Swiss Travel Pass : How early can I book ?

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to visit this lovely country in July 2016, possibly from 1-8 July. Can I book the swiss travel pass now ? I know there are still 7 months to go but I noticed that the price had dropped down significantly to what I saw last time ( couple of months ago) from $1036 to $658.

I also read somewhere, (can't remember, where) that it is required that you start using your rail pass within 6 months of the date of purchase ? Is that still the case, in that case I can't buy it now :(

Please advise.

Vineet

Hello Vineet, welcome!

Your cheapest option is www.raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-travel-pass-82. You can already buy because passes are valid for 12 months at the moment. Note that you need to fill out your first travel day when you purchase, so you must be sure of that.

All your options are listed on myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/price.

Hi Annika ,

Thanks for the reply, the link takes me to a website

www.raileurope.com.au/ pass/swiss-pass-7314?var_mode=calcul&cmpid= AF020819000102

(also see as an attachment 1) which mentions that the it has to be used within 6 months of purchase.(attachment 2)

Should I ignore that ? I know my travel dates so am in a position to specify my first travel date.

Also booking through the official swiss website www.swissrailways.com gives me the option of printing passes at home, which is what I want., and the price is pretty much same, I have a mastercard which is an international one and is accepted everywhere (so far).

Please advice.

Kind Regards

Vineet

Hi Vineet,

Annika linked to a different website. Both are Rail Europe sites, but the one she linked to is cheaper. If you click the Fare Details link on that page you can see that passes are valid until November 2016. They originally offered this only to the beginning of this month, but the offer is still on there and you can still pick a pass date beyond 6 months from now. I don't know why they extended it. Your attachments show their standard rules, not taking this offer into account.

Anyway, if you prefer to print the pass at home you can go to www.swissrailways.com/ en/node/66. That's indeed the Swiss railways website, but it's a bit more expensive. Their prices have been the same all year long.

Hi Arno,

Due to my geographical location(from an IP address perspective ) , the link Annika posted is always taking me to this same website:

www.raileurope.com.au/ pass/swiss-pass-7314?var_mode=calcul&cmpid= AF020819000102.

So I can't seem to see those cheaper prices or validity of the pass.

Kind Regards

Vineet

Hi Vineet,

Thanks for that information. I didn't know it would redirect to somewhere else. And actually I don't know how to get around that. Well, the Australian website is still cheaper than www.swissrailways.com, but not by much, and it depends on how many passes you need and things like shipping fees whether that's worth it. It does charge you in your local currency, so that's an advantage as you prevent exchange rate and bank fees. Basically these sites are your options right now:

• www.swissrailways.com/ en/node/66 (print at home)
• www.raileurope.com.au/ pass/swiss-pass-7314 (physical shipping, and they're also still advertising the extended validity, click the Fare Details link)

In your case it might be better to pick the first website. Simply pick the Online Ticket option and you'll receive it through e-mail. The pass will be validated (all passenger details and the start date are on it) so you can board your first train straight away after arrival.

I hope this was useful.

Yes Arno,

That's exactly what I was thinking of, using the official website of swissrailways.com and print the passes at home, that way I would save money on shipping, also my special mastercard doesn't charge any bank fees or any other extras for overseas currencies.

Thanks for your help.

Kind Regards

Vineet