I went to Engelberg once where I paid a 5chf deposit for a skipass i forgot to return
Then I went to anoter resort without my engelberg card so I had to pay another 5 bucks and the lady told me that I can not return it, that its a card you hold your whole life ...
So is this true ? Am I starting a new collection of ski cards or can I just bring them back ?
This is true that in many cases the cards are not accepted by different resorts and there are some (ony a small number) where the card is a permanent lifetime card. The majority of places actually have a returnable refund approach. Places that I know have the non returnable are Davos and I think Laax also in the northern areas
I actually have a swatch watch with a skipass chip that is accepted by some resorts where you don't need to pay the 5CHF deposit. While its not accepted by all locations its great when it is as I just hand the watch over at the cash counter and its loaded up then I dont have to worry about the refund process as there is no fee for this. The watch cost about 30-40GBP and also acts as a normal watch.
Do you know anywhere that still sells these? My husband has a swatch one, and we wanted to get one for the kids, but when he went to buy one, he was told they don't make them anymore!!
I think it's Flumserberg that has the machine where you can put in your card and get your Fr 5 depo back, so if you have any from there you can return them. I think we returned our ones from Flims at the Kasse and got a refund. Others we keep and re-use. (Davos, Klosters, Hoch ybrig) It's very handy if you have already have a card, you can buy your pass online for that card which saves you lining up on the day.
Engeleberg you can definitely return for 5chf. There is a machine outside the ticket office. Im not sure if you can return Engelberg cards at other resorts.
Which is a shame, as I've go dozens from other resorts. Some, like Sorenberg, just from forgetting to return them, but many others from areas that don't do any sort of refund. The worst is Portes du Soleil, for which I must have about five different cards from over the years. I'll re-use one of them next week, when I'm starting the next level ski instructor course, but the others, a result of forgetting to look out the old ones before leaving on a trip, are just a waste of space.
They are resort specific which is a bit of a pain. I had 17 of the damn things floating around and Flumserburg has a chummy machine that you pop in the card and it coughs out 5 chuffs, I know as i dumped 8 into it on Friday . Other have you have to queue for a refund, but H-y (I have a bunch of those) for sure and I think Davos and Pizol amongst others you just get the card reloaded.
One way to avoid the majority of these cards is to get the free ski pass card from Coop (Supercard Ticket). You can use it as your Coop card and a ski pass card.
If you already have a Coop card, you just order the ski pass card. If not, you need to apply for a Coop card then the ski pass card. Very easy. Last count it covers about 66 resorts in CH.
I just leave the "life-time" cards in my jacket pocket. That way wherever I go skiing the next time I can always check whether they accept it before getting a new tageskarte.
Jungfrau region has return machines in the parking areas and at the ticket counter. Turn it in, get 5 chfs back. Gstaad you can return them to the counter and often they will either give you 5 CHF back or offer you chocolate instead. I took the chocolate last time.......for the ride home. I have not been to a place yet that doesn't have a system to return them.