My boss will be flying into Zurich and then taking the train to Stuttgart for the weekend. Is it best to purchase the train ticket once at the airport rather than in advance? Figuring it'll be difficult to know exactly when he'd be able to board due to customs, possible flight delays, etc. Not sure how easy that process is, never been to Zurich airport. Any insight is helpful!
Posted by
Green Bay
23661 posts
There is a train from Zurich HB every hour to Stuttgart. From Zurich airport, you can take a train to Zurich HB and catch it there. No need to book in advance, but Swiss train tickets are good for any train on that route all day, so you could buy a full fare ticket in advance. But the best way is to download the SBB app, set up an account, and buy after you get to the airport train station. He could also buy out of a ticket machine.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Awesome, thanks so much for your help!
Posted by
Wengen
4036 posts
If you buy your ticket at the train station it will be a ticket for a route, not a train. So you buy a ticket "Zurich Airport" to "Stuttgart" valid the whole day.
Even though nowadays the purchase always starts with you selecting a train this does not imply that you have to take that train.
That means that you can buy a ticket in advance, just make sure it is a normal ticket. Buying it in advance has the advantage that you do not have to worry about that on the day itself, and you can just take whatever is the first service you can take.
Posted by
358 posts
the big question is when and who is paying, him or company expenses?
Looking at least 2 weeks ahead fixed train tickets are around 50% of the full flexible fare. Zurich airport is quite efficient (but big) so the thing to check is flight delays in a flight tracker App. If the flight is usually reliable and he allowed say 90 minutes it might be worth booking ahead. But if there is no need to chase the saving it's not worth booking ahead, last time I was there they had ticket machines in baggage reclaim so you could do that whilst waitng for the carousel to crank up - even then it's only a few buttons to poke
BUT whether he uses the sbb.ch or the machines at the airport make sure he chooses full price adult and not Half Fare (the system tends to assume everyone has a Swiss Half Fare card!)
Posted by
Green Bay
23661 posts
A full fare ticket is 79 CHF 2nd class. A seat reservation is another 5 CHF, but most morning trains I see are showing very low expected occupancy, so probably not necessary. With a full fare ticket, he could take any train that day. Price with the Half fare Card is not that much less since 2/3 of the trip is in Germany.
Posted by
358 posts
he's not likely to have a half fare card - the problem is some of the SBB technology defaults to it, assuming that most people in Switzerland have either that or a GA (in which case they won't be buying tickets).
But if you book early, eg now for 24th October it will offer "full price" non-flexible tickets from 40CHF - which is basically half the fully flexible price.