Question for the contractors in CH

[doodab]

Yes it is an excellent rail system but you need to know how to work it.

Your best best is to hit an SBB counter, speak to someone in person and find the best deal.

Buying a ticket isn't really the problem.

I just want to get off the plane, get on a train and go somewhere. I can't, because there are no trains to where I need to get to between when my plane lands shortly after 10pm and 6:15am.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Buying a ticket isn't really the problem.

I just want to get off the plane, get on a train and go somewhere. I can't, because there are no trains to where I need to get to between when my plane lands shortly after 10pm and 6:15am.

Where are you going that's 140km from Zurich at that time of night? I would think it would be hard to get public transport for 140km from most airports after 10 pm. Perhaps you should get a hotel room.

[doodab]

Where are you going that's 140km from Zurich at that time of night? I would think it would be hard to get public transport for 140km from most airports after 10 pm. Perhaps you should get a hotel room.

Ski resort. That boasts about the ease of getting there via public transport. Which means 2 trains, a bus and over 2 hours, even in the middle of the day.

Perhaps I've just been spoiled by touring around in my car.

Anyway, I have booked a hire car now, so problem solved.

At least the forecast is for fresh snow.

[NotAllThere]

How much are cabs? I need to do about 140km from Zurich on Thursday night.

You can't afford it.

...winter tyres for £12.50 (bollocks am I paying extra for you to rent me a legal car...

It is not illegal to drive on good condition summer tyres in the winter on ordinary roads. I agree it's scam to charge you for winter tyres. They're no more expensive than summer tyres. The cost of having summer and winter tyres (excluding cost of changing them) is the same as having all-season tyres. You've been Switzerlanded.

...
Fook their website. It used to be good but it has gone to the point where they won't give you a price from A to B unless you feed them credit card details first.

No you don't. Go to SBB: Home. Enter your journey details. Click on Fare/Buy. Select the appropriate reduction (presumably no reduction), and the journey price appears.

Where are you going that's 140km from Zurich at that time of night? I would think it would be hard to get public transport for 140km from most airports after 10 pm. Perhaps you should get a hotel room.

This is the advice given by the airlines. Swiss public transport between about 6am and 10pm is excellent, reliable and regular. Outside of those hours it's as bad as the UK. Maybe in ten years time they'll have airport trains running early and late.

Which resort?

[doodab]

You can't afford it.

I can, but I'm not going to pay it.

It is not illegal to drive on good condition summer tyres in the winter on ordinary roads. I agree it's scam to charge you for winter tyres. They're no more expensive than summer tyres. The cost of having summer and winter tyres (excluding cost of changing them) is the same as having all-season tyres. You've been Switzerlanded.

I haven't cos I didn't pay for them. It's not unique to CH either, they do it even in countries where winter tyres are required by law. My assumption is that all the cars will be fitted with them and they aren't going to change the wheels over especially, which has been the case every other time I've rented a car during the winter in Switzerland or Germany.

Which resort?

Flims / Laax. I've been there a few times at the start of the season in the past.

[Mich the Tester]

The Swiss are very very wealthy. Now you know why.

[NotAllThere]

...

Flims / Laax. I've been there a few times at the start of the season in the past.

Conditions are looking favourable. The temperatures are dropping and there's plenty of snow. I'll probably be at Engelberg this Sunday.

[Ignis Fatuus]

It is not illegal to drive on good condition summer tyres in the winter on ordinary roads.

No, but I was advised when I was there that if you are in an accident and don't have them, both the police and the insurance company will shake their heads and tut-tut, implying that it was your fault. Of course they might do tht anyway because you're not Swiss.

[NotAllThere]

No, but I was advised when I was there that if you are in an accident and don't have them, both the police and the insurance company will shake their heads and tut-tut, implying that it was your fault. Of course they might do tht anyway because you're not Swiss.

It's a Swiss urban myth (along with the one that if you do any work on your car and you have an accident, you're not covered). You'd only be not covered if you were driving on a road that stated that winter tyres or chains were needed.

Since I enjoy being in control of my car, I do have winter tyres during winter!

[BoredBloke]

A mate of mine moved out there and constantly goes on about how everything you want to do is made much more difficult and more expensive because of the Swiss. From my time out there I got the impression that Switzerland is like the UK was in the 70's in terms of customer service. Supermarkets shut at about the same time as your working day ended and everything shuts on Sunday, meaning Saturdays are manic with 9 to 5 being the time to get the weekly shop done, during which time, the whole country is heading to the co-op.