My wife and I will be traveling in Switzerland for 10 days in September. Started looking at Swiss train passes and what fits best for what we are planning (Bern, Lucerne, Murren, Zurich).
Found something surprising, namely prices are different where you buy them.
The Swiss train sit, sub.ch, has the 15-day 2nd class pass at 485CHF with today's exchange rate is ~$485.
Rick Steves link to Rail Europe has same pass for $511. I expected it to be the same.
Why the difference? Are there taxes, shipping, currency charges,etc. I'm not considering when looking at these two prices? It's ~5% off. I have a credit card with no international fees and from my last trip gives exchange rates roughly what is posted online.
Any guesses?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16264 posts
I assume you mean “Swiss train site, SBB.ch”? That 485 CHF is what you will pay if you buy it from them in Switzerland. The price converted to dollars may fluctuate a bit but basically the franc and the US dollar are close to par right now.
My understanding of the RailEurope pricing is that the rate in dollars is set at the beginning of the year and does not fluctuate with the currency changes (maybe they adjust it once, but definitely not daily or even weekely). The Swiss franc was apparently higher last January than it is now, so the Rail Europe price is currently higher than SBB. If your credit card has no foreign transaction fees, you might as well take advantage of that.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8443 posts
Well, RailEurope is a third party retailer and not a free service - its a for-profit-company. You'll see their prices frequently more for tickets and passes to cover their costs.
Posted by
Green Bay
20089 posts
Not surprising, Rail Europe has to make some money, and they want to cover a sudden change in the currency, alla 2015. But I agree, buy it when you get to Switzerland. There is still a sizable crowd out there that believes Rail Europe is the only way to buy European train tickets and passes.
Posted by
Chicago
7839 posts
when you check out on Rail Europe (which I have used one time when I did not know any better)
there are service fees and the expensive old school mail the ticket snail mail option that makes to ticket more expensive, that is how they make money
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
The Swiss Travel Pass is "produced" by SBB. The price IS CHF 485 for 15 days, 2nd class. This price is fixed annually and will not change at least until December.
You can buy it on the SBB website here: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
in which case you get a "print-at-home" ticket. Or you can buy it at a Swiss border or airport station, both at the same official price.
Any other sites are resellers, and can charge what they want. They make a profit.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
You're smart to have a credit card with no fees. Many travelers would pay fees of +2 or 3% over the inter-bank rate on foreign purchases or ATM withdrawals. Rail Europe cannot keep up with constant currency fluctuation and so tend to review their US dollar exchange rates about once a month.
Rail Europe also sells the print-at-home version of that consecutive-day Swiss Travel Pass with no delivery fee. Delivery fees are waived for purchases of $449 or more, whether for electronic tickets or items that require delivery by traceable UPS 2nd-day air. Nothing is sent through the US postal service.