Rome2rio’s newly launched Advance Booking Alert advises travellers when they must book in advance and when they can “wing it”, ensuring that its users are not left behind.
The alert function makes sure travellers are fully informed when transport operators require or recommend advance reservations for their services.
Advance booking alert displayed on Rome2rio’s site.
The Rome2rio site now displays an alert alongside schedules that indicates whether advance bookings are compulsory, recommended, or not required. The company believes it is the first online service to display this information on a global basis.
Rome2rio’s CEO, Rod Cuthbert, said that “Do I need to book this in advance?’” is among the most common questions asked by its seven million monthly users.
“Having discovered, for example, that there’s a frequent TGV service from Turin to Paris, travellers then wonder if they should book ahead of time, or take a chance and buy their ticket at the station. As advance bookings are mandatory for the TGV, we want to make that completely clear.”
Many operators do not require mandatory advance bookings, and travellers are prone to assume that they will find a seat at the last minute.
“That’s often not true, and in those cases we’ll display messaging that says an advance booking is recommended. Inter-city trains in France, Italy and Germany, Amtrak and Megabus services in the US, many Russian trains and peak-season Mediterranean ferry services are all good examples, but the list certainly doesn’t stop there,” added Cuthbert.
Rome2rio is working with transport operators to collect data on advance booking requirements.
Many operators, particularly in Europe, flag services that require advance bookings in their schedule data feeds. In other cases the company will work directly with operators to collect the information.
Eventually Rome2rio will have advance booking information for the majority of the almost 5,000 train, bus and ferry operators displayed on its site.
