Cross border rail journey and Berner Oberland Pass

Two friends from America with their 13 year old son and I will travel from Milano Centrale to Interlaken via Spiez. We three adults have purchased Berner Oberland Passes, but I was not able to find an online link to purchase the CHF30 pass for their son. I have three questions about this journey. When I purchase the ticket in Milan, do I designate Spiez as a destination or Interlaken in order to use the BOP? If Interlaken, can we still use the BOP for the Swiss leg of the journey when ticketing in Mian? If we can use the BOP, will I be able to purchase the child's pass during the 10 minute layover in Spiez and still make the train? Thanks for any answers/advice.

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Eirewalker!

The Junior Travelcard can be bought online through www.swissrailways.com/ en, but only combined with a regional pass. So you could have ordered your Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland and the Junior Travelcard together, but since you already have your Regional-Passes you'll have to purchase the Junior Travelcard once you're in Switzerland.

If you're coming from Milan, the Regional-Pass Bernese Oberland will be valid from Brig onwards, provided that you use the regional trains passing Goppenstein and Kandersteg instead of the quick tunnel connection from Visp to Frutigen, as that's not included in the pass. The validity map shows all details of the pass coverage. The entire leg Brig-Spiez-Interlaken will thus be covered, and you only need additional tickets Milan-Brig. Please find details and purchase options here.

A ten minute break is quite tight to purchase the Junior Travelcard. But if you want to make use of the Regional-Pass validity as much as you can (as explained above), you'll have to get out in Brig anyway in order to catch the regional train towards Spiez. So if I were you, I'd buy the Junior Travelcard in Brig and just get on the next possible train after that. You don't need seat reservations for this leg, so you can board any train running this route once you're done purchasing the Junior Travelcard.

Thank you, Annika, for your inestimable help in sorting this out. Since we do not travel until August, I believe I still have time to purchase the Junior Travel Card online. The links you have provided will save me a good deal of time. And wiith your advice for the journey we will travel with greater ease and peace of mind.