Swiss Rail Pass and Reservations

If you want to go direct (without changing trains) then hop on the GEX. There are other trains that service that route but you'll have to make train changes. They're also faster than the GEX.

If you go to www.sbb.ch/en and choose St. Moritz as your origin and Zermatt as your destination and search for the trains - you'll see all of the available options. If a reservation is required it will clearly show you that with an "R" in the Information column. You'll also see what kind of trains you'll be taking. The only one that lists a compulsory reservation "R" is the GEX.

In general it is not possible to reserve train seats in Switzerland, the train system doesn't work that way. Tickets (normal tickets as well as passes) are valid on any train (regional trains AND Inter-City), and the trains are so frequent that you just go to the station and get on a train.
The only exception are the four special tourist trains (Golden Pass, William Tell Express, Bernina Express and Glacier Express) where some or all of the seats are reservable. In all cases there are other hourly stopping trains on those routes, it is not true that Glacier Express is the only option between St. Moritz and Zermatt.

For International trains (TGV to/from France and trains to/from Italy) these need reservations for the section in France/Italy, as soon as they cross onto Swiss tracks, Swiss rules apply and no reservations are needed.

As Tim says, you can check out all times on the SBB website: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

One of the reason for reservations on these trains is that it is more of a supplement for extra services such as panoramic rail cars and headsets with a multilingual descriptions of the sights out of the windows. And they do get popular in the summer and they want to be sure everyone has a seat.

You need not worry about not getting from point A to point B, because the regular trains run the routes at least once an hour. You might have to change trains along the way. For instance, The Glacier Express runs direct every day from Zermatt to St Moritz, but there is a connection every hour with normal trains that take virtually the same amount of time, but you need to change trains at Visp, Andermatt, Disentis/Muster, and Reichenau-Tamins.

Thanks everyone for the information. It's good to know that no reservations are necessary to get from point A to point B, only for the panoramic trains.

I think we may try to get reservations for the Glacier Express to avoid all the transfers, but we may wait until we arrive in Switzerland instead of trying to do the reservations from the US. That would be 6 days in advance which is hopefully enough.

If you're dead set on taking the GEX then it's rather simple to make reservations from the USA. Just go to glacierexpress.ch and on "Booking".

GEX is a compulsory reservation train - you have no other options with it...no showing up and hopping on without a reservation.

The William Tell Express has this year been renamed the Gotthard Panorama Express. The once-daily named departure requires a reservation for the panorama cars in either 1st or 2nd class and also you positions you for a boat ride between Luzern and Fluelen; meal no longer included onboard the boat. To find other departures taking this scenic route (not going through the new, longer Gotthard Tunnel), then you must search for a schedule via Airolo.

In Rick's Switzerland book, the regional train options to the Glacier Express (with 3 train changes to cover the same route) are mentioned on p. 342.

Thanks Tim for the website for making the reservations for the Glacier Express. In reading the book, it sounded like making reservations from the US cost more than making them from Swizerland, but it seems to be the amount stated in the book on the website.

Any pros/cons/thoughts on buying the Swiss Travel pass from https://www.sbb.ch/ versus Rick Steve's website?