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In a few weeks I will have a flight with few hours transfer in Zurich. I will have several hours and I can leave the transfer zone, it won't be enough to leave the airport though.

Let's say I want to order something from an online shop located in Switzerland, is there any way to get it delivered to the airport so I could pick it up during my transfer?

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    @Neusser: That seems to be what he's asking.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Aug 16, 2018 at 14:29
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    @dda, that was what came to my mind, send it "Poste restante" to the post office. There needs to be one in the airport, though, not sure it's the case. Let's check...
    – jcaron
    Aug 16, 2018 at 14:32
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    Yep, there is one. Just need to send the parcel to Mr or Mrs Firstname Lastname, Poste restante, 8060 Zürich. Note that this probably works only if the parcel is actually sent by Post rather than one of the alternative parcel delivery companies...
    – jcaron
    Aug 16, 2018 at 14:38
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    @jcaron: That looks like an answer to me.
    – Michael Seifert
    Aug 16, 2018 at 14:39
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    places.post.ch/… PickPost service at Zürich Flughafen :-)
    – user67108
    Aug 16, 2018 at 14:43

3 Answers 3

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You can send it "Poste restante" to the Post office in the airport. Just address it to:

Mr or Mrs Firstname Lastname
Poste restante
8060 Zürich

The Post Office is located in arrivals 3, and is open every day with pretty long hours (7h30-21h00 Monday-to-Friday, 8h00-21h00 Saturdays and Sundays).

Note however that this will probably work only if the parcel is actually sent by Post, and not through one of the alternative parcel delivery companies.

Some retailers and/or card issuers may also have a problem sending a parcel to a Poste restante address or an address not matching the card's billing address.

And of course you need to be sure the parcel gets there before you do (they will keep it for a month).

Of course, you need to be able to exit the airside, which means entering the Schengen Area if you're in transit between two non-Schengen flights, with all the consequences in terms of visa requirements.

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    Any sane online retailer will allow you to enter separate billing and shipping addresses.
    – David Richerby
    Aug 16, 2018 at 15:25
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    Though this is probably not very frequent in Switzerland, some retailers will only ship to an address that is registered with the credit card provider for security reasons. There are also many retailers who don't ship to PO Boxes, Poste restante, and the like. YMMV.
    – jcaron
    Aug 16, 2018 at 15:59
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    Gosh. That would be a huge pain for me. If a parcel's delivered to me at home in the UK, I'm pretty much guaranteed not to be there when it arrives, which means an early-morning trip to the post office to collect it the next day. Probably 95% of what I order online I have delivered either to work or the Amazon locker that's super-conveniently located within 20 meters of my front door.
    – David Richerby
    Aug 16, 2018 at 16:31
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    In the UK many courier companies won't deliver to "PO Box" addresses, simply because there is no guaranteed way for them to find out where the "PO Box" is physically located! For example my employers have a PO Box address for mail, but how would a courier figure out exactly where to deliver something, since the company site is about two miles long and up to half a mile wide? The PO address just says "<name of company>, PO Box xyz, <name of city>. The Post Office know where it is, but they ain't tellin' anyone else!
    – alephzero
    Aug 16, 2018 at 16:37
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    @jcaron - "There are also many retailers who don't ship to PO Boxes" AFAIK, that's usually only because they are using a shipping method that cannot deliver directly to/through a Post Office. Otherwise, it's more likely the CC/Payment service that restricts the delivery address than the retailer.
    – Kevin Fegan
    Aug 16, 2018 at 23:19
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This page from Swiss Post shows that the airport in Zürich has a post office with PickPost Service. It's open 07:30-21:00 though, so not 24/7.

As @jcaron mentions PickPost is only available for Swiss residents. But among services mentioned in the airport post office page is "Receiving letter and parcels" so I guess Poste Restante could work.

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  • This answer would appear to be the correct one ("You can not do it.") since it seems PickPost is only for nationals?? But wait, you can use "normal" Poste Restante, but not PickPost? WTH ?
    – Fattie
    Aug 18, 2018 at 7:20
  • @Fattie It seems like PickPost has more flexible options than the regular Poste Restante. Anyway. That's still a solution.
    – user67108
    Aug 18, 2018 at 8:02
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This is a generic answer but one other option in these circumstances is to phone one of the hotels nearby (preferably with a shuttle bus to the terminal) and ask them if you can have a package delivered to their front desk. Intimate that you’d leave a tip for this.

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