Questions about Purchasing the Swiss Half Fare 1-Year Travelcard

popo0516

I would like to purchase the Swiss Half Fare 1-Year Travelcard, but I encountered some issues with online verification, so I am planning to buy it in person at an SBB ticket office. I have a few questions:

Is it possible to purchase the Swiss Half Fare 1-Year Travelcard at Interlaken West station?
My itinerary is as follows: On the 26th, I will travel from Munich (departing at 2 PM) to Zurich, then to Bern, and finally arrive in Interlaken around 8:30 PM. If it is possible to buy the Half Fare Travelcard at Interlaken Ost, I would like to purchase it there on the morning of the 27th.

If the Half Fare Travelcard can only be purchased at Zurich or Bern, I am considering buying it at Zurich station on the 26th before continuing my journey. In this case, after purchasing the Half Fare Travelcard, will I be able to immediately buy discounted tickets for the trains to Bern and Interlaken on the same day? Is there any risk that tickets for these trains might be sold out if I buy them on the day of travel?

Thank you very much for your help!

Krist

You can buy the 1 year Half Fare Travelcard (“Halbtax”) at any station that has a manned ticket office, so you can do this at Interlaken West.
You will need a passport sized photo, so better arrange that already beforehand. And you will need an address in Switzerland where they can send the Red, confusingly named “Swiss Pass” to. When I arrived in Switzerland in 2001 I lived in a hotel for the first 2 weeks, and just had it send there.

he Red Swiss Pass Card is the carrier used for most public transit passes in Switzerland. It is good for 10 years, so once you have that you can buy subsequent transit passes and the Halbtax easily online.

The ticket office will give you a temporary pass, good for about a month, so you can start buying tickets. You can also load a digital version of the pass in the SBB app by connecting your customer number.

If you have not booked your train ticket to Interlaken yet just buy Munich - Interlaken from DB. A Sparpreis Europe is already discounted heavily.