3 of us will be traveling from Zurich to Pontresina on Sept 11, a Saturday. Can we wait and buy tickets that day? Bernina Express tickets are not available on that route that day, so we will be taking local trains. Any advantage to traveling 1st class?
Thanks for any advice.

You can buy tickets in advance at sbb.ch i believe but IMO it is foolish to do so as right at Zurich Airport's train station you can easily buy tickets Zurich to Chur, where you have to change for a train to Chur- seat reservations are not possible on these regional trains.

Yes, after 40 years of traveling on Swiss trains IMO 1st class is always worth the difference - but 2nd class ain't bad just much more crowded.

For loads of info on Q's like yours check out these very informative web sites-www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; www.swisstravelsystem.com

Just buy the tickets before you want to board your train, with enough time to walk from the ticket counter to the platform. No seat reservation needed or - in some cases - even possible.

If you happen to be near the station the day before, you can certainly buy the tickets then - just mention that you'll travel tomorrow so that the tickets get date-stamped corectly.

You will change trains twice en route, once in Chur, and again in Samedan. There will be only a few minutes between trains, enough to walk from one platform to the next.

But if you want to spend time in, say, Samedan - to step out and maybe find a bite to eat or whatever, you are free to do so, then get back to the station and hop on the next train for the final leg to Pontresina. Just keep your tickets with you at all times and show them when asked.

In the main central station of Zürich you'll look for the train for Chur on tracks 4 or 5 or 6 - the big overhead display will tell you. In Chur you'll be arriving on either track 8 or 9 and you'll move to track 10 - piece of cake.

Trains leave from Zürich most every hour at :12 (taking 3:44h in total) and again at :37 (taking 3:19h in total), except after 8AM there is no 08:12 departure- instead there is a 08:07 departure that involves more changes and bus rides - to be avoided.

About 1st class - if you have money to burn, go for it, but it's totally not necessary, it's not like a crowded commuter train since it's Saturday, I'd be surprised if it was even close to full.

Paying all that extra money buys you somewhat wider and plusher seats - but the 2nd class seats are more than adequate, so I'd save the money for an extra few bottles of wine (Switzerland is already so hugely expensive...).

Hope this helps - train travel is very easy and informal in Switzerland as you'll find out - the Swiss don't even form a "proper" queue to get on board, it's a random throng around the doors, all give-and-take that feels weird to foreigners at first, but it works...

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. Glad to know we don't have to book in advance.

I usually try to book in advance as there are often discounts. You can book on sbb.ch and select the station where you want to pick up the tickets. You pay by credit card on the website and get a code number to get the tickets.

>I usually try to book in advance as there are often discounts.

`Not in Switzerland.

I usually try to book in advance as there are often discounts. You can book on sbb.ch>

bourbon - what kind of discounts are you talking about - altamiro says there are no discounts online in Switzerland. Please elaborate. I think there are sporadic special one-day tickets that are sold a few times a year - they come and go but i thought there were no Italian- or French-like discounts online.

???

I subscribe to the promotional emails from the Swiss railways SBB/CFF and they indeed have discounts all the time, for selected routes on selected dates. Trying to match those against a trip when coming from overseas would be tricky and pretty much a lottery, but - hey - somebody has to win the lottery, so...

I just came through Switzerland a week ago. I booked my tickets in advance on sbb.ch and saved 28chf per ticket. There are lots of discounts if you look for them. Some are if you book last minute (within two weeks) and some must be booked further out for the discount. A few of the discounts I saw earlier in the summer on sbb said they ended 8/22, but I was able to still get them after that date.

I'm still traveling (currently in Rome), so cant't easily look at the sbb website to reference discounts(using an itouch for net access isn't easy).

Here's a link to SBB's Supersaver ticket:
http://sparbillette.sbb.ch/home/?lang=4

Yes they apparently come and go and take a break -yk's link says SuperSavers are taking a break until mid-October - so it always pays to look but can't count on always having them like the French and Italian and German railways always offer.