[Anonymous]

27 August 2017 at 12:18:09 #813089

Hi there,

Already reviewed some good pieces of information to help answer my queries. Could you please take a look below and help me with some advice?

i. Am planning to buy a Swiss Travel Pass (4 days consecutive) from India online at sbb.ch ticket shop. Is the STP purchased from online ticket shop refundable with or without any cancellation fees? Though my itinerary is finalized for mid Oct., I’d still choose to keep an option open for refund.

ii. How easy is it to buy the STP at Geneva Cornavin railway station? I’ll arrive there at around 11 AM. Is it advisable to buy it at this station? My onward journey is upto Zermatt on the same day.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Benga1109

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[User]

Reply 1 of 11 • 27 August 2017 at 13:52:09 #869014

Hi Benga1109,

There is always a cancellation fee of some sort from whomever you buy it from (as far as I know).
The companies we recommend buying it from are listed here. The SBB tourist site, for example has a 15% cancellation fee (so you get 85% back).

You can go to the SBB railways office at Geneva Cornavin station and buy your pass there as well. It is easy to buy it at the station but you will have to wait in line. If you buy it online you can have it emailed to you within 3 business days (often 1 day) and you then have an electronic copy as a back up and no need to wait in lines! I would simply wait until a week or so before you leave for Switzerland and order the Swiss Travel Pass online.

Lucas

[User]

Reply 2 of 11 • 12 September 2017 at 10:47:34 #869015

Dear Lucas,

Thanks much for the advice with specific pointers. Great help indeed! I’ll for sure refer to the list of online buying options you provided.

There is one last thing that I might need some help with. I visited the STP page on this portal and came to know that I can self validate the printed STP at home. Just wanted to get some assurance on this understanding: 1. I buy the STP online one week before I travel 2. print it at home — self validate (all info like name, passport no. etc are correctly captured in it; no placeholder for a Swiss Railway stamp ) 3. Carry the STP print and travel from Geneva Cornavin to Zermatt on the next available train. Could you validate please?

Thank you.

Best,

Benga1109.

[User]

Reply 3 of 11 • 12 September 2017 at 16:55:06 #869016

That’s correct and there is no need to validate when you get to Switzerland.

All information about how to use the Swiss Travel Pass is written here.

Enjoy your trip!

[User]

Reply 4 of 11 • 16 September 2017 at 17:47:47 #869017

Thanks much Lucas! I’m good now. Thank you.

[User]

Reply 5 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 6:19:14 #869018

Hi Lucas:

While on the thread on the travel pass, I have one query.

We, a family of six, leave India for Zurich on 22 Sept. morning for our 12 day swiss vacation. We will need the swiss half fare card for each of us. I thought I will be ordering it online. But, now I find that the swiss rail website mentions 5 business days for sending the online card by e-mail.

I do have the option of buying them at Zurich airport after we land there about 6.30 pm.

Need your advice – if it would be worth taking a chance on getting it done online.

Thanks.

Sushil

[User]

Reply 6 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 10:35:02 #869019

Just for everyone’s information, I booked the swiss half fare cards online and got the e-mail confirmation with pdf passes instantly.

[User]

Reply 7 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 16:22:09 #869020

Great!

Yes, I think the 5 business day note is a worst-case scenario and 90% of the time everyone seems to get the email within an hour of ordering.

Lucas

[User]

Reply 8 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 18:43:54 #869021

Hi I am planning to travel to switzerland on the 21st of this month I am in Switzerland for 6 days… Was looking to book the Swiss travel pass there is no option for 6 days… Can u help me out which other pass will be better for me or equivalent to the Swiss travel pass…I am travelling with my husband n my 2year old daughter… Thanks ksjkdjjjhjbyhhuojiioikohuuuu in advance

[User]

Reply 9 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 22:26:13 #869022

The only options for rail passes that cover the while country are the Swiss Travel Pass or Swiss Travel Pass Flex (you can chose which days you want to use the pass for).

A lot of the time it is still the most economical option to buy a 8 day Swiss Travel Pass even if you are only in Switzerland for 6 days (it depends on how much travel you will do each day of course).

To help you choose the most economical rail pass visit our webpage here.

Lucas

[User]

Reply 10 of 11 • 17 September 2017 at 22:53:13 #869023

Dear Lucas,

Thank you for the quick reply. I am now thinking of getting a 6 day/ 4 day interrail or a 4 day swiss flexible pass and use the interlaken visitor guest card during the 3 days i am in interlaken for bus transport to Beatenberg(my acommodation for 3 nights). I have planned a brief itenary, which obviously needs polishiing and i hope you can help me out.

Day 1- Zurich airport-Thun lake, boat cruise to interlaken and go to beatenberg by evening. ( travelling with a 2 year old daughter so cant travel much.

D2- Use visitor card/ interrail card to go via wengen to jungfraujoch and hope to get a 25% discount via interrail pass( a few places in forum mentions discount, but interrail website doesnt mention). Come back via lauterbrunnen/Grindewald .

D3 /d4Use visitor pass/guest card to travel around Grindewald , First( but havent made a specific plan yet.(Query1)/ or can someone guide me ) or take one of the golden pass trains to Montreaux and back to interlaken. ( I am not sure as how to visit one of the cheese/chocolate factories.) (Query2).

D5-6 QUERY3 I have not booked acommodation for my 4th and 5th nights, and am open to book anywhere, thinking of Lucern/ Bern though. I want to visit mount titlis , which i think will be on D5 , and Day 6 see something (Query4) on my way to zurich to catch a flight at 9pm (so have the whole day).

Could someone please help with the queries and fill the gaps in the itenary

Thank You,

Dr Adarsh Bhulani

[Arno]

Reply 11 of 11 • 18 September 2017 at 14:26:36 #869024

Hello Dr Adarsh Bhulani,

This thread was originally created by Benga1109 to ask about Swiss Travel Pass refunds. You’d better post your itinerary in a new thread here. More people will be able to find it and hopefully comment. I will take a look at it too.

Thanks!