Which Swiss Travel Pass?

The standard pass is valid for a set period as purchased, the days run consecutively. You don't have to travel everyday but you won't get credit for unused days.

The FlexiPass is valid for one month, you buy it for a number of days use within that time. You can spread them out, or run some consecutively. But if you wanted them all consecutive don't buy the Flexi version because it has a premium on the daily price.

So if you were staying for 2 weeks but only planned on using a pass for 4 days then you'd buy the 4 day FlexiPass. If you wanted 4 consecutive days of travel for a short visit then you'd buy the standard pass.

Don't forget that the pass covers trams and local buses within cities so even if you have a day away from real travel the standard version may still be useful. The question I've never answered is whether the built in Museum Pass is valid on the non travel days of the Flexi Pass, logically that's when you'd be visiting museums.

The swiss pass also covers boat rides, some funicular rides, and discounts to other train rides such as the one that takes you to the top of Jungfrau. We were in Switzerland for 2 weeks last year and based on our itinerary, the 8-day flex pass was a great deal. The regular round-trip ticket from Zurich to Zermatt alone is around $300. And yes, you can use the pass to visit a museum on the same day as a travel day. We took the train to Basel and used the same pass to visit the museum there. Once you have your itinerary figured out, do the calcs. Enjoy your travels!

You may also want to look into SuperSaver Fares, since the passes are confusing and expensive. These go on sale 30 days in advance. From what I've experienced you can only buy them using the SBB app on a mobile if you don't have AMEX credit card for SBB desktop site.

One example, I bought a SuperSaver ticket one way Zurich Luzern for 20 versus 40 CHF.

The drawbacks are that they are non-refundable inflexible only good for that train and time and they sell out fast and they may not have the time you want to go. They do not sell these for gondola or funiculars.

You may want to look at the https://www.seat61.com/Switzerland.htm for one stop concise explanation on the passes.

Without knowing your plan, I'd be leaning toward the Swiss Travel Pass for 15 consecutive days, currently about US$485 per adult. Comparing that to the 8-days-in-one-month flexi pass at $445, you get 5 more days of maximum coverage (at $10 each) during your 13-day stay. It does cover boats, city transport, museums, and lift discounts as mentioned already. All of those coverage and discounts are only on the counted travel days of a flexi pass, with no benefit in-between the flexi days.

If your trip plan may firm up closer to your trip date, you can buy passes in a Swiss train station or the consecutive-day versions are also sold online to print at home. If you still can't decide, you can also buy a one-month Half-Fare Card, which gives you half off all transport tickets (but no museum coverage) and you buy tickets as you go.

If in doubt then please do consider the Swiss Half Fare Card which is a nice middle ground type of pass. All your trips will be discounted by 50%. If you plan on traveling on some of the private high railway mountain lines like Jungfrau then that trip is also reduced by 50% which in itself will cover the cost of the HFC.