I am planning a brief Swiss visit (4-5 days) in July 2023. There are three of us. We will be traveling from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen, go up to Jungfraujoch (weather permitting), from Lauterbrunnen to Neuchatel, possibly a side trip from Neuchatel to La Chaux-de-Fonds if we can fit it in, and then returning to Zurich to get our flight home. I should mention that I have been these places before but am taking some younger relatives along for their first visit, and for various reasons our time schedule is constrained to this amount of time.
In the past when traveling solo I have just purchased a Swiss rail pass. However, for three of us, four day Swiss rail passes would be $939 if I have the numbers right. I thought of renting a car but that looks like (by the time I bought the insurance) about $1300-1500.
An estimate of the train ticket costs for the specific legs mentioned about is around $200 per person plus another $200 each for the Jungfraujoch round trip - again, if I have managed to navigate the Swiss rail website correctly. That would seem to mean that the half fare card isn't worth it. It doesn't look like the half fare card works on the Jungfraujoch train.
Any ideas for how to reduce the costs? Have I missed something? I can't get exact numbers at this stage because the SBB website won't work six months out, and the fares vary depending upon time of day, etc. I'm hoping someone on this forum can advise and let me know if there are any other options.