Purchasing SIMs for voice calls in Switzerland

For a short trip, why bother? Go to your provider and see what they have in an international plan and pay for one month. No fuss, no mess, and nothing else to do. The other option is to ignore that all together and just stay where you can access free wifi, like the Zurich airport. Then just use that. I've done it, but prefer to have more extensive coverage.

Guess I'll be the first to say:

"If your phone will do esims, then it would be much cheaper and faster to buy an esim online now, and activate it when you arrive in Switzerland."

Airalo, Holafly, Roamless, etc... lots of threads on this forum about which esim is the best choice. If you need/want a local phone number, some of the esims will provide a phone number, and the sim providers at the airport will give you a Swiss phone number. Zurich airport will have cell provider shops like Sunrise and Swisscom. Sunrise is said to be the best network, but more expensive.

Thanks to the replies!

I understand that some people use eSim's. I have done enough international travel in my life to conclude there are
times where a regular sim is helpful. There are times when I need to call a regular landline, and believe it would be useful to have s Swiss phone number.

Has anyone tried the Orange Holiday Europe Prepaid SIM ? This would be a French phone number.

I understand that Swiss com is a preferred provider (reception wise) but is costly. Assuming we would go with Salt, Swiss Com or another local company, is there a convenient way to purchase the SIM? Will the fees at the airport be excessively higher?

Harry

Hi Beatleman,
One CAN get a phone number with some esim companies, such as Airhub or aloSIM, it just costs more.

As for buying a sim in advance, I just checked ebay and there are no sellers of sims for Switzerland. I have bought sim cards there for GiffGaff, Three, and Lyca and had no problem activating them in the US, and being assigned a British phone number.

I believe the problem is that in the EU, there are regulations now that a local address must be given to register a cellphone account. I'm sure that is true in Germany, maybe true in Switzerland? Does anyone know more about this?

In April of 2023 I bought a Sunrise sim in the Zurich airport. CHF 20 for 8 days, unlimited data, with phone number. I had to show my US passport and they scanned it.

Hi Travelerguy:

How was the service for Sunrise? I believe someone told me that SwissCom, while more expensive, is much more reliable than then others.

On a separate note, I have heard mixed reports from eSim users in Switzerland. My thought is, I would always want the ability to call a landline. We are staying in Air BnB's, and I would like the ability to phone a TI office or other site via their landline if necessary.

Harry

Hey Beatleman,
When my wife and I had Sunrise sims, we had no problems with cellphone coverage. We took trains to Geneva, stayed in Nyon, train to Montreaux, then train to Interlaken. Went all over lakes Brienz and Thun. Then trains to Lake Lucerne, stayed in Gersau, then Zurich and home. Don't remember any problems with coverage. When our 8 day plans expired, we went to a Sunrise store and refilled the plans for another 8 days.

Regarding calling landline phones, we only called a few friend's cellphones, you'd have to check with Sunrise about calling landlines. I really doubt they would not call landlines, but possibly charge a few cents per minute. I think that's what GiffGaff did. For contacting hotels with arrival times, we sometimes do email them, though.

Did you use a SIM or an eSim? If it was a SIM with a Swiss number, you should be enabled to dial any number in Switzerland!
Harry