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Two ways to pay for the journey
If you like deciding the day’s route over breakfast, EasyRide can be a useful way to travel around Switzerland. You check in before boarding, let the app record the journey and check out when you finish. You can leave some of the itinerary open without buying each ordinary ticket in advance.
A fixed intercity journey, a family booking or a phone struggling through its last few per cent of battery calls for a different choice. Buying a normal ticket may give you the advance fare or passenger arrangement you need. Both methods live inside SBB Mobile, but they do different jobs.
The operator’s guidance below was checked on 25 October 2026. Here is how we’d decide between them, and what the phone needs to do if you choose automatic ticketing.
Decide how much of the day you want to leave open
EasyRide records your route after a successful check-in and calculates the fare afterwards. Set up the SwissPass login, your passenger details and a supported payment method before the journey. During a normal change of vehicles within the same journey, the recording stays running until you reach the final stop.
That arrangement suits an unplanned local outing. A longer lunch or a different return train can fit the day without first rebuilding a collection of tickets. For a journey already tied to a particular train, open the regular timetable purchase screen and compare the available fare before choosing that flexibility.
| Your travel arrangement | What we’d use |
|---|---|
| One adult, spontaneous trips and a charged, correctly configured phone | EasyRide within its supported area |
| One person buying for a couple or family | Regular ticket purchase with travelling companions entered |
| A fixed longer journey with an available advance discount | Compare the offered Supersaver ticket or Saver Day Pass first |
| A phone unlikely to last the journey | A ticket from a machine or staffed counter before boarding |
| A journey needing a seat or bicycle-space reservation | The reservation purchased separately through the normal route |
One EasyRide check-in covers its logged-in traveller, not the other people beside them. The SBB Mobile help explains buying ordinary tickets for companions. Adults who want to use EasyRide independently each need their own valid arrangement.
Compare an advance fare while you can still buy it
EasyRide combines recorded journeys into applicable cheaper fare combinations where possible. Its terms don’t guarantee the cheapest possible combination in every case, and it doesn’t sell Supersaver tickets or Saver Day Passes for you.
For an illustrative long rail day next Tuesday, compare the offered tickets when you plan the journey. A Saver Day Pass must be bought in advance, at least one day before travel, and its available prices are subject to quotas. A Supersaver ticket is tied to the connection selected at purchase. Choose a discount when its conditions fit the day you intend to have; leave the spontaneous option for the days where you value that freedom.
Don’t assume EasyRide puts one daily limit on every traveller’s costs across Switzerland. For journeys crossing different fare areas, the national Day Pass limit applies to people with a Half Fare Travelcard, rather than every adult. Within one local fare area, the Day Pass calculation depends on the zones you use, your class and any travelcard benefits you qualify for. SBB’s EasyRide fare explanation.
The useful comparison is therefore the fare available for your actual journey and the flexibility you want. A capped day of local trams doesn’t establish the cost of a longer rail day elsewhere.
Prepare the phone to record the journey
With EasyRide, the phone helps establish the trip as well as display the ticket. Mobile data, location, Bluetooth and power all have a part to play, and the settings need to remain available through checkout.
SBB gives these device-specific instructions in its EasyRide help:
| Phone | Required settings |
|---|---|
| iPhone | Location access set to Always, Precise Location enabled and Motion & Fitness allowed |
| Android | Location permission set to Allow only while in use, Precise Location enabled, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi scanning enabled, and Physical activity permission allowed |
| Both | Bluetooth and working mobile data available throughout the journey, enough battery, and power-saving or battery optimisation disabled for the service |
Follow the current instruction for your device rather than copying the iPhone’s location label onto Android. If you don’t want to grant those permissions, use an ordinary ticket. If the battery cannot last, a machine or counter ticket deals with that problem more usefully than another purchase on the same dying screen.
SBB estimates EasyRide’s own data use at about 1 MB per hour while checked in. You don’t need to choose a huge allowance for the ticketing app alone; consider your maps, messages and wider holiday use too. Our Switzerland eSIM options cover the mobile-data part of that preparation on a compatible, unlocked phone. The ticket, payment method, permissions and battery still need their own place in the plan.
Look for the ticket before stepping aboard
Complete check-in at the stop or station before boarding. After swiping, look for the running timer and moving picture, then open Tickets & Travelcards and confirm the EasyRide barcode ticket is there. SBB says that if the barcode ticket is absent, check-in was unsuccessful and you don’t have a valid EasyRide ticket.
Buy a valid ticket through the regular app route, a machine or a counter before boarding if check-in fails. Wait for the valid-ticket confirmation before boarding. A swipe during a sprint to the platform is a fairly ambitious ticketing strategy…
One common obstacle is station Wi-Fi that appears connected but still needs a login. SBB advises disconnecting from that unusable connection. At underground stops with weak location detection, it recommends checking in while still above ground. These small preparations help the system establish where the journey begins. SBB’s check-in guidance.
Keep the required services running once the trip begins. The terms deal with temporary technical interruptions, but deliberately switching off data, location or Bluetooth is not a way to use EasyRide. A charged phone with its connection available is part of this ticketing choice.
Finish the recording when the journey ends
After alighting at the final stop, check out there. A normal transfer within the same journey doesn’t need a checkout, but arrival at the hotel won’t close the recording for you. The app’s reminder can help; responsibility for finishing stays with the traveller.
For a technical fault that prevents checkout, contact SBB immediately with the journey number, route, finishing location and time. Its checkout and complaint conditions also distinguish an incorrect fare from a forgotten checkout; a refund for the latter isn’t guaranteed.
Our Switzerland setup guide covers getting the travel-data side ready for your first journey. With the phone prepared, you can choose EasyRide for the freedom it gives the day and use the ordinary ticket route when that is the better fit.
