A blogger wrote that an advantage of purchasing a First class Swiss travel pass rather than a Second class pass is that the First class pass allows access to the upper deck on boat trips where Second class pass holders cannot go. Is this accurate?
Can one buy a second class pass and upgrade to a first class pass/ pay a bit more just for specific boat rides? If so, is this an easy process and roughly what could one expect to pay to do so?
I generally advocate for the Half Fare Card. It is half off everything, 1st or 2nd class, you pay half price. It usually saves more money than a Travel Pass. You don't get free museum entrances, but I am not that big on museums in Switzerland, although I have been to a few and just paid the entrance fee. Most trains, 2nd class is perfectly fine, but like you say, there are occasions where it is nice to upgrade.
The upper decks on boats are indeed reserved for 1st class. I doubt it's really worth the extra, but in case you want to go up and take a look you can always just pay the difference and sit in 1st class on that particular ride.
