Using Swiss Travel Pass on Bernina Express Tir-Chur, BUT looking at unreserved Allegra seats!

[evtheria]

Hi, was hoping someone has recently done this so would know the answer:

1. If we had Swiss Travel Passes, could we get on on the Bernina Express but from Tirano (Italy) to Chur, instead of other way round?
2. I have read there are seats in the Allegra cars that don’t require paid reservation, could we still take those even using a STP? The Swiss Travel Pass site only mentions while the fare is included you simply must reserve seats, no mention of the Allegra carriages…

Really worried about doing it wrong and falling foul of Swiss train staff 😩

https://www.swissasap.com/premium-panoramic-train/bernina-express/

this website may be of help to you.

https://www.treninorosso.it/en/bernina-express-and-rhaetian-railway-rhb

Thanks, @AttilaTheMeerkat
I did look at those but, me being a worrier and needing things laid out explicitly 😬, guess I was hoping a Mnetter had actually done it themselves and could tell me if so. Will keep trawling travel forums to decide!

Hi, yes you can use the STP from Tirano to Chur on the Bernina Express. And you will need to pay extra for a seat reservation which is mandatory.

If there is a regular train attached to the BE, you can sit in this carriage and won’t need to pay a seat reservation. You won’t have the nice panoramic windows but you may be fine with this. I recommend downloading the SBB app - it’s fantastic!

Also if you are going to be getting a lot of trains, I found it worthwhile upgrading to first class for comfier seating & mostly empty carriages, compared to general class that were sometimes standing room only & really noisy.

Are you stopping off in St Moritz?

Yes, you can use a Swiss Travel Pass from Tirano, despite it being in Italy.

And, yes, you can travel in the Allegra unit without a reservation. Every train will have an Allegra unit - it's needed to pull the other carriages - and every seat in the unit is unreserved. Many people prefer the unit to the fancy carriages as it's usually less busy and has opening windows.

The #1 website for international train travel is The Man in Seat 61. Here's the relevant page for this journey.

https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/bernina-express.htm#Unreserved_seats_in_the_Allegra_unit