Commuting from London to Zurich

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Hello,

I've been offered a job for a bank based in Zurich. I'm married with 2 kids so for the first 6 months or so would like to commute between London and Zurich (plan is 4 days in Zurich, 3 days (weekends) in London). Does anyone have any experience of this and any tips for me?

If all goes well i'll then look to relocate the family.

many thanks

Joe

2
Going by your name I would have thought flying would have been the easiest option. If not then there are plenty of flights between Zurich and London.

3
I did it for eighteen months and at times could be quite draining, not only for me but the family here in ZH. London City airport proved to be easiest option for me for less commuter hassle after a long week.

4
think about ages of kids and schooling. in the end, someone i know decided to commute on a permanent basis to geneva, due to the long waiting list for the international schools there (not to mention the difficulty and expense of finding a family home).

5
I did LCY --> ZRH weekly for 9 months before moving here. It is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if there's an end in site. Don't think I would commit to permanent commuting, although there were the same faces on the flights each week who had. If you can swing a serviced apartment for the period it helps!

6
Did it for some years

7
Just out of interest: how long was the "door-to-door" commute (on Monday/Friday) for those who did this?

8
thanks for all your replies - really helpful. the "eagle" in my username is in reference to my football team - Crystal Palace.

just from a tax point of view, presumably spending more than half my time in Zurich means i'll just be paying swiss tax?

i dont see how my employer can expect me to uproot all my family (schools etc) without spending 6 months or so sussing out the place ie where to live. Has anyone been offered flexible working with a Swiss company? ie working a day from home?

a serviced apartment seems the best idea for accomodation - any useful websites? my office is in the main finance area so near there would be ideal.

9
Have done the commuting part for the last 11 years. My employer doesn ́t mind that I quite often work Fridays from home. My experience is that this depends on the job you have, if it can be done remotely, I never had a problem getting the ok for home office.

10
thank you. Any advice on booking flights regularly ie can you get special deals with the airlines?

also, whats your recommendation for accomodation type/location?

11
I have been doing this for the last 2 years on a 2-3 weekends basis (sometimes long weekends) in order to visit my daughter in Cambridge. It has been perfectly durable, and door to door takes me about 5 hours. I use the trains on this side and rent a car in UK from the airport (Luton and City have been the best for me). If you plan ahead, you save loads. Hope this helps.

12
OH did the opposite - we lived in CH, he commuted to London M-F. It's quite do-able. There were many times when he would would be back in Switzerland while his UK colleagues were still stuck in commuter hell.

13
Tax wise, it can get complicated, and can vary on a case-by-case basis.

First of all, you will pay Swiss tax (taken from your pay each month), correctly so, as employed in Switzerland by a Swiss firm, for work done in Switzerland.

However, it's not at all straightforward what HMRC will make of the situation and whether will let you of your hook. It is likely that they will want some tax too, as you have not left permanantly the UK to work elsewhere, even less so if you have left behind a family and continue to maintain a UK home.. Moreover they may consider that you have never left the UK (regardless what the Swiss make of the situation) - if you spend less than 6 months in the tax year overseas (counted on the days you actually sleep overseas), ie UK resident for the full year. This will be your case if you are going to work in Switzerland for 6 months with weekends at home (leaving aside that your work placement may cross over 2 uk tax years)

However, even in the worst scenario, they won't ask you to pay full UK tax too for the whole salary (double taxation agreements). At worst, you may have to pay the difference of the tax paid in Switzerland and what the full tax due would be in the UK. In other words, you end up paying the UK calculation of income tax, but some of this money goes to the Swiss taxman and some to the UK one.

14
I ve been doing country to country commute for 7 years. Works fine. No special deals for flights. Just have to book week for week some months at the time.

15
thank you Tilia. Do you fly out Mondays and Fridays or do you have more flexible arrangements? Also, any tips on accomodation/location?

16
I did it most weeks, from Milton Keynes to Basel, going via London City, but before the DLR extension went there, so included buses from Canary Wharf or Canning Town. Monday mornings meant a train around 0530 , flight something around 0830, arriving Basel around 1100. I may misremember the exact times, as it was 12 years ago. So quite a drag.

Fridays, au contraire, were much easier. I'd leave the office at around 1640, hop on the motorbike, park it right outside the departures hall (they were doing a lot of building work so bike parking was just at the bottom of some steps up to a temporary entrance) by around 1650, helmet in pannier, check-in with no bags (this predates e-tickets), time for a quick beer before the flight departed at 1725. I'd be at LCY at 1810, Euston by 1900, back in MK and in the pub by 2030.

17
I usually do Tue-Fri but with some flexibility from my side depening on work circumstances.

Any location around Zurich isfine as the airport is very accessible. But of course you will usually go straight to and from work so actually work location is more important. I work in Zug and the drive takes me approx 35 min.

I have a parking abo at the airport which I can strongly recommend. 300 CHF/month.

And until you get status on the airline of your choice, I would recommend to invest in a Priority Pass.

18
A few months ago, someone advertised for a flat mate preferable with someone who would be away on most weekends. It was a very nice apartment so feel sure they found someone.

You could put an advert on EF that you are looking for a flatshare and that you would be away most if not all weekends and see if you get any offers in an area that suits you.

Kinda of nice to know you have the same place to go and go from. The other person would have things like iron-ironing board, but most important would be the WiFi connection.

Internet connection is more expensive in Switzerland than UK. No doubt you will be using Skype or the like to connect with your family in the evenings.

19
Thanks so much for the feedback - very helpful

20
Hi All,

After being on hold for 6 months, the Zurich job is back on! I would like to resurect this thread to see if anyone wishes to share views on commuting between London and Zurich. I will be flying back to London Friday afternoons and back again to Zurich on the latest Sunday night flight. I have the family house in London and will look to rent very centrally in Zurich so i can walk to finance district.

I would really appreciate hearing from people who do this commute or have had previous experience of doing so

thank you