Swiss Travel Pass

With the STP, you don't need to book tickets, except seats for the panoramic trains. You just board. It's wonderful and very convenient. Enjoy this beautiful country.
I believe the customer number is for Swiss residents to establish accounts.

The confusion stems from the fact that there is a product called "Swiss Pass" that is targeted at residents. It is a Red Plastic card that has your photo on it, and it serves as an means of identification on public transit, and you load public transit passes on it. If you have that you have a customer number.

For just registering on the SBB website you do not need this number. Just register normally.

But since you bought your passes before you created an SBB account you cannot add those passes to your account anymore, and thus also cannot use the app to display them. So just skip creating the account, and just use the app for trip planning only. Since you already have a ticket (the pass is your ticket) you do not need to buy tickets anyway. You just hop on the train, and when requested, show the pass.

Regarding the trip to Buchs: I assume you are travelling to Austria. In that case just book Buchs - <your destination in Austria) on www.oebb.at. Look at the train details and notice when the train leaves Zurich. Then just be in time at the station in Zurich and board the train. If a SBB conductor comes past before Buchs show your STP. When the Austrian conductor comes after Buchs, show the ticket you booked with ÖBB.

One additional tip. If you want reservations from Zurich to (I believe) Salzburg, then do this in two steps. Tickets and reservations on central European railways are separate, and not linked. So you can:
- Buy a ticket Buchs - Salzburg on www.oebb.at, and skip the offered reservation.
- Separately buy a reservation for Zurich - Salzburg, again on www.oebb.at. You do that by selecting "reservation only" on the booking form.

Wengenk is right on with the info…..the STP is the best….so so easy and you never wait in train ticket lines ….just step on the train and ride. We put our passes on our IPhones and showed them to the ticket agent whenever necessary. We tried to join the SBB.ch account as well and had difficulty……now I know why…..but we did familiarize ourselves with the app and it was incredibly helpful while we were there…..train times, is this train crowded, which track should we hurry to in order to catch the nest train…..

Hi - thank you!!! That makes so much sense to us.. one last (we think) question - the trip from Zurich to Buchs shows "interrupted service between Zurich & Otztal due to construction" I understad that there should be bus to the next stop - would you recommend going ahead with the ticket from Buchs to Salzberg or go through Munich instead? If we book through Munich do we just book Munich to Salzburg and again, just jump on hte train in Zurich with our STP? Thank you very much.. Mary & Dan

You can indeed travel via Munich in stead. In that case the border station becomes st. Margrethen, so you would need to book st. Margrethen to Salzburg. Best place to book that is the German Railways (Bahn.de). Pay attention that you indeed book the route via Munich.

Would there be a concern with the train construction? We like the idea of Arlburg but want to get all the way to Salzburg.. :) Thanks.

In my experience, the replacement bus is usually pretty simple. It happens all the time, with planned rail repair projects as well as spur of the moment blockages. You see it all the time when you are driving. Suddenly, you come to a sign "Road closed ahead. Follow detour."

With that said, I looked at the OeBB site for this train, and the route via Munich that morning is a whole lot cheaper than the Arlberg route for your travel day, but it departs Zurich 2 hours earlier than the 10:40 am Railjet, and that could be problematic coming from Muerren.

Thank you again for your advice. This is a once in a lifetime trip, so we think we do the rail jet! Have a great week! Mary & Dan

With the rail replacement on the Arlberg route you will actually miss the best part of the route. So I would just go via Munich to have an all train route.

Dang! Thank you for your help. It looks sooooo pretty through that valley. But if we miss the best part - it may be crazy to pay the extra. Have a wonderful week. Mary & Dan

I had a look at the schedules again. It looks like the EC 431 is running through from Zurich to Salzburg. That train normally leaves at 8:40, but during the works it leaves a bit earlier (8:24) and it is routed through Germany. It will go non stop from, Bregenz to Salzburg, which is quite a long stretch without stops...

So you could book that and still have a one-seat ride to Salzburg. Better than spending hours on a coach on the motorway.