Global Flex Pass Plus BO pass or Just Swiss Card?

What time of year is this wonderful trip?

Hi, we are going May 12-June 16, thanks! And I should have said, I really appreciate all insights!

I see seven long distance trips on your plan. All those trips have in common that you need reservations on top of your pass. These add to the cost. Also they are often rather complicated to get.

If your plan is set then just book tickets for the high speed trains in advance with the operators. Eg. You can travel in Business on a Trenitalia High Speed train from Rome to Naples for 33.90 if you book early. With an Eurail Pass you have your pass cost per day, and an additional 10,- to pay, (12,- if you go via the Eurail reservation system...)
And travelling in Italy you can also use Italo, which an Eurail pass does not cover, and which is sometimes even cheaper.
Italo also sells a convenient Train+Bus connection from Rome to Sorrento.

If you though that with a pass you could just go to a station and get on a train, you are mistaken.

However....

It is currently to ealry for booking trains for June. You will notice that if you go to the Italian or French railway's websites that you will not find many trains open for booking. Start looking late March/early April.

For the Bernese Oberland getting the BO pass may be a good option, if you do plan on doing a lot of mountain railway excursions. But you do not need to buy that now. You can wait till you are in Switzerland.

If you get the BO pass, you can save a day by using it to go from Luzern to Bern in the morning on the RE train, then the train to Wengen in the late afternoon. That covers the day trip to Bern.

Wengen to Paris with an 8 hour stopover in Strasbourg, you need to leave by 7:42 am to get to Strasbourg by just after noon, then a TGV to Paris at 8:30 pm getting to Paris Est at just after 10 pm. There are earlier trains to Paris if you do not need that much time in Strasbourg.

Working back on your travel dates, looks like you will be in Paris mid-week to mid-week. Paris has a very cheap weekly transit pass, but it only goes by calendar weeks, like Sunday-Saturday. That covers a few suburban destinations like Versailles and Disneyland.

Small day trip from Amsterdam, you can just use your "tap" credit card.

So you can probably get by with a 10-day pass if you want to go that way. Then you would be paying around $125/day of use for the 2 of you, $150/day considering reservation fees. Not too bad for 1st/business class. Short day day trips will usually be les than that if you just buy outright.

Thank you very much. It sounds like you are saying not to get a Global Pass? Instead, book the high speed trains (Rome/Naples/Florence/Venice/Milan) and then book train from Milan to Luzerne (or do the Golden pass with boat trip over Lake Luzerne?) then get the BO and use that to get around (versus the swiss pass?). Then use BO for Switzerland generally except to get to Basel/Strausberg? Then book the train to Strausberg/paris separately (we knew it would be a long day but were thinking of just leaving early and spending 3-5 hours there or something?). Then get a Paris weekly pass. Then just buy any day trips we need in Amsterdam? This is my first time to Europe (sabbatical)...I really appreciate this as I honestly thought originally we would just get a global pass and it would be easy except for a few extra trains in Italy/mountains in Switzerland...

The BO Pass works only in the Berner Oberland area, but it is valid on many of the lifts that are not included in the Swiss Travel Pass.
Network map is here.
https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/maps-bernese-oberland/

The train that includes the boat ride across Lake Luzern is called the Gotthard Panorama Express, and it is 1st class only. Otherwise, there are regular trains called the Treno Gottardo that travel the same route to Luzern, minus the boat ride. It goes direct from Bellinzona to Luzern every other hour at 59 past the odd hours, and with a connection at Arth-Goldau at 59 past the even hours. I'd do that and take a boat excursion on another day from Luzern.

Sorry I misunderstood at first, I see you mean get a 10 day pass not a 15 but still use this for the highspeed? So perhaps a 10 day pass and the BO pass. That means we still have to try to book to Paris and to Amsterdam in advance and worry the slots might fill up with global pass users since it is limited?

Well, I am really not a Eurail Pass fan, but some people like them. If you have some time, go to https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html and https://www.italotreno.it/en and check prices for Business class nonrefundable prices. If you know exactly when you need to travel (because you have hotels booked), you can see what the prices and times are. check the times at Trenitalia to insure they are for fast trains.

Be aware that you may not see any trains in Italy after June 8 because that is the date of the semiannual schedule update. You can look at the same day a week earlier to get an idea.

And unless you plan on stopping in Milan, You can book Florence to Luzern. Looks like the Gotthard Base Tunnel will not be ready for passenger traffic until September, so you will still go by the panoramic route.

Here is how to decide wether to get an Eurail Pass.

If you are going to reserve your trains before you fly out to Europe: -> Do not get a pass. It is usually easier to buy tickets+reservations from the operator directly online than an Eurail reservation.

If you are going to reserve your trains at the station a couple of day before travel, and want to decide at the last moment when to move bases: -> get an Eurail Pass

Most of the trips you plan on doing require advance reservation. Only on Wengen to Strasbourg (mind the spelling!) can you just hop on a train and go.
Also with Eurail you cannot use private operators like Italo.