Before you hit the road...
1. fill out your travel tracker:
Be sure you submit the country and city where you are traveling by 1:00 p.m. every Thursday night, even if you are staying at Château d’Hauteville.
Travel Tracker policy from the Switzerland Program handbook:
Travel Tracker, the University’s emergency response software, must be filled out every weekend by Thursday at 1:00 PM, even if students are remaining in Switzerland for the weekend.
Students must fill out this form for themselves and cannot do it for other students (therefore, it is not sufficient for one member of a group of students traveling together to report the group’s trip).
Failure to register one’s weekend trip with Travel Tracker will result in 1 “strike.” On the third strike of the semester, students’ passports will be taken and they will be restricted to traveling within Switzerland. Additional cases will result in dismissal from the program.
If you have problems logging into Travel Tracker, click the troubleshooting button below and follow the troubleshooting protocol.
2. travel safeLy
State Department Travel Safety: The U.S. State Department ranks safety conditions around the world using a 4 level ranking system. Only travel to countries with safety rankings of Level 1 or Level 2 (without lines) is allowed.
PLEASE NOTE: some countries may be rated as a Level 1 or Level 2 but have regions within them which have a higher rating. For example, Turkey is a Level 2 country at the moment, but it has Level 4 zones - therefore, it is considered a Level 4 country by Pepperdine. These countries are strictly prohibited unless students receive a Travel Exemption (see below). Please check the entire description of the country before booking your travel.
travel EXEMPTION Requests
Travel to countries ranked as Level 2 (with lines), Levels 3, or Level 4 is prohibited without university approval. Students who travel to prohibited locations without receiving a Travel Exemption will receive sanctions which can include dismissal from an International Program. If you would like to request an exemption, please click below and fill out the form.
TRAVEL TRACKER TROUBLESHOOTING:
IF YOU ARE LOCKED OUT OF TRAVEL TRACKER:
If you are locked out of Travel Tracker, you will need to answer several security questions. If the questions are answered incorrectly, you will be locked out of your account for 24 hours.
To unlock your account, email onlinehelp@internationalsos.com from your Pepperdine account and cc. Rafael Zulian (rafael.zulian@pepperdine.edu), Jon Weber (jonathan.weber@pepperdine.edu), and Greg Muger (greg.muger@pepperdine.edu).
Please state WHY you are having issues logging into your account (e.g. you forgot your password, the system is not recognizing a correct password, etc)
If possible, attach a screenshot of the issue you are experiencing.
In the same email, include your travel details (provide only the city and country (e.g. Paris, France).
A representative will contact you and give you a new password. Once you have received your new password, please log in and enter your Travel Tracker data as soon as possible.
if the travel tracker system is not working for any other reason:
Please screenshot the issue and email onlinehelp@internationalsos.com from your Pepperdine account and cc. Rafael Zulian (rafael.zulian@pepperdine.edu), Jon Weber (jonathan.weber@pepperdine.edu), and Greg Muger (greg.muger@pepperdine.edu) and explain the issue.
In the same email, include your travel details (Provide only the city and country (e.g. Paris, France).
If the issue can be resolved, please log in and enter your travel information as soon as possible.
***Failure to enter your travel Tracker information before travel results in one "strike.” After three strikes, you will be subject to university disciplinary action.
Planning your travel...
SBB CFF FFS - Online Timetable (English)
Looking for day trip ideas? Click here!
Mobile travel Apps
SBB Mobile App: This is an amazing application for train travel in Switzerland. Set up an account to buy tickets online to print at home instead of going to the station. Also contains platform information, train traffic, etc.
Trainline: This popular mobile app provides users with a convenient and easy way to book train tickets. Trainine allows users to compare prices and offers from different train companies in order to find the best deals on tickets.
FlightView Elite: The ultimate application for flight information. Push notifications will let you know when your flight is delayed, when it’s changed, terminals, etc.
Google Maps: Now you can save maps offline. If you plan ahead, you can download the entire map for any city you might visit in Switzerland. No need to stream data!
White Noise: Noisy train or hostel? Just pop in your headphones and drown out distractions with this handy app.