Availability for the Swiss Travel Pass

Hi Arno/Annika,

Is there a date / time restriction to buying the Swiss Travel Pass ? I was planning to buy a 4-day Swiss Travel Pass today (x 2 nos.) but for some reason need to postpone till 4th April (next Monday). But that would mean just 7 days prior to commencing my journey from India to Europe. Will that be risky or there is no difference / problem (in terms of availability and cost) whether I buy it today or on 4th April ?

Also, I assume the Swiss Travel Pass will be a "Print@Home" Pass and would not require a validation / stamping by the rail personnel or a staff at the station ? I can simply board trains and show the print out along with passport to the ticket personnel ?

Hi sskundu,

This will work out fine for you. You can go to www.swissrailways.com/ en and select Online Ticket when they ask your delivery preference. You will receive the pass through e-mail in 1-3 working days. You can print it and it will be ready for traveling; no further validation required.

Thanks Annika. Will make the purchases on next Sunday then.

Hi,

i am trying to take 8days Swiss rail pass first class, but I am unable to get the 30% discount.

i don't know where I am going wrong.

request your help please.

thanks

Hi Saumya,

Please double check if you tried on www.raileurope.com/rai l-tickets-passes/swiss-pass/index.html (not another website), and picked the 1st class print at home pass (e-pass). Not 2nd class, not physical delivery. Then it will work. I tried a dummy purchase from the link above and it did show the 30% discount. Shipping to India would be an additional $7.95.

Check the attachment in my message.

Hi sskundu,

Sorry to jump on your post. Is the 1st class Swiss pass with 30% discount made available for everyone? Or limited to US citizen only? We hv purchased it on Sunday and yet to receive the confirmation email.

thank you

peksia

Hi peksia,

No it's not limited to US citizens or otherwise you would have received an error while trying to use a non-US credit/debit card. The confirmation email takes 1-3 days to arrive. Hopefully you used the e-pass (print @ home) option.

Hi sskundu,

Thanks for your reply. We have received a sad reply, the www.raileurope.com is designed to service customers from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Carribbean and Central American countries.

We could only purchase our swiss pass at the designated country site. Therefore, we cant enjoyed the 30% for 1st class swiss pass. Sad news.

Peksia

Hi Peksia,

They indeed target customers from that region, however others have been able to purchase the discounted pass too. Anyway, the promotion will expire today. You can have a look at your local site www.raileurope.com.sg/ pass/swiss-travel-pass-82, or at www.swissrailways.com/ en as mentioned by Annika. In both cases you can print the pass at home too.

HI Peksia,

That's really sad to know. Since I already read in another post about Arno advising others on this website and none mentioned about this problem so I too told you the same thing. But are they refunding you the money or issuing you 1st Class pass at the FULL price ? I would say, if possible get a full refund (if they do) and book 2nd class pass. They are equally comfortable to travel and you can make some noise too :-) LOL

The 1st class coaches have some business areas and also some "quiet" areas where people prefer to travel in silence.

Hi Annika,

I purchased the Swiss Travel Pass for 4 days from the SBB website (www.sbb.ch/en) and instantly on making the purchase it allowed me to down a PDF file. Also I got an email from them. Attaching a part of the PDF here. Can you confirm if this is good enough to make my travels or needs something more ???

Also, the email I received mentioned in a para that if you are ordering the pass in less than 10 days of your departure date then you will be provided with a provisional pass ... the credit card size card will be couriered to you in 10 days time. But I assume that the Swiss Travel Pass is only available online and not as a plastic card ? I need to show this attached file everywhere / every time for journeys and discounts ???

Hi sskundu,

The attachment looks like the actual pass, so you're good to go. We always recommend people to visit www.swissrailways.com, as that's the official SBB webshop for tourists. The SBB site is for Swiss citizens, and although you can indeed find the tourist passes there too after a few clicks, they offer many other products and services not relevant to tourists, which could be a little confusing. The credit card size card you're talking about for example, is probably the "SwissPass" for Swiss citizens. It's very different from a "Swiss Travel Pass", and not relevant to tourists. But it looks like you received the correct pass. Enjoy your trips!

Thanks Annika,

I did see "This ticket is only available online" mentioned while I was clicking away to buy the pass so I don't think anything would arrive at my home also coz they never asked my address (unless they pick it up from my profile). Also, that since there are no more emails received from them so I was assuming that's the final pass for us. Now that you confirmed its correct and I don't need anything more, I am relieved.

One good thing about the SBB site is, at the final payment page it gave me the choice to pay in CHF or in INR (after converting the amount and adding the 3% markup charged by Indian banks, so I knew what is going to appear on my card statement)