Need to book ahead rooms and rail ticket question

Any recommendations for lodging that doesn't require a bank loan?

Sharon, Sorry, but that is Switzerland. I would say book ahead for safety.

any idea why the rates are so much higher for train tickets in the RS book than on the SBB site with the no reduction option? I thought that was my problem. Assume some is better exchange rate but otherwise not sure. i.e. LUZERN - CHIASSO is CHF 66

Swiss railways work on the old fashioned system of a standard price from A to B, same price for any train on any day, and tickets that are valid on any train, no reservations, no discounts for advance purchase. Luzern to Chiassi IS CHF 66 (or CHF 33 with a half price card) and will stay that price for at least the rest of this year. That is the fare you will pay at the station. If someone is trying to charge you more, they are ripping you off.
Or is "the book" quoting first class prices (CHF 116), or perhaps using an old exchange rate?

If you're referring to the fares shown on the map on p. 400 and here online, you are seeing the difference between buying one ticket straight through and buying separate tickets for the legs that the map shows. That's a common fact of train ticketing that's hard to work around in graphic form, but we also have the international map showing longer routes, such as Zurich-Milan for $80. At SBB.ch, you'll see that Luzern-Andermatt does cost 40 CHF and Andermatt-Chiasso costs 52.40. We assumed an exchange rate of 1=1 (although it may not be that at the time you travel) and generally round to the nearest $5. If you have to add multiple points together, you can round down, although not usually this much. These are not fares that we have for sale.

P.S. In this example, the differences are affected by the fact that the through train travels through the new, very long Gotthard Tunnel and doesn't stop anywhere near Andermatt or the east-west route of the Glacier Express.

Thanks for responses. Laura, that is exactly the answer I was looking for on why the rail price differences between RS and SBB sites. Also good to know booking ahead won't save any $$. Now to crunch the numbers and do best guess on which one to get. They don't make it easy.