Hi
I am last minute and need advice. My husband and I are leaving for switzerland in 3 days. Can we easily buy our 2 swiss rail passes at the Zurich airport upon our arrival? So I do not want to buy them online and wait for the processing to go through. We want to be able to use the passes right away.
Thanks in advance
You can buy them at the SBB Travel center located by the flight Check-in area 3. It is easy to find.
Yes, I just did this two weeks ago. Upon arrival, follow signs to the train station. When you go downstairs, you'll see an SBB office. They took my chip and signature credit card without any problem (of course I could have paid cash too). Before leaving the desk, ask them which train to catch to your first destination and which platform it's leaving from. For many destinations, there are direct trains from the airport that don't require changing in Zurich's main station; they'll tell when the next one is.
Purchased my half-price ticket and Lucerne train ticket at the SBB office near the train tracks upon arriving at Zurich airport. Took about 5 minutes. Piece of cake.
Yes, you will have no problems. Just go to the ticket office at the airport (opposite Starbucks) and purchase right there. It is so easy. Also, I downloaded the SBB Mobile App on my I-phone (I had a good data plan). It is so easy to use and will tell you the direction, time. and platform of the train - where to connect and what platform to walk to to make that connection - It made traveling in Switzerland so easy. If you purchase a pass, don't forget to have your passport on you for ID.
Reminder if you have one of the larger rail passes, there's a part of the pass where you are supposed to enter every train you take, every day. A conductor scolded me once for my haphazard entries. Turns out the various rail lines get reimbursed by the pass company, so they want a complete list (because you're supposed to mail the list back to pass central after you get home).
Pfred, that is for a Eurail pass. OP is getting a Swiss Travel Pass. Different animal. SBB does not care which trains you take, only that it is a valid pass for the date when the conductor checks it.
Phred's caution applies to multi-country passes, but not to the Swiss Travel Pass. Since it's only good for one country, there's no issue of which country's rail system you used. You just show it when asked for your transit tickets, or upon entering covered museums, or when buying tickets for rides not fully covered. I was told at the time of purchase to take a picture of my passport info page, so I could have this to show and not have to pull out the passport itself (technically it's tied to your passport number so they need to see that as well as the pass itself). However, not once was I asked to show my passport with the Swiss Travel Pass (no guarantees for anyone else, of course).
Harold,
We travelled for 13 days all over Switzerland on the pass without having to show our passport or any other form of ID. Then on day 14 we had a conductor on the Luzern to Zurich train that insisted we needed to have our passports with us when using the pass and we had left our passports in the hotel. I did manage to find my Missouri Driver's License and the conductor seemed satisfied with that. However, my friend had no ID on her. The conductor kindly but sternly pointed out on our ticket "Only valid with your passport/ID. We were not fined or made to leave the train - but we were warned not to be without it again. (I also had a photocopy of my passport page with me - but that was not good enough).
Margaret
I travelled with a Swiss Travel Pass and a Half Fare Card, nearly every day, to different parts of Switzerland, for five weeks this summer. At least once every week, a conductor on a train required me to show my original passport to validate my pass for that day (I was using a Swiss flex-pass). I was glad I always carried my passport!
