change the route with Flex ticket

Balgrog23

Hello,

I booked a trip from Bern to Brussels via Köln. I would like to exchange this for a trip from Bern to Brussels via Paris. Would that be possible? I don’t mind paying more but I can’t book a separate ticket.
I have a saver Flex ticket that allows exchanges up to 1 day before departure. Doesn’t say exactly what can be exchanged.
I’d rather not call the Swiss number because it’s very expensive for me, so I would need to make the change a the station on the day before the trip. Would that be possible?

Thanks

Krist

What you can do in this case is just cancel the ticket via Köln, and buy a new ticket via Paris.

Exchanging tickets only applies to moving the date, not changing the route, as you have paid to be transported by SBB and DB, and want to change to being transported by SNCF and Eurostar.

I travel regularly from Switzerland to Belgium, and usually go via Köln. The hassle of having to deal with the RER in Paris is not worth the small time savings and the price is alway a lot higher.

Balgrog23

Krist Thank you Krist for your reply. I cannot get a refund for the ticket if I cancel it, I can only exchange it with the Flex fare.
I understand what you are saying, but couldn’t I change the time of the ticket to a time when this route is the route that takes me there? Perhaps I misunderstand how train schedules work.

Krist

The point is that your train ticket is a transportation contract. You have a contract with DB and SBB to get you to Brussels. You want in stead to change it to a contract with SNCF and Eurostar.

It is as if you had a flexible ticket with Lufthansa and wanted in stead to fly on KLM. You will understand that this does not work.

With railways it is the same. When you travel via France you travel on different companies than when you travel via Germany. I would stick with Germany…

What kind of fare do you actually have, and where did you buy it? DB tickets do not allow changes of dates, just refunds under some circumstances. They do not use terms like “flex fare” at all…