What train pass(es) should I get?

Berner Oberland Pass + Half Fare card for the 2 adults. Your 2 year old is free on everything.

Hi! I created a spreadsheet trying to figure out the difference for our similar-ish trip. We are 6 days in Switzerland and will be only in the Alps with 2 adults and 1 kid. It's particularly frustrating because the information Rick gives on the passes not adding up etc doesn't seem to make sense. I looked at 4 days plus/minus 1/2 fare plus travel from to our prior/next destination, 6 days plus/minus 1/2 fare inclusive of travel to/from next destination, BO pass vs Jungfrau pass vs Swiss Pass.

What I CAN tell you is that in the end everything is close in price. So you may save a little one way or the other but it's not enough to go crazy over. We are looking at 2 adults in all of these configurations running around 800 chf total for 6 days. Also Rick says doubling up on the Pass plus 1/2 fare is unnecessary but I did find them ultimately less expensive.

Perhaps because you will be traveling out of the BO area it may not actually cover the Zermatt region. So unfortunately, you may have to do that math as well! So sorry...

Our trip was similar to yours, and for us, the Half fare card and the Berner Oberland Pass was the most economical. We waited until our arrival in Zurich to purchase the passes. There is a large SBB office at the Zurich Flughafen station; their customer service representatives were very helpful in explaining our options. Service was also quick and efficient. Your hotel in Lucerne should provide you with a complimentary Lucerne Visitor Card which will also provide you with some discounts. https://www.luzern.com/en/information/useful-information/visitor-card-lucerne Enjoy Switzerland!

Hi there,
Just thought I would chime in on the BO Pass. We are just wrapping up five days in Switzerland. We started the pass in Lucerne and then based ourselves in Interlaken. We had no set itinerary. When the weather was good (and even mediocre) we took every cable car, funicular and mountain railway we could find. It was glorious. On the rainy day we used the train and bus to get to Bern and then explored along the lake on our return. We prefer spontaneous travel and found the pass to be excellent value for us. Enjoy your trip!

This is all incredibly helpful. Thank you everyone!

Sorry to tag on this thread, hopefully it's ok.

I plan to get half fare + BO pass. the silly question I have is how to double check the route or mode of transportation that I get on will be covered by the BO pass? Does SBB's website show which route is covered by BO pass? I don't think I have seen it.

The website of the Berner Oberland Regional Pass has a detailed map of all the lines that are covered. I think you can also get a printed copy of that map at the station.
https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/assets/Uploads/BLS-BO-Pass-M-23-WEB.pdf

Nora, what do mean by “information Rick gives on the passes not adding up”?

And are you referring to info in the RS guidebook or info in posts in this forum?