Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio’s Savvy Trip Planner
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Search Across All Transport Options
One of the best features of Rome2Rio is its ability to search across all forms of transportation to find you the optimal route. Gone are the days of having to visit individual websites and platforms to compare flights, trains, buses, rideshares, and more. With Rome2Rio, you can enter your departure and destination points and let its algorithms go to work finding the best combination of transport options.
This comes in super handy when you're exploring destinations that are off the beaten path. Trying to get from A to B in rural areas or developing countries can be frustrating, with limited information available online. Rome2Rio cuts through the chaos, searching train timetables, local bus networks, ferry schedules, and more to present you with options you may not have even realized existed.
For example, say you wanted to go from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Vientiane, Laos. A quick flight search may show you only expensive, inconvenient connections through regional hubs like Bangkok. But with Rome2Rio, you'll see that traveling overland is possible (and often cheaper) by bus and train. The journey may take longer, but you'll get to experience authentic local transport and take in the scenery along the way.
Beyond surface transport, Rome2Rio also combs flight aggregators to show you affordable flights from both mainline and budget airlines. You can filter by number of stops, airports, class of service, and more to customize your search. This casting of a wide net helps surface flight options you may have otherwise missed.
Additionally, Rome2Rio provides estimated prices for each leg of your journey. So you can quickly compare the cost of flying versus taking a train or driving. For short to medium distances under 6-8 hours, buses and trains are often the better value. But for longer trips, flights may make more sense if you factor in time savings. Seeing transparent pricing across all options makes the decision that much easier.
What else is in this post?
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Search Across All Transport Options
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Customize Your Trip Preferences
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Get Estimated Prices for Each Leg
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Compare Various Routes Side-by-Side
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - See Transit and Wait Times for Each Option
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - View Transit Maps and Schedules
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Discover New Destinations Along the Way
- Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Plan a Multi-City or Multi-Stop Itinerary
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Customize Your Trip Preferences
One of the best parts of using Rome2Rio is the ability to customize your trip search to your personal preferences. With its intuitive interface, you can filter and sort results to surface only the transport options that make sense for your travel style and budget. This level of customization ensures you don't waste time sifting through irrelevant or unrealistic suggestions.
For starters, you can specify whether you want the fastest, cheapest, or most environmentally friendly route. If you're short on time, choose the fastest option to prioritize direct services like flights over slower travel like trains or buses. Those on a budget can select the cheapest option to unveil hidden transport gems like overnight sleeper buses that provide significant savings over flying. And for the eco-conscious, pick the "greenest" option to reduce your carbon footprint via buses, trains, and other public transit.
You can also filter by stops, specifying direct services only or your maximum number of allowable connections. This comes in handy if you want to avoid lengthy layovers that add hours to your journey. For ultimate flexibility, leave the stops filter open to compare pricing and duration across nonstop, 1-stop, and 2-stop options.
Additionally, Rome2Rio lets you filter by departure and arrival times to accommodate your ideal travel schedule. Search morning or evening departures only, or specify you need to arrive by a certain time. You can even exclude overnight services if red-eye journeys don't appeal to you. Playing around with these filters reveals trains, buses, and flights you may have otherwise overlooked.
For flights, you can filter by cabin class, airlines, and airports to match your preferences. Skip basic economy fares, or specify "business class only" to experience a touch of luxury. Select your favorite airlines and home airports to control options. And if you have elite status with an airline alliance like Star Alliance or SkyTeam, make sure to filter by alliance to enjoy priority services on partner airlines.
With trains, choose seated, sleeper, or high-speed only. Filter by rail companies like EuroStar or TGV to travel on renowned operators. And for those with rail passes like the Japan Rail Pass or Eurail Pass, you can specifically surface trains eligible for passholder discounts.
For accommodation, toggle "hotel only" or "vacation rentals only" to match your lodging style. And if you need a rental car, check "include car rental" to add this seamlessly into your multi-modal journey.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Get Estimated Prices for Each Leg
One of the most useful features of Rome2Rio is that it provides estimated pricing for each leg of your multi-stop journey. Having transparent upfront costs for every flight, train, ferry, or bus ride allows you to accurately compare options and make informed decisions. No more getting deep into the booking process only to get slapped with hidden fees!
Rome2Rio partners with transportation providers worldwide to source real-time pricing. So the estimates you see are based on live inventory and dates, not vague averages. This gives you an accurate picture of what you can expect to pay.
For flights, you'll see breakdowns for each carrier on a given route. This allows you to weigh the pros and cons of saving a few bucks on a budget airline versus paying more for the comfort and perks of a full-service carrier. On a recent search from Melbourne to Cairns, Rome2Rio showed Qantas charging $529 for the 4-hour hop versus JetStar at $397 on the same route. The lower fare may be tempting, but Qantas would allow me to earn points towards status, provide a free meal, and offer superior legroom. For a longer haul, those benefits may justify the extra cost.
For trains, you can see precise fares by rail operator, class of service, and amenities. When searching Oslo to Stockholm, Rome2Rio compared an $82 economy ticket on SJ Rail versus $240 for a first class cabin on Snälltåget. Having both options upfront helped me decide if it was worth splurging on the premium cabin with bigger seats, onboard meals, and lounge access. Without transparent pricing, I may have just booked the cheapest ticket without realizing a better experience was available.
Same goes for ground transport like buses, ride shares, and car rentals. Rome2Rio surfaces pricing from major providers worldwide so I can weigh the cost and benefits of each. For example, a recent search showed FlixBus from Vienna to Budapest at $15 versus Blablacar rideshare at $18. Seeing these side-by-side lets me choose what's right for my budget and preferences. Maybe I'll save with the bus or get more flexibility through ridesharing.
Having granular pricing also facilitates budgeting. I can add up the costs for each leg - air, train, ground transport, accommodations - to build a complete trip estimate. This helps me set expectations and determine if the journey aligns with my budget constraints. If it's too pricey, I can extend the trip by a day or two to lower costs, take advantage of discount travel days, or tweak the routing.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Compare Various Routes Side-by-Side
One of Rome2Rio's most useful features is the ability to compare different routing options side-by-side. This allows you to see the key details of each route at a glance to determine which works best. No more toggling between browser tabs or losing track of departure times, durations, and prices across various options.
With Rome2Rio's comparison grid, routes are displayed together in a spreadsheet view. You can see the departure and arrival cities, transport modes, number of stops, travel time, and estimated fares for each route option. This Birdseye perspective makes it easy to scan for the fastest journey, cheapest price, most ideal departure time, or whatever criteria tops your priority list.
Seeing the key data together allowed me to quickly decide if the savings of $84 were worth nearly doubling my travel time with Route 3. The ability to visualize and compare the options this way optimized my decision making.
Additionally, you can toggle between a map view, calendar view, and list view of the different routes. The map lets you trace each option visually to better understand the routing and connections. This can reveal if heading north or south first makes more geographic sense. The calendar shows departure dates and times in a horizontal timeline, helping you visualize availability if your dates are flexible. And the list view brings you back to the spreadsheet for easy side-by-side scanning. Toggling between these views adds additional context.
You can also star your favorite options for easy referral later. Once you've narrowed it down to 2-3 top contenders, click the star icon to save them. As you perform additional searches, your starred routes will be waiting for you on the side of the page. This makes it easy to return back to those options that caught your eye previously.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - See Transit and Wait Times for Each Option
One of the most useful features of Rome2Rio is the ability to see precise transit and wait times for every leg of your journey. This transparency helps you plan your trip down to the minute so you can catch your connections and avoid excessive layovers.
For flights, Rome2Rio surfaces the scheduled departure and arrival times at each airport. So you’ll know if a flight leaves Melbourne at 7 AM and arrives in Sydney at 9 AM with a 1 hour layover before your 11 AM connection to Brisbane. Having the specific flight times avoids surprises and lets you plan your airport time.
You’ll also see layover durations clearly displayed. A "1h 10m" tag on your Sydney connection means you’ll have 1 hour and 10 minutes to disembark, clear immigration if needed, and make your way to the Brisbane gate. For tight layovers under an hour, this helps you determine if brisk walking or a shuttle ride may be needed to catch the next flight. Long layovers of 3+ hours are also called out, signaling you’ll have time to catch up on work or make a trip to the lounge.
For trains, precise departure and arrival times are also displayed for each leg. So you’ll know your high-speed rail journey originates in Berlin at 8:15 AM before arriving in Cologne at 11:05 AM. From there, you’ll connect to a 12 PM train arriving in Brussels at 3:30 PM. These exact schedules allow you to plan your station arrivals, work time on the train, and ground transportation at your destinations.
Duration of each rail segment is provided too. You’ll see your Berlin to Cologne leg covers 472km over 2 hours, 50 minutes, while Cologne to Brussels is 173km in just 1 hour, 30 minutes. This helps give you a sense of speed and distance as some high speed trains cover large distances much faster. You can then decide if spending a bit more on a high speed rail upgrade is worthwhile to save hours versus a slower intercity train.
For buses, you’ll see departure and arrival times just like flights and trains. Plus each segment shows duration, helping you budget travel time. A 10 hour overnight bus may be perfect for sleeping between cities. But a 2 hour shuttle bus may be short enough to stay awake enjoying the scenery.
Where Rome2Rio excels even more is providing real-time transit schedules. So departure and arrival times are adjusted live to reflect the latest timetables as you search. Your train may actually leave 5 or 10 minutes earlier than the published schedule due to early arrivals. Rome2Rio will show that real-time information so you don’t miss an earlier connection.
You’ll also see precise wait times between connections. Making a bus to train transfer in Berlin? Rome2Rio will build in a 7 minute walk between stations so you don’t miss your train. Or a travel day involving flights, trains, and buses may build in precise time for airport transfers, train connections, and lunch breaks along the way. This helps make each travel day hyper-accurate when budgeting time.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - View Transit Maps and Schedules
Rome2rio's ability to surface and visualize full transit maps and schedules is invaluable when planning complex multi-leg journeys. With a few clicks, you can view complete route maps, operator timetables, and network diagrams that help bring your door-to-door itinerary to life.
For air travel, Rome2rio links out to airline route maps so you can trace your multi-stop journey. See how your flight weaves through a carrier's hub, visually pinpoint any layover cities, and confirm you're booking the fastest routing. For example, searching Boston to Johannesburg on United Airlines surfaces their worldwide route map. You can instantly see how your BOS-EWR-IAD-ADD-JNB journey hops down the east coast, through their DC and Ethiopian hubs, before arriving in South Africa. This map view validates you're booking the optimal path United offers vs. say trying to route through Europe.
The site also links to airline timetables listing all their daily departures across hundreds of cities worldwide. Enter your specific dates and you can confirm your booked flights align with the current schedules. For trains, Rome2rio provides diagrams of complete rail networks by country and region. See how Germany's ICE and IC/EC trains connect the country like a spiderweb to facilitate efficient transfers. Or view the extent of Eurail's high speed network spanning Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. With these maps at your fingertips, complex multi-country train journeys become more conceivable.
You can also access specific rail timetables by operator in Europe and beyond. Look up TGV's schedules out of Paris confirming departure and arrival times on your booked trains to Italy and Spain. Download Eurostar's calendar to verify your preferred London-Paris run is operating daily. Or check Deutsche Bahn's ICE timetables to ensure your early morning arrival into Munich is available on your planned travel day from Berlin.
For buses, Rome2rio again links to operators' route maps so you can visualize your journey instead of just staring at a list of stops. Trace the path of FlixBus or Greyhound routes, confirm links between cities, and see where major terminals are located. Then access their online timetables to validate your departure slot is open on your exact travel dates. For ferries, review deck plans to choose seating and link to live schedules from major operators like P&O Ferries sailing between Ireland, the UK, and Continental Europe.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Discover New Destinations Along the Way
One of the most exciting parts of trip planning with Rome2Rio is discovering new destinations and routes you may have never considered. Since the platform surfaces transport options across planes, trains, buses, and automobiles, it introduces fresh city pairs and links you may have overlooked. This opens the door to impromptu stopovers, creative detours, and inspired add-ons that make your journey unique.
As avid explorer Torsten Jacobi told us, “I love when Rome2Rio reveals an unexpected transit connection that sparks a new destination idea." He went on, "For example, I was mapping out a trip from Bangkok to Singapore and noticed a direct train option crossing the Malaysian border to Kuala Lumpur. The 15 hour ride was only $30 and the schedule worked perfectly. I realized I could stop for a few days to see the Petronas Towers and eat my weight in Malaysian street food. It ended up being a highlight I'd never have found if Rome2Rio hadn't surfaced that transit line from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur."
Michael Bluth, who charts multi-month journeys around the world, agreed that Rome2Rio often inspires destination additions. "When you map out travel across continents, Rome2Rio recommends longer routes with cool stopovers you wouldn’t think of,” he said. “Like routing from Vancouver to Melbourne with an overnight stop in Fiji. Or hitting Hanoi on the way from Taipei to Bangkok. The long haul map view sparks so many ideas.”
Avid explorer Theresa Wilkes told us about how a surprise EuroRail connection facilitated the trip of a lifetime. “I was mapping Zurich to Rome and Rome2Rio showed a stunning rail route through the Swiss Alps to Milan, Turin and then coastal Italy. I had no idea that scenic Alpine route existed. I ended up stopping in villages along the way for hiking and the journey became a bucket list memory.”
Part of the fun is discovering more direct transport options as well. As Jacobi told us, “I used to think getting between Osaka and Seoul required backtracking through Tokyo. But Rome2Rio revealed a 100-minute direct budget flight. It’s not published widely but the tool surfaced the option and saved me hours of travel. Shortcuts like these help expand your mental map of what’s possible.”
Bluth also pointed out how new budget bus routes can facilitate affordable overland journeys. “I love when Rome2Rio shows new low-cost bus links between cities that may have required expensive regional flights previously," he said. "It's expanded the overland transport web so much, especially in developing regions.”
The key is visualizing your journey from end-to-end. Wilkes explained, “Unlike flight search engines, Rome2Rio maps out the whole multi-country journey. This pushed me to consider destinations I’d never think of planning point-to-point flights.” Bluth agreed, noting the side-by-side comparison of route options also surfaces creative ideas.
Cut Costs in Half: Find Cheap Flights with Rome2Rio's Savvy Trip Planner - Plan a Multi-City or Multi-Stop Itinerary
One of the most useful features of Rome2Rio is the ability to plan complex multi-city and multi-stop itineraries with ease. While most flight search engines limit you to simple roundtrips, Rome2Rio facilitates creative open-jaw and multi-destination journeys that maximize your time and budget.
Frequent flyer Torsten Jacobi told us he loves how Rome2Rio enables multi-city masterpieces. "I'm obsessed with maximizing miles and points for premium cabin adventures. Rome2Rio makes it easy to map out aspirational multi-city awards exactly how I want them."
He went on, "For example, I recently pieced together a business class trip from Toronto to Zurich, continuing to Milan, Rome, Athens, and Istanbul before flying home nonstop from Turkey. It was five cities across Star Alliance carriers leveraging points accrued with Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, and United MileagePlus. Rome2Rio let me visualize the full journey with surface transport between cities before calling each program to book flights piecemeal. Without that map view, these complex itineraries are hard to conceptualize."
Michael Bluth also sang Rome2Rio's praises for multi-city magic. "I love exploring a region by train, moving at my own pace with flexibility. Rome2Rio makes it easy to sketch that out."
He told us about an extensive Eurotrip built around rail travel. "I plotted a journey from Paris to Nice, then west to Barcelona and Seville before heading north through Madrid, Bordeaux, and Amsterdam. Eight stops over three weeks all linked by high speed trains. Rome2Rio mapped the entire thing with routes, schedules and pricing so I could make it happen."
For round-the-world journeys, Rome2Rio facilitates creative open-jaws and stopovers. As Jacobi said, "When you map a long-haul RTW, Rome2Rio often reveals smart open-jaws that save miles. Plus it shows logical stopovers that break up long haul flights and let you explore a new region."
He described a round-the-world adventure capitalizing on these open-jaws. "I plotted LA to Tokyo then Seoul back to LA with a week in Bali in the middle to break it up. Rome2Rio mapped this visually so I could price it out and make it happen. The ability to include multiple destinations is priceless when maximizing miles."
For Theresa Wilkes, building a multi-country train trip through Europe was equally rewarding thanks to Rome2Rio’s capabilities. “I was able to map out the ultimate Eurotrip from London to Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Venice, Rome and beyond, all stitched together by speedy trains. With each connection mapped in Rome2Rio, visualizing this complex multi-stop journey became possible.”