Railcard
Half Fare Travelcard
A discount card. You buy it once from SBB, then it takes a set percentage off ordinary fares in Switzerland.
The issuer's own terms
The detail below is quoted from the issuer's own page in the language they publish it in. We do not translate another company's conditions, because a translated condition is a condition we have changed.
- What it covers
- Gives roughly half-price tickets on most SBB routes, most other Swiss railways, Postbus, boats and many urban transport networks across Switzerland. The official page notes the discount can be less than 50 percent on some short journeys or combined offers.
- Who can buy it
- Resident annual version: adults 25 and over, or young people 16 to 24, no stated residency restriction found on the annual-card page. A separate one-month tourist product, the Swiss Half Fare Card, is sold specifically to people who are not resident in Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
- How long it lasts
- Annual Half Fare Travelcard: 12 months, auto-renewing under an ongoing contract until cancelled. The visitor version (Swiss Half Fare Card) is valid for one calendar month.
- What it costs
- Annual Half Fare Travelcard: 190 CHF for adults (25+) on first purchase, 170 CHF from the second year (loyalty price); 120 CHF for young people 16-24 on first purchase, 100 CHF from the second year. The one-month Swiss Half Fare Card for visitors is 150 CHF. Prices as published on the official pages at time of checking, subject to change.
- Seat reservations
- Not required for standard trains; separate reservations/supplements still apply on panorama and some scenic trains as with any Swiss ticket.
- What catches people out
- The annual card auto-renews and needs to be cancelled ahead of the renewal date to avoid another year's charge. It only halves fares, it is not free travel, so a separate point-to-point ticket or a Swiss Travel Pass is still needed. Class (1st or 2nd) does not affect the card's own price.
SourceOpen the page at SBBRead on the issuer's own page on 2026-09-06. Terms and prices change, so check before you buy.
What this does to an Orlero price
Nothing, yet. Our fares are point to point and are not adjusted for a pass or a card you hold. Use this page to work out whether the scheme is worth buying, and use search to find out what the same journeys cost without it.
Countries this covers
Other schemes in the same countries
Swiss Travel Pass
Issued by Swiss Travel System
A pass. You buy a number of travel days and then use participating services in Switzerland without buying a ticket for each journey.
Plan a trip from here
A pass only pays for itself against the journeys you actually make. Ask Ori for the trip and it will price the point to point fares our network holds, which is the number a pass has to beat.