Pricing with Swiss Travel Pass

azalea4va

I will be traveling with a Swiss Travel Pass and am using the abb.ch website to plan out my travels through Switzerland. I also want to use it to purchase tickets when that will be necessary. But I do not see an option to indicate in my profile I am using a Swiss Travel Pass. How do I get accurate information for someone with that pass?

Danhiel

Hello azalea4va

The Swiss Travel Pass is your ticket, with your physical passport or identity card. You don’t need any other ticket, except seat reservations for some panoramic trains. You can find more information here:

https://community.sbb.ch/blog/23887-demystifying-seat-reservations-on-swiss-trains-a-comprehensive-guide

You can use sbb.ch or the SBB Mobile app to search the timetables. If you have an account, you can save the journeys without buying tickets.

Kind regards
Danhiel

azalea4va

I recently received an email indicating it would be helpful if I designated an answer as the best answer; that it will help others with the same problem also find the answer. The problem I have is many of the responses gave different but equally valuable information. Roland appropriately mentioned the importance of politeness and suggested using a GA to get Swiss Travel Pass prices. Krist for confirming there are a few cases where that Bug Work Around will not work. Danhiel for explaining why 1st and 2nd class options were listed between GrindewaldTerminal and Eigergletcher.

I want to thank all those that responded.

azalea4va

Danhiel
That is true for most routes but not all. On some routes, all or part of it involves a segment which the Travel Pass only covers 50% or 0% of the cost and I do need to purchase a ticket for that segment for which the Travel Pass does not cover 100%. Trying to figure out which segments are overed from looking at the map is, for me, less certain then giving a route and having the website respond with the actual price. Especially since there can be two methods of travel between two end points and only one of them is covered by the Travel Pass. Seeing a line on the map does not tell me which one is covered.

RolandP

Hello azalea4va

You make travel in Switzerland more complicate than you actually should. The travel map should be enough distinctive. There is no route where the STP is valid while it is is not via another.

But, to be certain, you can select the GA travel card 2nd class in the passenger profile if you will hold the STP for 2nd class. Likewise for 1st class.

For (touristic) routes which are not fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, you should not purchase tickets in advance, as such trips are often weather dependend.

Ps. Do not forget to greet and thank people from whom you request advice. It is understood as polite in our country, even in online forums.

Kind regards,
Roland

azalea4va

RolandP
Hello Roland,

Thanks for the GA tip. That should handle the problem. Also thanks for the etiquette reminder.

Be well, James

azalea4va

Hello RolandP and others,

Sorry for my lack of understanding on figuring this stuff out. Here is one example where I am still not clear on getting the correct ticket. I was looking at how to get a ticket on the Eiger Express (Grindelwld Terminal to Eigergletscher on 24/07/2025 (one way). I went to sbb.ch and found the price for a GA 2nd class card to be 18.00 for a 2nd class ticket. For a first class ticket the price was 19.10. But then I went to jungfrau.ch. The price with a GA card was 18.50 and with an STP card was 27.80. There was no option for picking a class.

Both here and on a number of websites, I have seen comments to the effect that pricing for a particular tickets for those with a GA card, STP card, and a Saver Day Pass is all the same as specified in the validity map. But then jungfrau indicates the prices for the GA and the STP are different. I will not be buying any tickets for a while to come, but had I not experimented with the jungfrau site, I would have just bought my ticket on the sbb.ch site, specifying that my discount was for a GA card. But would that then get me in trouble when I actually tried to use the ticket, if I only had a STP or Saver Day Pass and the ticket indicates it is for a passenger with a GA card. This is not just a question of pricing but I am also trying to do my best to respect the Swiss pricing system by having the right kind of ticket (if a ticket is needed) for each of my route segments (at last count, my travels include 87 separate route segments).

This was one example. I am considered of problems in other situation where I am traveling from Lugano to Tirano to pick up the Bernia Express. That journey has me going from Tirano to Monza (Italy) so a ticket is required. Will having a ticket indicating I have GA card be valid if I actually have a STP or a Saver Day card?

And there is the additional question of why sbb.ch is giving different prices for 1st and 2nd class tickets for that route. On bus routes where there is only one class, the website gives the same price for a 1st or 2nd class ticket. But it is behaving differently for the Eiger Express (and I also found the issue for a boat ride on Lake Lucerne).

Thank you for any clarification that anyone can offer.

Danhiel

azalea4va

Between Grindelwald Terminal and Eigergletscher you can travel with the cable car or with the train. This is the same ticket. It explains why you can also buy a 1st class ticket, but you have 1st class coaches only from Grindelwald Terminal to Grindelwald “main” station. Trains and cable cars to the Jungfraujoch have only 2nd class, don’t expect a high confort.

The line between Tirano and Monza is in Italy and you are not entitled to any discount with a GA or STP.

Boats on the Lake Lucerne have 1st class (upper deck) and 2nd class (lower deck).

Krist

You have stumbled on an edge case. In most cases you can indeed pretend that you have a GA when browsing for tickets on www.sbb.ch. But there are exceptions, and the Jungfraujoch is one of those. The GA gives you 50% off on the Jungfraujoch, but the STP only 25%, and the system is not able to give you that reduction.

The smart way to go about buying tickets for mountain excursions is to wait till you are here and know what the weather is going to be like. And you just buy them at the station.