The Swiss Half Fare Card is a 1-month travel card that provides a discount on public transport and mountain railways across Switzerland. It’s a great way for tourists to save money on Swiss travel.
This article explains the benefits of the Swiss Half Fare Card, where to buy it, and how to use it. To help you decide if the Swiss Half Fare Card is worth it, I include cost comparisons to other Swiss travel passes.
Contents
Summary of benefits
- 50% discount on travel in all of Switzerland, public transport and mountain railways
- Valid for one month
- Only for tourists (i.e. people living outside Switzerland or Liechtenstein)
- Children age 15 and under ride free with parent who has a Half Fare Card
- can be used for both 2nd and 1st class tickets
Quick Decision: The Swiss Half Fare Card is the best option if you are…
– renting a car
– public transport but staying only 1-4 days
– public transport but staying longer than 15 days
– budget is more important than convenience
Note: If you live in Switzerland, you cannot buy the one month Swiss travel card. Instead, buy the 1-year SBB Half Fare Travelcard, which gives similar benefits.
What is the Swiss Half Fare Card
The Swiss Half Fare Card gives you a discount on public transport tickets through Switzerland, usually 50% off the full fare.
The discount applies to trains, trams, buses, and most boats. You can also use the discount for most mountain transport like gondolas, funiculars, mountain railways as well as scenic panorama routes like the Glacier Express.
Who can buy the Swiss Half Fare Card
To purchase the 1-month “Swiss Half Fare Card”, you must permanently reside outside Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
If you live in Switzerland, you can instead buy the 1-year “SBB Half Fare Travelcard” with similar benefits.
Where can I use the Swiss Half Fare Card?
While most places that tourists go accept the Swiss Half Fare Card, a few private gondolas, mountain buses, and boats do not. If this is an important factor in choosing your activities, see the SBB Area of Validity Map (shown below) to see exactly where you can use the Swiss Half Card.
Make sure that the “Half Fare Travelcard” option is selected in the upper right corner of the map. Click on any connection to see what reduction, if any, you get with the Half Fare Card.
Price for Swiss Half Fare Card
In 2025, the 1-month Swiss Half Fare Card costs CHF 120/adult, free for kids under age 16. In 2026, this increases to CHF 150.
There is only one version of the Swiss Half Fare Card, which can be used for discounts on both 2nd and 1st class tickets.
Where to buy the Swiss Half Fare Card
It’s best to purchase the Swiss Half Fare Card online before your trip, choosing the start date as the first day of your trip. But you can also purchase it at ticket offices at larger Swiss train stations.
Children travel free
When buying a Swiss Half Fare Card, you can get a complimentary Swiss Family Card for each of your children aged 6-15. This entitles the child to ride free when accompanied by the parent with the Swiss Half Fare Card who also has a valid transport ticket.
Important note: You must add each child during the purchase process. You cannot request the Swiss Family Card later, after the purchase is complete.
Children under 6 generally ride free on everything, no Swiss Family Card required.
Note: The 1-year SBB Half Fare Travelcard does not come with a complimentary Swiss Family Card. Instead, you can buy the 1-year SBB Junior Card for children 6-15, which provides the same benefit.
How much can you save with the Half Fare Card?
The Half Fare Card usually pays for itself after a 2-3 long train rides and 2-3 expensive mountain excursions. And you usually spend less with the Swiss Half Fare Card compared to other travel passes.
Sample cost comparison
Here’s one way to see if the Swiss Half Fare Card is worth it:
- Add up the cost of the intercity train trips in your itinerary (with the Half Fare discount)
- Add cost of Swiss Half Fare Card (CHF 120 in 2025).
- Compare the total to the full fare and Swiss Travel Pass cost for the number of days for your trip.
| Sample itineraries | Full Price | with Half Fare Card | STP 6 Day | STP 8 day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich – Luzern – Interlaken – Zurich | 142 | 120 + 71 = 191 | 379 | 419 |
| Zurich – Luzern – Interlaken – Zermatt – Zurich | 285 | 120 + 142.50 = 262.50 | 379 | 419 |
| Zurich – Interlaken – Zermatt – Zurich | 297 | 120 + 148.50 = 268.50 | 379 | 419 |
| Zurich – Luzern – Interlaken – Montreux – Zurich | 209 | 120 + 104.50 = 224.50 | 379 | 419 |
Additionally, you will save 50% on mountain transport with either the Half Fare Card or Swiss Travel Pass. So you definitely end up paying less than full fare overall.
Sample train ticket prices
To help you calculate your savings, here are sample 2025 prices for train journeys that are part of most Switzerland itineraries.
| Train Route (one way) | Full Fare (2025) | Half Fare | Swiss Travel Pass |
| Zurich airport to Luzern | 31 | 15.50 | 0 |
| Luzern to Interlaken | 34 | 17 | 0 |
| Interlaken to Montreux (direct) | 56 | 28 | 0 |
| Interlaken to Zurich Airport | 77 | 38.50 | 0 |
| Interlaken to Zermatt | 86 | 43 | 0 |
| Zermatt to Zurich Airport | 134 | 67 | 0 |
| Montreux to Zurich Airport | 88 | 44 | 0 |
Note: Although these journeys are free with the Swiss Travel Pass, remember that the STP is much more expensive than the Swiss Half Fare Card. So your overall costs may be more.
Sample prices of mountain excursions:
The Half Fare Card saves you 50% on mountain transport. If you plan to visit a few mountains on your trip, you could easily save CHF 100-200/person just with this discount.
Here are the costs for a popular mountain excursions to show the relative savings.
Compared to Swiss Travel Pass
Many tourists choose to buy the Swiss Travel Pass, which offers unlimited free travel on public transport (trains, city trams, buses, boats) through the entire country of Switzerland, which the Swiss Half Fare Card only gives a 50% discount.
For mountain railways, both the Swiss Travel Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card gives you a 50% discount. This benefit is the same.
Below are a few cost savings comparisons. Note that that the farther you travel, the more you save.
Although the Swiss Travel Pass looks like it saves you a lot of money, remember that the STP much more expensive than the Swiss Half Fare Card.
For example, the Swiss Travel Pass for 6 days costs CHF 379 (CHF 63/day), compared to CHF 120 for the Swiss Half Fare Card (2024 prices).
To figure out exactly which travel card is best for your trip, you would need to do the math on your specific itinerary, which can be complicated and time-consuming.
If you don’t want to do the math, here are some general guidelines on which pass is better.
The Swiss Travel Pass is usually better if:
- you are visiting several destinations, staying only a couple days in each
- you do a lot of long, expensive train journeys (e.g. Zurich – Grindelwald or Interlaken to Zermatt)
- you like the convenience of not purchasing individual tickets for each train journey
The Swiss Half Fare Card is usually better if:
- you are renting a car and mostly need discounts on mountain transport
- you are traveling by public transport but mostly short, inexpensive journeys
- you are spending several days in each destination, mostly doing excursions near to your hotel
- you are staying in Switzerland longer than 15 days (max length of Swiss Travel Pass)
If you need help deciding, book a Travel Consultation to discuss your trip.
How to use the Swiss Half Fare Card
If you are purchasing tickets in person (like at a mountain gondola ticket office), show your Half Fare Card QR Code when you inform the agent which tickets you would like to purchase.
When buying train tickets online (via SBB.ch or mountain resort websites), you will need to select your discount card during the purchase process to get the discount. Here is an example:
- Using SBB.ch or the SBB Mobile App, search for your desired route. Notice that the tickets prices are already quoted with the half fare discount, as shown in the example below.
2. As you continue the purchase process, you will add the passenger info and indicate if they have a discount card or not.
3. If you add more passengers that don’t have a Half Fare Card, you will be able to see the price difference, as shown in the below example.
Note: If you are purchasing tickets in advance, you don’t need a valid Half Fare Card while you are purchasing the ticket. You need it on the day of travel and must be able to present its QR Code if there is a ticket control during your journey.
Important points
- Only tourists (aka non-Swiss residents) can buy the 1-month Swiss Half Fare Card.
- The Swiss Half Fare Card can be used for discounts on all trains, even scenic panorama trains like the Glacier Express.
- The Swiss Half Fare Card is not a train ticket. It allows you to purchase tickets with a discount.
- When asked to show your train ticket, you must also show your Swiss Half Fare Card QR Code, otherwise you may get a fine.
