When and where to buy a half fare pass

I am from Australia and am wanting to buy a half fare pass for 5 adults. It is not convenient to buy online so i was hoping to be able to either buy one in France, or Italy, or else when we arrive in Lugano, from Milan. We want to travel on the Bernina Express on the day we arrive in Lugano (bus to Tirano) and i am not sure about the order in which i need to buy the pass and the tickets for the Bernina Express. We will need to make reservations on the Bernina Express. After leaving Chur we will be travelling to Lucerne, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva.
Could someone give me some advice please.

Hello kenwil,

You can buy it at manned Swiss rail stations such as Lugano. I don't know about other countries, but you better not count on buying Swiss rail passes at Italian or French rail stations. Perhaps specialized travel agencies sell them. Once you've purchased the Swiss Half Fare Card, you can start using it right away. The order of buying the Swiss Half Fare Card, tickets and seat reservations is not important. What matters is that you posses all travel documents when boarding a train. You can buy the Swiss Half Fare Cards online and the tickets in Switzerland or vice versa.

Does this answer your questions?

Thanks for the reply, but i am still confused!
On Saturday 30/4/2011, our party of 5 will be arriving at Lugano, by train from Milan, at 9:08. We want to catch the bus to Tirano at 10:00am to catch the 14:04 train from Tirano to Chur. My concern is whether we can buy the Swiss Half Fare travel card, the Bernina Express ticket, and the reservation required, at Lugano that morning. I would prefer to be organised beforehand and buy them all online, but there is a time delay getting the travel card sent to Australia, as well as the extra cost. I am also not sure whether i have to actually have the card before i can buy tickets and make the reservations, since i assume that these have to be paid for online at the time of making the booking. If this is the case i am not sure how we make use of the half fare card. Do i have all this correct? I have had the thought that maybe we pay for it all when we collect our booked tickets at Lugano. Is this correct?

Thanks for your patience!

what lifts and gondolas etc around the Berner Oberland will allow half fare with the half fare card