seat reservations cost $ w/Swiss Pass-how to make from US?

You can't make reservations on regular domestic intercity trains in Switzerland. Seats are first come first serve.

yes, I know I can't make them until next summer--but the sbb.ch website this summer said "very heavy" travel predicted (summer in the Alps) and reservations were recommended.

So there is no way to make a reservation prior? We arrive on a Friday and want to travel on Sat, so I prefer not to wait until the day of arrival.
I am also wondering how much it costs for a reservation (6 people), b/c depending on the price, we might be better off just getting city-city tickets with reservation already made. I see that RailEurope will let me make them for $10PP ($60). Is that about what they would be anyway? Any advice?

Unless you want to take the international Italian trains, reservations are not possible on domestic inter-city trains in Switzerland. Seats are first come first serve. There are 48+ direct Swiss Rail trains a day between Zurich and Lugano, and they make the journey just as fast as the international trains, and operate more frequently. You will have no problems finding a seat. You can purchase ticket via RE if you want, but it clearly says on the their site that tickets for the Swiss Rail trains are "open seating".

If you go the Swiss train site, www.sbb.ch/en, you can search for that route, and it will tell you what type of train you'd be riding for each leg of the journey and whether reservations are recommended or compulsory. I just spent two weeks in Switzerland, riding the trains everywhere and we never needed a reservation for a regular train ride. Only reservation was for the CIS from Brig to Venice.

Of course, it's too early to do that for next summer, but if you just want to get some hypotheticals, you can plug in an arbitrary date.

ok-thanks--that definitely eases my mind quite a bit. thanks. Elaine