On their website it looks like we can purchase a regional pass for two countries = Italy & Switzerland. (2 continents - five days & 2nd class). I have purchased 2nd class train tickets while in Italy before & have done so the day of/or the day before travel, so I am familiar with the rail system but have never purchased one of these. I may or may not have paid more by purchasing them at the last minute but they seemed reasonable. There are so many different types of fares! A few questions about doing this:
I understand if we purchase this pass, we will still need to make reservations for our seats on each individual train trip. Correct?
Also, if we decide to upgrade one leg of the trip to 1st class (probably the route from Switzerland to Italy) can we do so without being charged a great deal? Is that possible? Can you do that right before boarding? What about switching to a high speed train...additional fees?
I have crunched the numbers and it looks like the individual fares are fairly close to the cost of the pass. Would it be easier to just to forget the pass & purchase the five individual tickets each time? Any benefits to purchasing the pass instead?
Many thanks for your help.