MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Swiss Travel Pass advance purchase, how far ahead?
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Just wondering how far ahead I can purchase my Swiss Travel Pass. I know I can only book trains 90 days or less in advance but wasn’t sure how long the Pass is valid for once purchased.
regards
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The Swiss Travel Pass is valid from the date you nominate it to start. There is really no need to buy it far in advance. They don’t sell out and you can still make reservations (on the Panoramic Trains for example) without having already purchased the pass.
Hi Mike,
As of 1 January 2018, the price of the Swiss Travel Pass will increase by roughly 4-6% depending on the length of the pass. You could save by buying in 2017 at the current price.
The downside of that is that if you later change your mind about the date from which it is effective, you will pay a fee to have the pass cancelled and reissued. That would cost you substantially more than you would save by buying at 2017 prices.
Alpenrose
Thanks. I wasn’t aware that you have to nominate the start date at the time of purchase. I thought you could just have it validated on the first day of use.
Hi Mike,
Validation was indeed required once, but it’s very rare now. Nowadays you can simply pick the start date, print your pass at home, and you’re good to go without visiting a ticket office.
Prices do increase next year. Some retailers allow you to buy for next year and pay the current price, others just charge the higher prices. HappyRail is a good option at the moment: http://www.happyrail.com/en/p ass/europe/switzerland /swiss-travel-pass-consecutive. Their price is slightly lower than anywhere else, and they don’t charge more for a pass that starts in 2018. Other purchase options can be found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price
When we used our Flex Pass recently from Basle to Visp, on the train, we had to fill in the date on the train. The conductor stood by us until he saw that we had the date filled in correctly. Same thing happened on the last day when we took a train from Zermatt to Zurich.
The first date is stamped on the pass. Not a big deal but it had to be done.
I was checking the HappyRail site and found that they do indeed sell 2018 Swiss Travel Passes at 2017 prices. However, do you know if the Swiss travel pass booked through HappyRail are refundable or not. And if refundable what are their cancellation charges.
Regards.
Hi Arnchatt en welcome to MySwissAlps!
Normally you’ll get an 85% refund for passes that are cancelled before the first travel day. I’ll contact HappyRail and let you know what I find out. 100% refunds are only possible if your travel insurance pays the remaining 15%, which should be the case if you cancel because of illness or other events covered by them.
The prices of Swiss Travel Pass (4 days) which shown on Happyrail was EUR221 for Year 2017 & EUR230 for Year 2018. If I want to buy now for travel on end Jan 2018, I shall select the Year 2018, right? It was the increased price which mentioned above?
Thanks for letting me know Arno. I too have mailed HappyRail with the question but have not yet received any reply. In the meantime if they reply to your queries do let us know.
Regards.
Hi Cws0206,
Please see Arno’s earlier response:
“HappyRail is a good option at the moment: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price. Their price is slightly lower than anywhere else, and they don’t charge more for a pass that starts in 2018.”.
If you click on the blue link you’ll see that you don’t have to choose between 2017 or 2018. You’ll pay the price you see on the screen. When you fill out the form you’ll have to give your starting date, but the price will stay as communicated on the screen.
Hi again Arnchatt,
HappyRail confirmed that the cancellation fee is 15% with them as well, so your refund would be 85%. It’s not on their website yet, but they are working on that. This fee is common for all points of sale.
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