Some ideas for starters…..

Super saver ticket from Swiss Rail? http://www.sbb.ch/en…

Swiss card for 1/2 price travel in Switzerland — maybe child will be free with adult?
http://www.sbb.ch/en…

Try Bahn.de for specials?

Kayak to look for low airline fares?

I believe europebyair.com searches a number of low fare when looking for cheap fares and fares that honor their flight passes. However $360 a ticket was the cheapest I saw for next weekend. Most options were closer to $1200. (US$ I believe)

I am shocked at the prevailing prices for this weekend. I thought finding a last minute 2 day trip would be reasonably priced to Basel.
Is there any website for getting last minute deals just a short flight away? Anywhere? even if it is away in England or Scotland?

www.whichbudget.com will pop some cheap flights on an “anywhere” search, but I could not make it work very well for specific dates.

maybe you can try http://www.skyscanne…? it’s a nice website that lets you look at prices over a month period, and will even tell you what time during the year when flights are cheaper. as for why the train tickets might be more expensive than expected…it’s probably because in addition to all the non-european tourists in the summer, a lot of people in countries more up north like Germany for instance travel down south for their summer holidays and have to pass through switzerland on their way to Italy.