspection on the train. I was just concerned about the time factor in Brig trying to purchase the card and board the next train and I prefer to have everything organised before I depart Australia. But as you stated the trains run frequently and it is easy to get the card at a station. As we will not be visiting Germany or Austria this trip I will have to be purchase the card in Brig. Unless SBB can send to the UK as my daughter lives there. Is this an option?
Thank you very much.

Krist

If you buy the SHFC on line it will be an electronic ticket, which you just print out yourself, so it does not matter where in the world you are. Just buy it here in this case:
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad.html

That way you do not have to interrupt your journey in Brig. You can just travel from wherever in Italy your trip starts to wherever you first base is in Switzerland via the most efficient route.