Itinerary, Murren & Railpass Help Please

After looking at the prices, the 4 day Swiss Pass looks like a good buy for you. Some times you can't calculate to the last nickel. The trip from Chamonix-Mont Blanc to Murren BLM doesn't show up on www.sbb.ch, but from Le Chatelard on the Swiss Border to Murren is 99.60 chf, so figure another 10 or 20 chf from Chamonx to Le Chatelard. Mt Rigi and back will be covered 100 % by the Swiss Pass, while Pilatus is only half fare. Round trip bus and cable car Lauterbrunnen to Schilthorn is 112 chf, 40 with a Swiss Pass.
What time is your flight? You might think about going there direct from Luzern and skip the Holiday Inn Express.

Thank you Sam for your speedy reply. I will take a closer look at the info on the Swiss Travel pass to make sure I have priced it out right. Am I correct in understanding that the Half Fare card is used with point to point tickets but not with the Swiss Pass? We did consider staying in Lucerne the night before our flight out but we have to be at the airport at about 8:30 - 9 a.m. and we are able to stay at the Holiday Inn Express on hotel points plus $40US. vs 180CHF in Lucerne. We also thought if we weren't too tired we could also stop in Zurich Old Town (store baggage at train station) & have a look around, then jump back on the train to the airport. Somehow after 3 weeks travel, I think we may be "done in" at that point but you never know. Again, thank you for your help and if I have other questions I ope you don'e mind if I contact you again.

Yes, if you get a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass you don't need a Half fare card. The prices are close if you did get a Half Fare Card instead of a pass, but you would need to purchase a ticket each time you traveled. There is also a Half fare Card adder for a Flexi Pass, but I think your plan of a 4 day Pass and pay full fare for the train ticket the last night. The lockers at Zurich are 9 chf for a large locker that might fit all your stuff. So if you buy a ticket to Luzern to Zurich airport, you can take a break for free from Zurich Hbf. The other option is go straight to the airport, drop bags at the hotel, then get day passes to go into Zurich. with day passes, you can use the trams.

Yes, your understanding of connections for the long travel day sounds correct, but expect them to go smoothly. If you do miss a connection, it will not usually be more than an hour to wait for the next one at any change point.

Although I don't know what exchange rates will do, Swiss Pass sales for fall travel have been known, so I'd check offers again in August or the first week of September.

Just to emphasize something Sam said. If you have a half fare card, you have to buy tickets every time. If you have a Swiss Pass, you only have to buy tickets for things that aren't 100% covered. For anything that is 100% covered, you just show the pass. This is a great convenience. So if the price is close, get the Swiss Pass.

Zurich HBF has several locker locations on several floors, each has a change machine next to it. So find the size of locker you need and see if the machine is working (it isn't always), if not look for another locker location and try their change machine.

One note on the passes is that the Swiss Pass gives you only 25% discount on Jungfraujoch, while the Half Fare Card is 50%, so it makes a difference on that expensive train. It does sound like overall you will be pretty close no matter what you choose, though, so maybe convenience will be worth any minor additional cost.

Thank you to all for your helpful replies.
Sam & Harold - agree definitely a convenience factor with the Swiss Pass if prices are close.

Sam & phred - thank you for the locker info for the Zurich train station.

Laura - I will keep on eye out for possible sales on Swiss Pass. I am using the R.S. rail Europe website - am I pricing it correctly at $526US for two people?

Snowyshasta -re the Jungfraujoch -we may do this excursion when we stay in Lauterbrunnen with the R.S. tour on Sept 22. Therefore, we would be paying full price as our 4 day Swiss Pass won't start until Sept 25th. I based this decision on a post from Tim in Knoxville that it is easier to get to Jungfrau from Lauterbrunnen than from Murren. If weather is bad on 22/9 then we could switch activities & have another crack at it from Murren I guess. Hard to decide priorities when time is limited.

Thank you all again - I appreciate any input you can give me.

I am traveling from Rome to Murren for 2 days , maybe Lucerne for a night , and then fly out of Zurich. What pass would get me to all those places and pay for trip to Murren and top of Jungfrau? Tim in Knoxville . . . Wish I had your number so I could ask you questions! I live in Knoxville as well.

Tim in Knoxville:

You should start your own thread, since your needs are different from Lynne's. This way, you'll get a notification every time someone replies to your thread.