The 10-day rail pass I used to love is now a total ripoff

I took the same Switzerland trip in 2019 and again last month. The Swiss Travel Pass jumped from about $250 to $400 for 10 days, but the real killer is that they cut the free mountain cable car rides in half. Last time I went up to Jungfrau for maybe 30 bucks extra, this time it was $87 on top of the pass. I get that prices go up, but they're basically charging more for less coverage. Has anyone else noticed the region-specific passes working out better now, or am I just picking the wrong routes?

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terry_hayes1814d agoMost Upvoted

That $87 for Jungfrau hurts, I've been there. The regional passes are definitely the move now for anyone doing the Berner Oberland area. I did the Berner Oberland Pass last summer and it covered Grindelwald to Mürren trains plus most of the gondolas, and the Jungfrau discount ended up around $45 instead of the full price. You just have to sit down and map out your exact route first, because if you're bouncing across three different regions the Travel Pass still wins. But if you're mostly in one valley, you're basically paying $150 extra for nothing. The half-price card is also worth checking, it's like $120 and then every ticket is half off, which beat both passes for me that year.