Quick Swiss Pass Question

The only price advantage, one way or the other, is the variations in the instantaneous value of the CHF vs your home currency at the time of purchase. It could go either way and may be a few bucks one way or the other.

People love the pass for its convenience, but if you were really worried about money, the 30-day Half Fare Card almost always saves more money than the STP, but then you have to buy a ticket before every trip.

And why not buy it when you get to Zurich airport? Is someone driving you to Luzern?

Go to SwitzerlandTravelCentre.com to buy your Swiss Travel Pass. It is a website owned and run by SBB- the Swiss Train System. There may be discounts if you buy in advance of arriving in Europe, but there’s really no advantage in waiting until you get there to buy your pass.

Thanks!
"Why not buy it in Zurich? "
Because I know it's a cheap trip from Zurich airport to the city, and I'd like to just meet up with my family and relax for a bit, and I was thinking I didn't want to include this trip in my pass. But I take your point that I can buy it while in Zurich and just have it start from when we are in Luzern the next few days. And it was a good point, so thank you for your detailed answer. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't an advantage to buying it in North America before I leave.

Kenko - thanks for reminding me of the website. I know there are 3rd party sites that sell the passes and I'd rather avoid them.

Sure thing.
It sounds like a getaway is the perfect thing for you all right now.
Have a great Trip!

One advantage to buying ahead of time is you can print out multiple copies of the Pass to have as a backup. If you lose the one copy you get when you buy in person, they will not replace it.

Sorry about your cat. Always a tough time when pets get older.

Have a nice time in Switzerland!!

Hello, all . . . back from our trip and I want to comment that I'm actually glad I waited to get to Switzerland before I bought our passes. We went to the always-informative-and-helpful SBB office in Zurich. The fellow helping us asked all the pertinent questions and made us completely confident with the passes we bought. He also gave us a plastic cover for our passes (that I wouldn't have thought I wanted, but after folding my Swiss Travel Pass at just-the-wrong-spot last time, I knew it was A Good Thing. My husband declined the offer and I said, "no, you want this"). He also gave us a small map of the train routes that fit in the wallet, and a much larger map that we could look at each night as we planned our trips.

Since it didn't cost anything extra, I am glad I waited until I got to Switzerland to buy the passes, if only to get the extras, and also the excellent advice.

After years of my husband driving in Europe because we had kids with us and cars for us were much cheaper, now back to just the two of us travelling, we just loved the relaxation of Swiss train travel.

The SBB staff is great. I’m glad they were able to help you.

How was Luzern? Was it crowded? I leave in just under 3 weeks. I’m hoping for perfect weather and no crowds. 😊

LOL - I wish you the best with no crowds and perfect weather. May 2 - 6, Luzern seemed much like other times I was there (December 2017 & December 2021, and May 2019 when it was unseasonably cold). We left for the weekend and returned to glorious weather May 9 - 13, and I wondered where all the tourists had come from, and how people knew how to book travel for when the weather was good ;-) . . . it was like the warm temperatures and full on sunshine made tourists bloom.