Ceinwen

We are scheduled to fly to Zurich, then train/bus to Ascona. After that we will train to Salzburg and eventually to Vienna. From Vienna, we would train back to Zurich. We have a Swiss Pass for the first part, And an Austria flexi pass. Our Swiss pass will expire before we return to Zurich; therefore we may have to purchase a ticket at the Swiss border, or close to it. The question is when and where is the best place to do this, assuming it's necessary? Any help will be most appreciated.

Palenque

You should buy the ticket in Vienna before boarding your train to the first Swiss border station - have the ticket so you do not have to get off the train to buy one - conductors may sell tickets on the train but often now at a hefty surcharge to discourage folks from doing so.

To see exactly what the border point is go to www.bahn.de - the German Railways web site that has schedules for all of Europe and which i find this easiest to use and get the itinerary for the route that indicates the border points. To get to the English schedule page of the Wunderbar IMO bahn.de site you can go to the home page of www.budgeteuropetravel.com and click on the link there that says "All European Railway Schedules" or some such wording and this pops you into the English schedule page of bahn.de where you just enter in Vienna and Zurich to get the schedules. One reason i mention that home page is that they give several valuable tips on how to fully use the bahn.de site - like finding the border point you want to buy a ticket from to Zurich - now the ticket seller in Vienna should be able to tell you too but IME it is always best to research these things yourself as well. then in Vienna buy a ticket from say Buchs to Zurich so you do not have to get off the train and every two hours there is a direct Vienna-Zurich train - so aim for those for sure.
Alternatively when buying your passes you could have the agent issue an open ticket for Buchs to Zurich and perhaps pay a few bucks more for the convience - some folks like to have everything buttoned down before leaving - but again you should have no problem doing so in Vienna.

Palenque

Yes according to bahn.de the border crossing is Buchs SG or just Buchs - your Austrian pass will take you there and then you'd need a Buchs to Zurich Hbf (Hauptbahnhof) the main station in Zurich

bahn.de says "Border crossing: Buchs SG"

altamiro

This is actually the one case where it might make sense to by a ticket online (from www.sbb.ch) - if you buy a ticket within one country from the rail system of another country it is somewhat more expensive as there will be a small commission built in the price. Just buy an online ticket on SBB from Buchs SG (SG is important to distinguish from Buchs ZH) to Zürich airport.

Ceinwen

Would it work to purchase the ticket in Zurich when we first get there? Our Swiss pass will be activated there, but of course will expire before we return from Vienna.

Connie

At our Swiss border stop (Brig) we only stopped for a few minutes while a few people got on. I was glad not to have to get off to buy a ticket.

altamiro

>Would it work to purchase the ticket in Zurich when we first get there? Our Swiss pass will be activated there, but of course will expire before we return from Vienna.

You can do that as well, but don't forget to specify the date. Tickets for trips wholly within Switzerland are only valid for 1 day at most.