Need help with SuperSaver train ticket(s)

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1

Hi everyone
My brother is coming to visit us in December, flying to Geneva with Easyjet then by train to Biel-Bienne.
I looked up the train times for him already and see there is something called a SuperSaver ticket for the train journey.
Does anyone here have any experience with these, namely:

  1. Do you need any kind of Abo to be able to buy a SuperSaver ticket ? Or is the price they give the price one pays without any kind of additional abos or similat ?
  2. If I were to get the ticket(s) for him in advance, are they digital i.e. a pdf which I could send to him to print out ?
    I would really appreciate any help.
2

it’s easy, open sbb on the web and search for the time and date, if it’ll show the discount then buy it in the name of the actual traveller

PS. I had similar doubts about the municipal discount tickets when I was hosting guests, but the clerks assured me that anyone could travel with these

3

Buying is easy. The problem with the super saver ticket when arriving by plane is that it is for a particular connection. The SBB are not known for their flexibility when you sit there with the wrong ticket.

4

Super Saver tickets do not require a Demi-tariff, but those are twice as expensive. Visitors can buy a Demi-tariff for 120 for a month,

https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-half-fare-card.html

If I were to get the ticket(s) for him in advance, are they digital i.e. a pdf which I could send to him to print out ?

Tickets are digital and can be added to Apple/Google Wallet and then shared with anyone else with a Wallet. The e-mail confirmation has the ticket bar-code on it and can be forwarded and/or printed.

5

That’s changed since they introduced the new Switzerland-wide system. The tickets are now personalised on issue, you need to show an ID both to acquire them and later to use them on public transport.

I’m not sure if a copy of a passport would work when buying, never checked that.

6

There is no flexibility excepting if a late SBB train means you miss a connection. If your flight is late you loose the ticket.

7

There are no longer any direct trains from Geneva Airport to Bienne/Biel. The change at Renens is usually straightforward across the platform.

8
  • The supersavers are valid only for the particular train (no earlier, no later, no refunds). So sometimes risky, if flight is delayed.
  • To buy any ticket online you need the name and date of birth, which are printed on the pdf. The inspector on the train will check these with an id of the passenger. [Not needed if one has a Swisspass card, as then the train staff already has on file your name, dob and digital photo]. This is to prevent fraud - uninspected tickets being given to a different person.
9

@Bowie: So at Renens, does he need to use a stairway ?. He will only have 4 minutes to change from Platform 3 to Platform 1.

10

Only if you bought a ticket for yourself in your SBB app or if you were logged in on SBB website under your account. Otherwise there is no connection between the ticket and Swisspass (even though the name and the birth date are the same).

11

3 to 1, Yes but there are lifts.

12

This is frustrating when I buy both tickets for my wife and I, or v.v. One of us has to show our Swisspass card.

13

I’ve heard that in ZVV app it’s possible, but never tried.

14

Sorry for late reply, but on some websites you can buy the plane ticket right from your home departure address including SBB ticket. If SBB screws, you’re entitled to full compensation, and often you get just next plane ticket if you accept it instead.

15

Not with EasyJet. With Swiss you can select some CFF stations but not Bienne/Biel.

16

A point worth considering: the SBB app and website accepts foreign credit cards and billing addresses. You can always have your friend purchase the tickets with their devices in advance. (That said the credit card does need to support 3DSecure, otherwise the payment will be declined.)

17

The 17 destinations currently included in the SWISS Air Rail network are:

  1. Geneva Cornavin (Geneva’s main station)
  2. Fribourg
  3. Bern
  4. Interlaken
  5. Lausanne
  6. Lucerne
  7. Lugano
  8. Bellinzona
  9. Basel
  10. Vevey
  11. Montreux
  12. Sion
  13. Sierre
  14. Visp
  15. Brig
  16. Munich (Germany)
  17. Bregenz (Austria)
    These destinations provide direct train connections to and from the Swiss airports of Zurich and Geneva, allowing customers to book combined air and rail travel seamlessly. The network includes key Swiss cities as well as selected cities in Germany and Austria.

Of course if your city is not listed one option, subject to SWISS’ T&Cs, would be to book a city beyond. For example Bern or Zurich are beyond Bienne/Biel, but make sure the trains you select actually stop at your actual destination.

We often book from Geneva via Zurich and take the train from Nyon.

18

Lol. Direct train from Bregenz is an EC from München which is ALMOST ALWAYS late. Once when I went with it it was so late that it ended it’s journey in Winterthur and the passengers were told to get out and take some other trains for the rest of the journey.

19

Actually you can delete the word “almost” in that sentence. The only open question is exactly how late it will be.

20

I wrote “almost” because I managed to take it last month and it was on time. But based on my experience it was rather an exception.

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