My 1st Class GA expired over the weekend and I neglected to notice this. So, on the train from Basel to Zug this morning I realised that it had expired so I bought a ticket on the train.

Ticket from Basel to Zug: 70 CHF
Zuschlag (surcharge): 90 CHF
The look on my face: Priceless

So, as of this weekend the surcharge price of purchasing a ticket on the train went up from 10 CHF to 90 CHF. I told the conductor that this was not a surcharge but rather a penalty. He agreed.

So, look out and get your tickets ahead of time.

Have a better day.

THAT SUCKS !!

you had to buy from an Agent on the train? .. I don't suppose you'd have any idea of the surcharge would apply to tickets bought on the train over an iPhone app?

Wait a minute, I thought GAs automatically renew themselves....

Bummer.

You should have read this. You snooze, you lose...

Especially the 1st class ones. What gives?

OUCH !!!

That must've hurt! I luckily remembered to renew mine in time.
Hope your Monday gets better

This increase has been heavily advertised on the EF and by SBB on their website and in train stations for a number of weeks.

Buy before you board the train and then this is not an issue

On the point of GA renewals - surely the renewal arrived and you paid for it, if so then all you needed to do was inform them of your GA number and pay a fee of 5CHF to produce it within a specified period. I have even seen inspectors check up someones details on a GA and no fee charged when they prove that they are legitimate and have left it at home. The issue on the surcharge tends to be more with standalone tickets as there is no way to validate the owner

I never thought of that, but it's worth looking into. I thought the guy was telling me neunzehn franken, so I waved my Visa card about and said 'whateva'. I wondered why he carried a wry smile.

Maybe it's just the one you pay monthly....not sure, I thought it would renew itself. Maybe you could try to get out of that fine with the following arguments, that you basically assumed, it would renew itself....the lady at the teller told you specifically it would renew itself.....you're a dirty foreigner and don't know any better. Give it a try..maybe it works.

I suppose you could try complaining to the SBB. As a first class GA holder who's GA had literally just expired they may cut you some slack. You never know, and you've got nothing to lose except for a bit of time.

The print on the SBB site says:

You can be sure that train personnel have been trained to repeat the before boarding part of the statement.

Is a new way to make money it sucks ....

I spoke to the conductor on the train from Zurich to Zug about this and he thinks that if I renew my GA as of today, that they might waver this somewhat grandiose surcharge and fare.

I'll update this thread.

yep... and of course the app. does time stamp the tickets.

thanks for the heads up and...err... Happy Monday

And just to add to this. There is a time of purchase on tickets bought via the SBB app, so the inspector will know if it was bought before or after the train left.

I'd imagine when they scan it in the machine may remind them if they don't notice themselves.

I believe that 90CHF extra charge are a combination of:
10CHF fee and 80CHF fine for not having a valid ticket.

Those fees, fines, charges etc. will go towards .... free toilets!

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_ne...l?cid=31738942

Double bad luck. The 90CHF fee started yesterday...

The conductor has given you very good advise. The staff at the counter don't really bother to check the time the day, so you might pull it through. Possibly even get back the train ticket (minus 5CHF)... Just don't do everything at the same counter - they might not like this Spanish solution. A "a friend", who is always late for everything, also forgot to get her ticket on a S train, and managed to get away with it using the same method.

That's absolutely bullshit, I bet if you were Swiss the conductor would have given you a break. They are looking for every excuse to rake in the money for the government.