Chamonix > Switzerland > Munich - What train pass should we get?

Anna,

As most of your stops are in Switzerland, one of the usual Swiss passes may save you some money. However, which one to buy is not always easy to determine. Some of us here have resorted to using a spreadsheet to figure out which pass is the best. You may find this helpful.....

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes

In your case, get a Half Fare Card for 120 CHF. Not only covers the main travel days but also most of the mountain lifts and lake boats you are bound to take while visiting Zermatt, Lauterbrunnen, and Luzern, like the Gornergratbahn, the Schilthornbahn, and Lake Luzern boats and mountain lifts like Pilatus. Depending on how long are staying in Lauterbrunnen, you might look at getting the Berner Oberland Pass, which also gets discounted with the Half Fare Card. That covers fully many mountain lifts in the Berner Oberland as well as part of the way from Zermatt to Lauterbrunnen, and all the way from Lauterbrunnen to Luzern.

You can buy the ticket from Luzern to Munich in advance and get a discounted Sparpreis Europa ticket that is nonrefundable. Adding a seat reservation for that leg is also recommended for an additional 5 CHF.

Thank you so much for the advice! I think we're going to go with the Swiss Travel Pass. I think It makes the most sense for us to buy a one way pass from Geneva to Chamonix, then one way from Chamonix to Zermatt. Then we'll use the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass for our 8 days in Switzerland, then we head to Germany.

If this doesn't make sense, please let me know if you have a better option! Here is the breakdown of our trip:
Monday 4th Geneva > Chamonix
4th-8th Chamonix
8th Chamonix > Zermatt
12th Zermatt > Interlaken
14th Interlaken > Luzern
16th Luzern > Munich
20th Munich > USA

It will be best to take a bus from Geneva airport to Chamonix as it is direct and takes about 1 1/2 hours vs at least 3 hours by train with several changes.