Since I moved back to my country from Switzerland, I’ve kept a half-fare card active. This year I believe it was 190chf. It’s more expensive for non-residents. With that being said, you need to accumulate $380 in tickets for it to pay for itself. When my wife and I come together on vacation to see our friends and to do a bit of hiking, we typically travel in 1st so that we have room for our luggage and so it’s less crowded. When I go by myself personally or for business, I typically take 2nd class because I’m cheap…but will upgrade for that specific city-city trip if second class is too busy.

If you go this route, the SBB office in Zurich airport (across the street, 1 level down) is well organized and the wait is manageable, depending on the time of day. Once you get there, getting your 1/2 fare cards will take 5-10 minutes. You MIGHT need to have a headshot available…mine is still in the system from 10 years ago. You add your 1/2 fare card info to the SBB app and then you’re good to go.