Which train pass shall I buy?

Hi midwestern! You've planned some very intensive traveling (did you check the timetable?). Note that you can also choose to focus on one or two regions closer to Zurich. But if you don't mind making long journeys each day, your itinerary is fine of course. Which pass is best, depends on your final travel scheme. For the itinerary your mentioned, I would advise a 4 day Swiss Saver Pass, to be used on day 1 to 4. It provides maximum flexibility and will definitely be cost effective, as you plan long and expensive trips these days. On day 5, you'd buy a regular full-priced ticket from Lucerne to Zurich. An alternative would be to travel to Zurich on the evening of day 4, so that this trip too is still covered by your Swiss Pass. A ZurichCard might be a good idea for day 5.

Hi midwestern. If you're traveling in high season (especially July or August), 1st class will be more comfortable. Most mountain transportation and buses don't have 1st class though, so you'd especially profit from 1st class seats in all regular trains and on boats.

If you won't be making major changes to your itinerary, a 4 day Swiss Pass would be way more convenient than a Swiss Half Fare Card. The Swiss Pass offers a 50% discount on nearly all mountain trips, except for the Jungfraujoch (25% off between Wengen, Jungfraujoch and Grindelwald). Did you check the validity map at the Swiss Pass page?

If you want to save on traveling time, you could replace the trip to Titlis on day 4 by a trip to the Pilatus. That's a great viewing point too, and a lot closer to Lucerne. You could make a wonderful round trip via Alpnachstad, Pilatus and Kriens, and get on the boat over lake Lucerne right after this visit.

You may also like these hotel overviews for Zermatt, Interlaken, Lucerne, Zurich and Zurich Airport.