Purchase options for Swiss Travel Pass

We're Australians travelling through Europe in August and plan to visit Switzerland before we leave. We will be leaving Amsterdam by night train to Zurich. Is it practical to leave purchasing our Swiss travel pass to when we arrive at Zurich train station. I noticed the prices are similar / same to those on the Swiss www.swissrailways.com. This is cheaper than purchasing online via rail europe australia.

much appreciated

Carole:)

Hi Carole, welcome to MySwissAlps!

All purchase options and their pros and cons are listed on myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/price. Prices and exchange rates change quite frequently. Currently it's indeed cheaper to buy through the Swiss webshop at www.swissrailways.com/ en, instead of Rail Europe Australia. Last year it was the other way around.

In any case it's more practical to buy online as you can print the pass at home and start using it immediately upon arrival, as opposed to waiting for a ticket office. If you want to do so, please go to www.swissrailways.com/ en/products/ swisspass, fill out your details, and select "Online Ticket" when they present the delivery options. They will e-mail the pass in 1 to 3 working days.

I'm not sure were in Switzerland you're going, but you don't have to stay on the train all the way to Zurich in all cases. Changing trains in Basel might be quicker, e.g. if you go to Interlaken or Lucerne. The timetable shows the best option.

Thanks Arno!

I appreciate it would be easier to buy online but my problem is I am unsure how to purchase via the Swiss webshop. Payment can only be in Swiss francs (CHF), EUR, USD or GBP and I'm not sure how to go about it. I will make further enquiries.

Thanks for the tip re changing trains in Basel rather than Zurich...we are heading to Interlaken so this will work well!

regards

Carole:)

You're welcome Carole! You can simply purchase in Swiss francs and then enter your credit card details. Your bank will convert it to AU$. You would pay in Swiss francs in Zurich too, and even if they would offer payment in AU$, the exchange rate will usually not be in your favor and you'd best choose CHF anyway and leave conversions to your bank.