I am the self-appointed group contact (aka fool) for our group of 5 couples who will travel Basel-Luzern, Luzern-Wengen via Meiringen, and Wengen- ZHR via train. Our 1st trip isn't until early September, so the earliest I can book is 60 days out? I do want to book ahead of time so as to be reimbursed by the other couples once I get know the amount charges to my cc in USD. I understand that I need to book in advance, but am confused as to whether I need to choose a specific time, or day. And should we miss the train from Basel to Luzern, since we are disembarking a river cruise, can we then freely board a different train?
Regular tickets are fully changeable as far as departure time goes for the day of travel. So you do need to pick a particular day.
Since you're in charge of this I would highly recommend reading through what The Man in Seat 61 has to say on his excellent website:
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-switzerland.htm
He'll have lots of information there that will be helpful to you.
Merci, Kim. J'aime l'homme! He doesn't address group bookings in his discussion of Swiss rail, though. He was most helpful for our booking Thalys from Gare du Nord to Amsterdam Centraal. His photos of the different classes help us decide that 2nd was ok.
I don't know why you need to bother the man in seat 61. You are are dealing with sbb, so why not direct questions directly to them. Use the contact page. They usually will have an answer the next business day.