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🗺️ Change & travel between FAIRTIQ regions

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All about FAIRTIQ regions

Sometimes you will find yourself at a station that is located in more than one region - this is particularly the case in border regions. For example, if you want to start your journey on the border between Eastern Switzerland and Vorarlberg (Austria) or on the border between Northern Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg (Germany). In these 'overlap zones', our FAIRTIQ app needs a little help from you to get everything just right.

This article is particularly important if you frequently travel from overlapping stations such as:

  • Basel SBB (overlapping 🇨🇭 and Baden-Württemberg 🇩🇪)
  • St. Margrethen or Buchs SG (overlapping 🇨🇭 and VVV 🇦🇹)
  • All stations in Liechtenstein (overlapping 🇨🇭 and VVV 🇦🇹)
  • Bregenz (overlapping 🇦🇹 and Baden-Württemberg 🇩🇪)

What is a FAIRTIQ region?

It's pretty simple! Each FAIRTIQ region is a tariff community where FAIRTIQ is available. 🚆🚌 For example, when we say "Switzerland and Liechtenstein," that's one big region. Here, you can travel all over with just one swipe, and we'll handle the billing in CHF. 🇨🇭 Other example regions are the Verkehrsverbund Vorarlberg or the region of Baden-Württemberg, where everything is billed in EUR. 🇪🇺 Curious about all the places where FAIRTIQ can take you? Just check out our area of validity to see all our regions. 📱✨

Your task is simple: if you are in a station available in several region, you need to check which region is selected BEFORE starting FAIRTIQ.  FAIRTIQ will always pre-select the most probable region.

How to manually select a region
  1. Open FAIRTIQ at the main page (the one where the START sliders appear)
  2. Look at the selected station. Next to it, you see a button called "change". Click on it.
  3. Select the right region.
  4. Select the right station.
  5. The region will appear in red text below the station name.

Why is this required?

  • It ensures that you have a valid ticket to present to the inspector. 
  • It guarantees the right billing in CHF or EUR.

Shows the main view of the app, in which the name of the station you are at is displayed at the bottom. To the left of this is a button to change the current region, which is displayed directly below..     Shows the view for changing the region after clicking on the Change button. If the current station is available in several regions, the regions are now displayed and can be selected.

Travel from one region to another

Imagine you're off on an exciting international trip such as:

  • From Bern 🇨🇭 to Lörrach 🇩🇪
  • From Bregenz 🇦🇹 to St. Gallen 🇨🇭

Right now, we're sorry but FAIRTIQ can't help with tickets for international travels. But don't worry, you can still make the trip, with just a small extra step. 🚶

How to travel from one FAIRTIQ regions to another

As you reach the border between both regions, STOP your current FAIRTIQ trip at a station that's in both regions. Then, START a new trip in the new region. Just make sure your app has switched to that area!

When traveling in overlapping regions, make sure that:

  1. You have activated the data connection of your smartphone for starting/stopping your trip. Note that roaming costs may apply when using FAIRTIQ in regions outside of your mobile data contract.
  2. The FAIRTIQ perimeter of validity covers the entire trip: What happens if I leave the perimeter of validity of FAIRTIQ?
  3. A valid means of payment is entered for each region that is travelled. For further information, please read What requirements must be met to use FAIRTIQ?
Overview of the overlapping regions & local specificities