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Review of Rome2Rio 2021: Is It Better Than Google Travel Tools?

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Goliath vs. David. Can Rome2rio.com beat Google Flights, Google Maps, and Google Hotel Meta-Search? Compared with Google travel planning and booking tools, will Rome2Rio give better value and save you money? Find out what Rome2rio has to offer. 

TravelTech review: Rome2rio

Rome2rio is one of the greatest stories ever told. Having worked in Microsoft for many years, two brilliant software engineers, David D. Cameron and Michael Reed, started their own company to provide new value for travelers. Despite being active for many years, they achieved something that Google and Expedia Group (Expedia, hotels.com, Trivago, booking.com, Kayak, Momondo, and more) had failed to, despite their activeness for many years. 

To attract users used to booking and planning vacations on platforms and websites with millions of users, Rom2rio needed to create new value (booking.com – 500,000,000 visits per month, Expedia – 70,000,000 visits per month, Google 60,000,000,000 visits per month, results from similarweb.com – July 2019). Millions of users now rely on Rome2rio for valuable and unique services after a decade of launch. The screenshot here shows more than 20 million unique visitors per month to a similar web.

 Rome2Rio

Furthermore, adding Rome2Rio users will increase the number of people using Rome2Rio services.

If You Plan to Travel Soon, You Need to Try Rom2Rio.

How did Rome2Rio develop this service (a multimodal transportation search engine)? No idea. The fact that Google is so big may explain why it segmented its services and developed hotel meta-search engine, flight planner, and maps tools separately. Travel planning tools for travelers are less critical to Expedia and Booking than bookings and conversions. To make vacation planning more manageable, Rom2rio developed a comprehensive solution.  

I love Rome2rio! That’s for sure. Problem-solving is not always logical or rational for consumers. I sometimes say I’d save $20 and spend an extra 4 hours on a bus since I wouldn’t say I like plans or I’m frustrated with security controls when I fly. Rent a car, use trains or planes, or combine them with Rome2rio’s comprehensive planning tool. I’m not interested in testing this. 

When comparing results from planning and booking everything on Google – Google Flights, Google Maps, and Google Hotel Meta-Search – will you save money on your next trip when using Rome2Rio and their partners (Skyscanner and booking.com)?

Booking Engine Overview of Rome2Rio

With Rome2rio, You Can Search For Hotels, Flights, and Maps Alongside Google.

I take on Rome2rio’s biggest challenge so far: Competing with Google, the world’s largest search engine.

Not only as an advertising platform but also as an affiliate marketer, Google wants a more significant piece of the travel industry.

We’ll see if they can save users money and provide a better service than Rome2rio. 

Summer Challenge: Berlin to Venice

To find a decent hotel in Venice for a few days, I wanted to know how to get from Berlin to Venice by plane or train. 

The screenshot below is from Rome2rio after entering Berlin to Venice on the site.

The overview page I received when planning a route is the best I have ever seen—it presented all the options clearly, including travel times, prices, and transportation options. 

 According to Ryanair, the flight cost 172 Euros for a return ticket.

 Rome2Rio

In my opinion, it was an excellent price, considering I booked only a week before departure.

. Entered a flight from Berlin to Venice and back into Google Flights with the exact dates. My flight was much cheaper when I searched for it on Google Flights. For 119 Euros, you can fly with Easyjet. In other words, I would have saved more than 50 euros with Google.

Google Maps vs. Rome2rio: The Training Battle

After checking the train display and booking options, I went to the train booking page—just a quick note to say that the route display, map, and price page are excellent. Due to a partnership between Rome2rio and the German railway (Deutsche Bahn), you can book directly with them.

My price for the trip was 189.80 Euros via the booking engine of the German railroad. The next step, as recommended by Rome2Rio, would be to take a bus from Munich to Venice for 102 euros. It was relatively easy and user-friendly to choose and book.

I then checked Google Maps for information on how to purchase my train and bus tickets to Venice.

As I mentioned, the first display page resembled Rome2rio very closely. The map and route can only be seen on this page. There were a lot of problems with the following pages.

To find my train, I went to the schedule page after viewing the first display page showing the train and bus routes. I could not plan my return ticket and had no idea how to purchase it.

 Rome2Rio

Booking tickets is made through Google Maps, which takes you to the designated companies. It is, therefore, necessary to re-enter your search queries.

This booking tool does not compare well with Rome2rio regarding user-friendliness.

Google Hotel Metasearch vs. Rome2rio (booking.com) – Next Challenge

When. Directed me to booking.com from Rome2rio. I stayed on the Rome2rio platform. The primary source of income is affiliate commissions from booking.com when their users book hotel rooms through their website.

The Holiday Inn Mestre Marghera is a nice hotel in Venice for 124 Euros.

. I found the same hotel on the dates on the Google Meta-Search engine. In the example below, I am getting a 10% discount over Booking.com. Booking.com isn’t the cheapest, but with the biggest search engine in the world, you can find lower prices from all the sellers.

Conclusion: Rome2Rio against Google

As Google’s mission statement states, information should be organized and made accessible. Goliath beat David at his own game, according to my analysis. Compared to the Google products Rome2rio runs against, Rome2rio is a better travel search engine.

We have concluded from our Rome2rio review that Rome2rio takes the customer’s perspective into account when making travel arrangements. A clear presentation of options, prices, and routes enables the traveler to make an informed choice. Booking.com lost in the hotel price comparison to Google Flights and Google Hotel Meta-Search, while Skyscanner lost to Google Flights in the flight price comparison. Using the best deal available is only one example of how Google uses its search engine capabilities. Due to its prominent placement, more users will opt for Google over Booking.com, Skyscanner, and Expedia because of its presence at the top of the page.

Therefore, we concluded that Rome2rio is a better and cheaper option than Google for comprehensive planning and booking.

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