Eurail special sale vs point to point

I highly suggest two things -

1. Visit the Man in Seat 61 website for information on fares and unbiased feedback on passes vs. point to point.

2. Do not use the Rail Europe or Rick Steves site to calculate point to point fares.

....... but I am having a hard time finding exact prices for our point-to-point needs, ......... It is easy to find p2p prices. Just go to the national rail sites, and plug in travel dates about 2, 3 months out (same day of the week) and you will see the prices and most likely the discounts available. Granted, scheduling and pricing is not available for next May but the changes between scheduling periods are small to none.

Can't comment on your pass-or-tickets dilemma, but did want to admire your itinerary.

Too bad about having to return to A'dam, but sounds like a really nice trip.

Yes, to everything Emily says.
The authoritative place to look up fares is the website of whichever railway company runs the train. And read the "Man in Seat 61" website.

The story with Lauterbrunnen is that a Eurail Pass only covers you up to Interlaken (the "gateway" to the Jungfrau area). From there to Lauterbrunnen you only get a discount and would have to buy (discounted) tickets at Lauterbrunnen.

Following on Emily's and Frank's posts:

Here is The Man In Seat 61's excellent discussion of passes vs. individual tickets: https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#railpass-or-point-to-point-tickets

Here is his page of where to look for accurate fares for each journey: https://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets.htm

Emily is right - the Rick Steves train price map assumes last minute purchase, and since you know your itinerary in advance, you can take full advantage of advance purchase discounts. And Frank is right - look at prices for about 3 months ahead on your routes, and assume prices will only go up a bit next year (a few euros).

Note that if you want to stop in Brussels, you will need separate tickets (Amsterdam to Brussels, then Brussels to Arras).

The promotional rail passes are non-refundable. Do you wish to risk the total cost of those rail passes for a trip that is so many months out? Besides the obvious possibilities (illness, injury, job circumstances, etc) that might impact your trip, your plans may in fact evolve between now and then. Why lock in everything now?

If you're not ready to buy a non-refundable pass now, other sales or price changes probably will happen between now and next May.

"I am assuming the rail travel we would do within cities or for short day trips from cities would be on local lines that would not be covered on Eurail." This assumption is only partly correct. In-city transport is rarely covered, although you could continue to your hotel by S-Bahn after arriving by train in Munich. Regional trains from town to town normally are covered by passes, but tickets on the spot may also be cheap, depending on distance.

Of course, you already know that trains past Interlaken in the Lauterbrunnen Valley are an exception; you do just get the 25% discount on those mountain trains and lifts with a Eurail pass, which does not require using a counted Eurail flexipass travel day. At those times that you're buying discounted Swiss transport tickets, your child under 16 could get the usual kid discount of 50% off instead of the passholder discount or you can probably buy the Junior Card there to cover him for 30 Swiss Francs.

Passholder reservations on Thalys (if you take it) from Amsterdam to Antwerp or Brussels and TGV Lyria from Paris to Basel will add to the total cost of using a pass (or Paris-Strasbourg is a cheaper reservation). See https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/france-rail-passes.

The ticket price maps we provide you are a good starting point. It's correct that they show full fares, not advance discounts. If you were aiming to buy point-to-point tickets ahead, the biggest savings would be on the longest, most expensive tickets from Paris to Switzerland and from Switzerland to Germany; both of these should go on sale by mid-December. Trains within Switzerland don't offer early booking discounts.

The travel map provided on this site does also not take into account private rail lines, like Westbahn [in Austria] and RejioJet [in Czechia], which have very low walk up fares.

No one goes to an airport and walks up to the airline counter on the day of travel and buys a ticket, as that would be crazy expensive. Same is today true of train tickets with national carriers.