transfer time - train to plane

Steph,

Look up your tickets on http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

You should be able to go directly from Meersburg to the airport.

For inter european flights an hour to an hour 1/2 should be plenty of time.

Are you checking luggage or caring on? If only carrying on, one hour should be adequate.

"3) does the train station end up at the airport? or is it just the same place?"

That's a meaningless statement! The airport station is ZRH or Zurich. Zürich (or Zuerich) Hbf is not the same station.

Stephanie,

Regarding your questions.....

1. Train times in Switzerland are usually VERY reliable!
2. It would be a good idea to be at the airport at least 1.5 hours prior to your flight.
3. As Lee mentioned, the airport station is not the same as the Hbf in the city. The airport station is right AT the airport. As I recall, you'll have to go up an escalator from track level to the first level of the airport (which is also a large shopping mall in that area).
4. I normally just buy tickets at the station, usually a day or so before I'll be travelling. I don't remember whether there are any discounts on Swiss trains?

After arrival at the airport rail station, it would be a good idea to allow at least 20 minutes or so to find your check-in area. The Swiss Air counters are the closest to the rail station, but if you're flying on other airlines you'll have farther to go to find the airline you're using.

Thank you all for your replies.
I am learning SO much!
Public transportation 101. There are SO many options and trainlines...I'm overwhelmed! However,
I've found that thetrainline.com has much cheaper prices than the link provided by RS (raileurope.com)
Anyone have thoughts on that?

We are flying SwissAir and I see the train can take us directly to the airport; no need to go to the Zurich Train station.
We only have backpacks and are looking forward to moving about easily.

Again,
thank you for helping.
Steph

Rail Europe is often, though not always, very expensive. The trainline is a British based agent that also sometimes has a mark-up. Your best option for cheap rail fares is usually the official site of the national rail administration you're travelling with - I would suggest trying the German railways at www.bahn.com and the Swiss site at http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html and see if there is any difference in the fares they offer.

I've found that thetrainline.com has much cheaper prices than the link
provided by RS (raileurope.com) Anyone have thoughts on that?

RailEurope doesn't show all of the best fares for some reason best known to them. thetrainline.com is one of a new breed of train ticket retailers arising now that national train systems are opening up access to their reservation system to outside firms, selling at the best price their search engine can find and receiving a commission from the railroad. If you are happy with their price, by all means use them. We've used capitaine.com for a few trips and have been happy.

Be sure to understand all the conditions before you buy. The cheapest tickets are generally not refundable and may not even be changeable. Also clearly understand how you will receive the ticket (print at home, print at station, etc).

As for how early to be at the airport, a RS guide gave us what I think of as golden advice regarding how much time to allow: "you can be either stressed or bored." I'd go with the suggestion above to be their 1.5 hours early, but that's me.