Europe by Train - buy euro select pass or point to point tickets and which website?

Euro Select does not cover going to the top of Jungfrau and Titlis.
I would Fly Paris to Zurich and then take the train to Luzern from the Airport in 1 hour
Go from Luzern to Titlis as a day trip.
Then go Luzern to stay in Lauterbrunnen to go to Jungfrau and skip Interlaken.
Then Lauterbrunnen to Lugano via Interlaken.
Then Lugano to Venice to Florence to Pisa (as a daytrip)
Then Florence to Rome.

For Switzerland I would buy point to point tickets including the mountain excursion using the Swiss Rail site ap https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html and look for only the Super Saver tickets 30days in advance.

And then for Italy use the Trenitalia site for the rest http://www.trenitalia.com/

The general consensus is that a Eurail pass is rarely the cheapest option, and especially so in Italy where fares are very cheap.
But, you have a lot of trips (most of your holidays) in Switzerland, here a Swiss Pass or a Swiss Half price card may be worth it. A Eurail Pass does not cover Swiss mountain railways.
In France and Italy, long distance tickets are a lot cheaper if bought in advance, not so in Switzerland hence the above advice about a Swiss Pass or a Swiss Half price card.

Buy from (1) The rail company operating the trains, or sometimes (2) from a European site with no markup ( https://www.trainline.eu/ or https://loco2.com/ ), NEVER from a reseller in another continent ( raileurope.com or eurail.com ), these often have high mark-ups and/or don't sell all trains.

DETAILS:

• SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), for buying your ticket Paris to Luzern: https://www.sbb.ch/en
• Swiss Pass: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
• Swiss Half price card: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html You will have to do the arithmetic yourself to see if the Pass or the ½ price card is better.
• Trenitalia (Italian National Railway, for buying Italian tickets: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

it only takes 4.5 hours to train from Paris -> Lucerne. Flying will take just as long (if not longer) and require lots of movement train/airport/security/wait/delays/land/back to train/etc Just get on the TGV in paris and with 1 change in Zurich you'll be in Lucerne.

it only takes 4.5 hours to train from Paris -> Lucerne

not bad i thought it was a lot longer

Just get on the TGV in paris and with 1 change in Zurich you'll be in Lucerne.

It is over 4½ hours if you take that route! Get off the train from Paris at Basel (3½ hours from Paris, 1 hour BEFORE Zürich). Then take a train to Luzern, approx 1 hour. Basel, Luzern and Zürich are in a triangle, so you are cutting the corner off and saving 1 hour.

Example:

Paris Gare de Lyon dep 10:23, TGV 9211, Basel SBB arr 13:26
Basel SBB dep 14:04. IR 2327, Luzern arr 15:05
Time: 4h42

I have bought rail passes for some trips. In general they are only a good deal if you are traveling quite a distance on your travel days, and not generally a good deal in France where the high speed trains require an additional reservation. So for your trip I would think it is not a good idea. Point to point seems the way to go as others have suggested.

Thank you very much all. Your guidance has been very helpful.

Chris F: thanks for the correction. I meant Basel, but I typed Zurich.

From Paris to Zurich on April 7, Rail Europe currently has tickets available on the direct TGV Lyria from $73. For some reason, this is a few dollars less than on getting off at Basel. Other vendors will have similar rates but this fare category will sell out, so don't wait too long. With a Eurail Select pass, the seat reservation for the same train would be expensive; $48 in 2nd class or $92 in 1st, therefore we don't recommend having France on the pass.

A Swiss Travel Pass for 4 consecutive days can kick in wherever you change trains in Switzerland and should cover you to and around Lugano on day 4.

As already stated, tickets are relatively affordable in Italy, about $200 to cover all your stated your listed trips in 2nd class, even without advance-purchase discount.

and trainline.eu has those same tickets for $67...

Thank you, Laura, Jill, Tim, Chris and everyone. You guys are awesome!

I'm going from Berlin to Rome with stops in Switzerland as well.
I did research and buying point to point tickets in advance is much cheaper. Rail Passes are for flexibility, and peace of mind, not really a money saver.