Yes, almost every time, and the reason is the price. Prestige Class on the GoldenPass Express is a CHF 49 supplement per person, seat reservation included, on top of a first class ticket or a first class Swiss Travel Pass. For that you sit in a raised section at the end of the carriage, 40 centimetres above everyone else, in a heated seat that faces the direction of travel. It is the least expensive premium seat on any Swiss scenic train by a factor of ten. The only people I tell to skip it are those who think they are buying a Glacier Express Excellence day with lunch and a concierge. They are not, and I explain the difference below.
I am Pau Gallardo Campos, I run Alpina Travels from Zurich, and the GoldenPass Express in Prestige is the day between Montreux and Interlaken on my Swiss Wellness Grand Tour, so I have a stake in this and I have ridden it in all three classes. For how the line fits with the other Swiss trains, start with my ranking of the best luxury train journeys in Switzerland.
What Prestige Class includes
The operator's own description is short, and it is worth quoting rather than embroidering. According to gpx.swiss, the train has three classes, second, first and Prestige, every coach is entirely panoramic, and Prestige is "characterised by its very comfortable, heated seats which enable the passenger to face in the direction of travel at all times. The Prestige area is raised by 40 centimetres to allow the passengers to be fully immersed in the landscape." That is the product:
- Height. The Prestige section is a raised platform at the end of the car. You look over the heads in front, and on the climb out of Montreux you look down on the lake rather than across the carriage at it.
- Direction. The seats can be turned to face forward whichever way the train is running, so there is no wrong end of the carriage and no backwards half of the journey.
- Heat. The seats are heated, which sounds trivial in July and is the thing you remember in January, when the Simmental is white and the carriage is cold at the windows.
- A reserved seat. The CHF 49 includes the reservation. In first and second class a reservation is a separate, optional purchase, strongly recommended in summer.
- Catering at the seat. Food and drink are à la carte from the on-board menu, with a few items, caviar among them, that the operator serves only to first class and Prestige bookings. Nothing is included in the supplement.
What it does not include is any kind of service in the Excellence sense. No welcome desk, no concierge, no lunch, no bar. There are a handful of Prestige seats per train, not a carriage, and the staff are the same staff as in first class. If that is what you expected, the comparison table further down will save you a disappointment.
The price, and what you need to have already
| Class | Ticket needed | Reservation | Supplement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second class | Second class ticket or pass | Optional, strongly recommended in summer | None |
| First class | First class ticket or pass | Optional, strongly recommended in summer | None |
| Prestige | First class ticket or pass | Mandatory, included | CHF 49 per person |
Two things catch people. First, Prestige needs a first class ticket. A second class Swiss Travel Pass does not qualify, and you would need to buy the class upgrade for the route before the CHF 49 means anything. Second, the supplement is for the seat, so it is the same CHF 49 whether you ride the full Montreux to Interlaken Ost line or only the section to Gstaad. The base fare itself is the ordinary Swiss tariff for the route, which the Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flex and GA travelcard cover in full. I have not quoted a figure for the first class ticket here because the operator publishes it behind its booking login and SBB's fare depends on the exact stations; check it on sbb.ch for your date, and if you hold a first class pass you can ignore it entirely.
The route, and where to look
Montreux to Interlaken Ost takes about three and a quarter hours. The first twenty minutes are the reason to be facing forward: the train leaves the lakefront and climbs the hillside in switchbacks, and Lake Geneva opens below with the Savoy Alps across the water. Then the Pays-d'Enhaut, Château-d'Oex and the cheese country, Gstaad, and the moment at Zweisimmen that makes this train unusual. Since December 2022 the GoldenPass Express changes gauge there, from the narrow metre gauge of the Montreux line to the standard gauge of the Bernese side, with the bogies adjusting under the carriages while you sit still. Before that you changed trains, and the three-hour journey was three journeys. From Zweisimmen the Simmental runs down to Spiez and Lake Thun, and the last stretch along the lake brings you into Interlaken with the Jungfrau massif ahead.
Because Prestige seats face the direction of travel, the usual Swiss argument about which side to sit on matters less. Going towards Interlaken the lake views at the start are below you on the left and then, as the train turns, on the right; the Lake Thun stretch at the end is on the right. Coming from Interlaken it is the reverse. Take whichever seat is free and turn it.
How to book, and how far ahead
Book on the operator's shop at shop.gpx.swiss, where the Prestige product sells the supplement and, if you need one, the ticket. The shop states that transport tickets can be bought up to two months before the journey. The Prestige seats are few, so for July, August and the Christmas weeks I reserve the day the booking window opens, and for the rest of the year a few weeks ahead is fine. If you hold a Swiss Travel Pass you book the supplement alone. For anyone travelling this autumn, note the operator's published interruption between Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost from 19 October to 12 December 2026; the line otherwise runs all year.
Prestige against the other Swiss premium seats
| Train and class | Route | What the supplement buys | Supplement, per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoldenPass Express, Prestige | Montreux to Interlaken, 3 h 15 | Raised, heated, forward-facing seat with reservation | CHF 49 |
| Glacier Express, Excellence Class | Zermatt to St. Moritz, 8 h | Twenty-seat carriage, window seat guaranteed, champagne, five-course lunch with wine, concierge, bar | CHF 590 for 2027 dates |
| Bernina Express, Pullman Class | St. Moritz to Tirano, 2 h 15 each way | 1930s saloon for 32, champagne and canapés, three-course winery lunch with wine and cellar tour | CHF 625 return, CHF 490 one way, 2026 prices, ticket included |
Read that table as three different purchases. Excellence Class is a day of hospitality that happens to move; I go through who it suits in Is Glacier Express Excellence Class worth it? Pullman is a long Italian lunch with a mountain railway either side, and I cover it in Bernina Express in first class from St. Moritz. Prestige is a better seat on a three-hour train, priced like one. Judged on what each costs against what it delivers, it is the easiest yes of the three.
Who should book it, and who should not
- Book it if you are travelling between Lake Geneva and the Bernese Oberland anyway, in either direction, at any time of year. For CHF 49 the only reason not to is that the seats have sold out.
- Book it in winter especially. The heated seat and the raised view over a white Simmental are the best CHF 49 on the Swiss network between December and March.
- Do not book it expecting lunch. Order from the menu, or better, eat properly in Gstaad or Montreux before you board. The ride is three hours, not eight.
- Do not book it with a second class pass without first upgrading the route to first class; the supplement alone will not get you in.
- Do not make it the centrepiece. It is a lovely connection between two places worth several nights each. In the Swiss Wellness Grand Tour it sits on day nine, between the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace and the Victoria-Jungfrau in Interlaken, and that is the right weight to give it.
If your dates are set and you would like me to check whether Prestige, and the Excellence Class on the Glacier Express, are still available for them, write to me at hello@alpinatravels.com. The Glacier Express is the one that decides whether a 2027 Swiss journey is possible at the standard you want, and I would rather tell you that before you fall in love with an itinerary.