How to buy Swiss Travel Passes for groups of 4 or more 

Group travel doesn’t have to be stressful

If you’re responsible for buying Swiss Travel Passes for 4 people or even a group of 20 or more, tiny mistakes can cost a lot of time or money. You can prevent that by:

• preparing well before you order your Swiss Travel Passes.
• ordering from a trusted webshop that will help you quickly if one of the participants cancels, for example.
• explaining to your group members how to use the pass.

Preparation

Before you order, make sure you have a list with this information of all travelers, exactly as on their passports:

• first and last name
• country of residence
• birth date

Where to order the Swiss Travel Passes?

Many websites sell Swiss Travel Passes. I recommend using the official tourist webshop of the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways). It’s the easiest and safest way to get everything done: no account is needed, and there are no hidden fees.

They deal with group travel all the time, have an easy-to-reach helpdesk, and have no issues with international credit cards. Passes are e-mailed in minutes, and Swiss Family Cards will automatically be included for children.

➤ How to order for groups

1. Go to the Swiss Travel Pass ordering page.
2. Select the start date. That’s the first day you want to travel.
3. Select 1st or 2nd class.
4. Select how many days the passes must be valid.
5. Select the number of travelers, including yourself. The age of each traveler is important: this must be the age at the start date of the pass.
   • Young people aged 16 to 24 get a discount.
   • Children aged 6 to 15 automatically get a Swiss Family Card for free travel.
   • Kids under 6 don’t need to be filled out; they travel for free anyway.
   • Everyone else counts as an adult.
6. Enter your name and e-mail address.
7. Enter the name, country of residence, and birth date of each traveler, including yourself. All of that information must match the passports.
8. Select the easy cancellation option, or leave it blank. I recommend going for this extra option: with a group, you just can’t be sure if someone cancels at the last minute. Also, you could simply cancel a pass and get a new one if you’d make a mistake.
9. After payment, the order will be completed.
10. Within 5 minutes, you will receive all passes as PDF documents. Check your spam folder if you can’t find the e-mail.

Video: preventing mistakes when buying Swiss Travel Passes for groups

What to do after ordering

You now need to e-mail each pass to each participant and let them know:

1. They need to keep the pass on their phone, and it is ready to use. They do not need any app, e-wallet, or user account.
2. They need to carry their original passport while traveling because train staff will check it against the pass.
3. They can create a backup of the pass, by saving a digital copy or printing it on paper.

Extra insider tips to make group travel easier

• You do not need your Swiss Travel Passes to book seats. It’s best to reserve seats as soon as possible, for the few trains that require them at all. You can buy the passes whenever you are ready.
• The same webshop also sells cable car tickets. You can order them in advance if you know the date, or just come back a day before your excursion.
• You can buy Swiss Travel Passes for up to 20 adults, plus 20 youths, plus 5 children all at once. If you need more, simply complete your order, and then place a second order.
• Do not buy Swiss Travel Passes at a train station. You would need to go to a staffed station during opening hours, with the passports of all travelers! It will take a very long time to get this done, and you will get paper passes with no backups.
• Instead of booking Swiss Travel Passes, seat reservations, and hotels for your group, experienced travel consultants can create a customized package for you and take care of it.

More about the Swiss Travel Pass

More handy train travel tips