Need help on Europe train passes (Switzerland & Austria)

[Ark Law]

Seriously I don't know how people can trust weather forecasts here in the mountains.

I'm looking up at the männlichen mountain now and there is literally not a single cloud in the sky ...

That's why...

That's why don't bother looking at your phone's forecast. Looking at the sky is the forecast.

 

[saffronsatire]

Gornergrat route overall got better view along the way than the klein matterhorn glacier paradise route. Easier to reach too as the starting point is adjacent to Zermatt station. Would recommend that for those with limited time i.e. only staying one night in Zermatt and leaving the next morning.

Will be headed to Interlaken tmr and Jungfrau on Friday morning.

 

[saffronsatire]

Bad weather these few days. Wanted to go jungfrau on fri but went on thurs instead as weather was forecasted to be poor. Even then it started raining in the afternoon, would have wanted to go sledding/tubing.

Grindelwald was rainy and gloomy on fri too but we managed to go mountain carting. Quite fun compared to the luge at sentosa as the route is quite long with good views along the way.

Raining today at pilatus, couldn't do toboganning and obviously couldn't see s.hit at the peak.

 

[helloworld321]

Hi guys, sorry to hijack.

A question. How's the payment environment in Germany, Swiss and Austria? Do they primarily accept cash or card?

Thinking of cutting down the amount of cash i'm bringing and stick to card.

 

[saffronsatire]

Hi guys, sorry to hijack.

A question. How's the payment environment in Germany, Swiss and Austria? Do they primarily accept cash or card?

Thinking of cutting down the amount of cash i'm bringing and stick to card.

For swiss, those small places and some attractions might be cash only but big places like restaurants, card should be fine. I'm only in austria from tmr.

 

[Ark Law]

Think generally for DACH, cash is preferred. Bigger establishments will accept card, though I feel cash remains the fastest way to transact.

 

[deodorant]

For anyone who might come across this in future, here's a sample breakdown between Swiss Travel Pass and Half Fare Card.

Obviously you still need to calculate on your own to see what makes sense for your specific travel patterns. But for my trip, can see that the Half Fare Card costs less overall than Swiss Pass (mostly because the jungfrau and gornergrat trains you still need to pay ...)

Also, the jungfrau trains you only get 25% off with STP for some reason. And finally, for low season / relatively empty trains you can get discounted fares on top of the 50% off from half fare card.

 

[helloworld321]

Think generally for DACH, cash is preferred. Bigger establishments will accept card, though I feel cash remains the fastest way to transact.

Thanks. sorry for the trouble.

My current iternary.

Singapore
Berlin
Berlin
Warsaw
Warsaw
Vienna
Vienna
Hallstatt
Salzburg
Salzburg
Munich
Munich
Geneva, Luzern, Bern, Interlaken, Zermatt or St Moritz*
Geneva, Luzern, Bern, Interlaken, Zermatt or St Moritz*
Geneva, Luzern, Bern, Interlaken, Zermatt or St Moritz*
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt

Looking at the train ticket pricing. Would it be a good idea to skip Warsaw and just purchase eurotrain pass or stick to individual ticket?

 

[saffronsatire]

I read on tripadvisor that many ppl advised against buying the eurail passes and to check prices from seat61.

For austria train tix, buy online from obb site in advance cheaper, then print tix at the train station counter.

For swiss, see if you wanna do any of the scenic routes like glacier express but must book in advance online as tix do get sold out, even first class ones.

 

[Ark Law]

For anyone who might come across this in future, here's a sample breakdown between Swiss Travel Pass and Half Fare Card.

Obviously you still need to calculate on your own to see what makes sense for your specific travel patterns. But for my trip, can see that the Half Fare Card costs less overall than Swiss Pass (mostly because the jungfrau and gornergrat trains you still need to pay ...)

Also, the jungfrau trains you only get 25% off with STP for some reason. And finally, for low season / relatively empty trains you can get discounted fares on top of the 50% off from half fare card.

Well said. Value-for-money ultimately depends on the travel itinerary. The greater the coverage of the country, the better value the STP is. HFC is better for regional travel, where one can pay half price from airport to a region, then use the HFC to get discounted regional pass which then allows unlimited travel.

For absolutely penny-pinching fare saving, the HFC is better as further discounts are often available with "saver tickets". But if the premium is small, STP is worth the flexibility and sometimes covers little nuances (e.g. without STP, bus from Mannlichen Grindelwald base station to Grindelwald is CHF6).

Spoiler

For swiss, see if you wanna do any of the scenic routes like glacier express but must book in advance online as tix do get sold out, even first class ones.

You only need to book and pay the supplement fee if you choose to take the Glacier Express trains. There's no need to do so with regular trains which ply the same route.

 

[saffronsatire]

If we have the stp, can still buy the supplement fee tix online or ticket machines? I tried to buy at the station counter one day earlier and the timing i wanted was oos. Did try to fiddle around with the machines before going to the counter but didn't know how to select and reserve seats for my route i.e. zermatt to brig for the glacier express RE train, so had to take the regular trains.

 

[Ark Law]

If we have the stp, can still buy the supplement fee tix online or ticket machines? I tried to buy at the station counter one day earlier and the timing i wanted was oos. Did try to fiddle around with the machines before going to the counter but didn't know how to select and reserve seats for my route i.e. zermatt to brig for the glacier express RE train, so had to take the regular trains.

You may be able to buy from the machines. But most people buy it online or at the counter. If you try to buy on the day of travel, pretty sure it would be sold out. I've never taken reservation-required (Glacier & Bernina Express) trains because;

1) I don't believe in paying more for a train plying the same tracks
2) Can't stop to explore the vicinity of a scenic stop before resuming on the next train since the reservation is tied to a specific train
3) Securing a reservation means booking well in advance, which can be wasted money if the weather on that day turns bad

Also, if you're only traveling between Brig and Zermatt, there's little point in taking the Glacier trains since it's a short journey. I can only see the fee worth paying for if you're traveling all the way to Chur/St Moritz

 

[saffronsatire]

@Ark law it's a v long ride from zermatt to st moritz but i might just consider doing one of the scenic routes if i ever re-visit.

 

[saffronsatire]

Adding another point about trains in austria...

The routes mostly between salzburg and vienna are also operated by another company, west bahn, so it could be more convenient but just as cheap if one doesn't mind making two separate bookings.

I.e. hallstat to wien mitte-landstrasse in my scenario

Obb: hallstat -> attnang puchheim -> wien meidling -> wien mitte-landstrasse [€34 for advance online booking]

Obb: hallstat -> attnang puchheim +
Westbahn: attnang puchheim -> wien mitte [€13.6 for advance online booking + €22.9 west bahn is fixed price]

 

[helloworld321]

For anyone who might come across this in future, here's a sample breakdown between Swiss Travel Pass and Half Fare Card.

Obviously you still need to calculate on your own to see what makes sense for your specific travel patterns. But for my trip, can see that the Half Fare Card costs less overall than Swiss Pass (mostly because the jungfrau and gornergrat trains you still need to pay ...)

Also, the jungfrau trains you only get 25% off with STP for some reason. And finally, for low season / relatively empty trains you can get discounted fares on top of the 50% off from half fare card.

Was calculating and it seems like eurail pass for 5days in 2 months (could't find 1 month) cost 259 euro. That's 51.8 euro per day. Looking at some of the ala cart ticket pricing. Seems like it's not really worth it? Especially if I order early and travel long distance.


Sorry but this train thingy is very confusing. Such as 2 country eurail pass + swiss day pass / swiss rail pass or 3 countries eurail pass.

 

[Ark Law]

Take note that Eurail passes are not valid on the Berner Oberland Bahn network (i.e. Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen/Grindelwald is not covered)

 

[saffronsatire]

@helloworld321, which countries do you intend the eurail for?

As mentioned, train fare in austria is relatively affordable, so probably don't need train pass. At most, take west bahn when you can, since prices are fixed, so you just buy as and when. Special fares tix from obb, while much cheaper when bought early, peg you to specific train timings.

 

[helloworld321]

@helloworld321, which countries do you intend the eurail for?

As mentioned, train fare in austria is relatively affordable, so probably don't need train pass. At most, take west bahn when you can, since prices are fixed, so you just buy as and when. Special fares tix from obb, while much cheaper when bought early, peg you to specific train timings.

I'm actually planning to visit Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Frankfurt/Munich
Munich
Salzburg
Salzburg
Hallstatt
Hallstatt
Innsbruck
Innsbruck
Swiss
Swiss
Lucerne /Heidelberg
Lucerne /Heidelberg
Mainz
Mainz
Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt

If so i should stick just buy 2 country? Switzerland and Germany? Thinking if i should spend christmas in Austria or Switzerland.

 

[saffronsatire]

I'm guessing germany should be cheaper to buy single trip tix in advance too.

For inter-country travel, e.g. munich to salzburg and innsbruck to zurich can take flixbus. Cheap and reliable enough.

So i think you only need to consider whether to get train pass for Switzerland.

Btw hallstatt nothing much, 1 night enough. Innsbruck too.

 

[helloworld321]

I'm guessing germany should be cheaper to buy single trip tix in advance too.

For inter-country travel, e.g. munich to salzburg and innsbruck to zurich can take flixbus. Cheap and reliable enough.

So i think you only need to consider whether to get train pass for Switzerland.

Btw hallstatt nothing much, 1 night enough. Innsbruck too.

Oh then i might just remove them for other cities... need to hunt for other city liao hehe . thanks