Embark RoutesHow we choose what to show you.
The short version: we put the journey that suits most travellers first, we label what we can earn money from, and earning money never moves an option up the list.
How the route planner orders options
When you search, the planner works out every realistic way to get there door to door: flights, trains, coaches, ferries and driving, including the trip to the airport or station and the transfer at the other end. Options are listed from the shortest total door-to-door time to the longest.
Three labels help you compare at a glance:
- Fastest: the shortest total time, door to door, not just the time in the air or on the train.
- Cheapest: the lowest typical cost per person for the whole journey, based on our estimates of usual fares. If the fastest option is also the cheapest, it keeps the Fastest label.
- Greenest: the quickest of the other options that goes by train, as rail is usually the lowest-carbon way to travel.
These are estimates from real geography and typical speeds, fares and transfer times. They help you compare, but they aren't live prices or timetables.
How we order options in route guides
In our route guides we put first the option that suits most travellers, weighing up:
- Total door-to-door time, including check-in, security and transfers
- Typical cost for the whole trip, not just the headline fare
- Number of changes and how easy they are
- Whether it actually runs in the season the guide covers
- How easy it is to book, ideally in one go
When two options are close, we say so and explain who each one suits, for example the train for city centre to city centre, or a flight for regional airports.
One tap for the whole journey
Where a trip needs a change, for example London to Bruges with a change in Brussels, we link to a booking that covers the whole journey in one go wherever one exists, rather than making you book each leg separately. If the whole trip can't be booked in one place, we say so and link each part.
Where our information comes from
We use operators' own websites and timetables, airport and station information, tourist boards and trusted travel sources. Flight prices shown on the site are the lowest fares found by our partner Aviasales in the last 48 hours, and we say so next to them. Past weather comes from Visual Crossing. Each route guide shows the month it was last checked, and where something isn't confirmed yet, such as next year's event dates, we say so rather than guess.
How we make money, and what it doesn't change
Embark Routes is free. Some links are affiliate links: if you book through them, the provider may pay us a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We may also show adverts, which are always labelled.
- Commission never changes the order of options or which options we show.
- We don't accept payment to rank a route, hotel or provider higher.
- We link to the best place to book even when we earn nothing from it.
- Prices you pay are set by the provider. We never add fees.
Deals and offers
We only show offers that the provider is actually running, with the end date where the provider gives one. Countdowns on our site count down to a real date, such as the end of a sale, and we don't invent urgency or claim savings we can't back up. Always check the final price on the provider's site before you book.
Spotted something wrong?
Travel changes all the time. If a route, time, price or date is out of date, please tell us and we'll check and fix it. More about who we are is on our About page.
