Most people book travel the same way every time: pick a destination, fly there, fly back. It works, but it’s also the most expensive and least interesting version of what a trip could be. The Pegasus network covers over 150 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Türkiye — which means that flying into one city and home from a completely different one is often not only possible but significantly cheaper than two separate return tickets. Add a train, bus or ferry between the two and you’ve built a genuine journey rather than an out-and-back. This is a practical guide to doing exactly that: how to find the right routes, how to book them, how to pack for them, what to eat on the flight, how to earn points while you travel, and every other small decision that makes the difference between a trip that’s just fine and one that you actually remember.
Why Multi-City Travel Makes More Sense Than You Think
The logic is simple once you see it. If you’re flying from Istanbul to Belgrade and then, a few days later, flying from Belgrade to Dubrovnik and home — why would you fly back to Istanbul first? You’re backtracking, paying for an unnecessary flight, and losing a day of travel time. An open-jaw ticket — where you fly into one city and home from another — solves all three problems at once. You arrive somewhere, move forward through the region by train or bus or ferry, and fly home from wherever you’ve ended up. The trip has a shape. It goes somewhere rather than back to where it started.
The cost comparison that matters is this: take your proposed multi-city trip and price it two ways. First, as an open-jaw ticket (fly in to City A, fly home from City C). Second, as two separate return tickets (A return, C return). In most cases — not always, but most — the open-jaw wins on total price, sometimes dramatically. The third option worth checking is three separate one-way tickets, particularly if you’re traveling at short notice or across different booking windows. Run all three comparisons before you commit. The Pegasus route map is your starting point for understanding what connections exist, and Flight Hacks: How to Plan a Multi-Stop Trip with Pegasus goes deeper into the mechanics of multi-stop pricing.
Beyond the money, the experience is better. Multi-city travel forces you to engage with geography in a way that a single-destination trip doesn’t. You notice how cities connect to each other, how landscapes change between them, how the food and the architecture and the pace of life shift as you move through a region. The overland segment — the train through the mountains, the overnight ferry, the bus across a border — is often the part of the trip that stays with you longest.
How to Find Routes That Make Sense
Start With the Network, Not the Destination
The most common mistake in multi-city planning is starting with two cities you want to visit and then forcing them into a route. A better approach is to start with the Pegasus route map and ask what’s directly connected from your home airport. Once you know what you can fly to cheaply and directly, look at what’s within overland range of each of those cities. A direct Pegasus flight to Belgrade, for instance, puts Sarajevo six hours away by bus, Dubrovnik seven hours by bus, Budapest seven hours by train, and Ljubljana eight hours by train. Each of those cities is also a Pegasus departure point for flying home. The route builds itself.
The Istanbul Hub Advantage
If you’re traveling from outside Türkiye, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen is one of the most versatile transit hubs available to a budget traveler. Pegasus runs direct connections from Istanbul to over 150 destinations, which means that flying Istanbul first — even if it’s not your primary destination — often opens up combinations that would otherwise require expensive or inconvenient connections. A layover in Istanbul can also become a mini destination in its own right: even 24 hours is enough for the Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, a Bosphorus ferry crossing, and dinner in Beyoğlu. The city rewards the decision to stop rather than rush through.
The Overland Middle
The segment between your first and second destination is where multi-city travel pays for itself in experience. European train networks connect cities that no airline bothers with and do it at ground level, through landscapes that the flight altitude makes invisible. The bus networks across the Balkans, Central Europe and the Caucasus are cheap, reasonably comfortable, and run to destinations that few Western European travelers ever reach. Overnight ferries across the Adriatic and Aegean are slower than flying and considerably more interesting: you board in one country, wake up in another, and the sea crossing is part of the trip rather than a transit obstacle. Budget two or three days for each city segment, and build the overland connection into the itinerary rather than treating it as a logistical inconvenience.
Seasons and Timing
The best multi-city routes match the season to the geography. Spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) are the ideal windows across most of Europe and Türkiye: mild temperatures for overland travel, lower accommodation prices than peak summer, and cities that are genuinely usable rather than overcrowded. Summer works well for coastal routes — the Adriatic, the Aegean, the Black Sea — where the beach element justifies the crowds and the prices. Winter is underused and undervalued: Central European cities in December have Christmas markets, thin tourist crowds, and hotel rates that look like different currencies from July. Check the how to find cheap flights guide for fare timing advice across the Pegasus network.
How to Book a Multi-City Trip
The Open-Jaw Option
When searching for flights, look for a ‘multi-city’ or ‘open jaw’ option in the booking engine rather than selecting a standard return. You’ll enter your outbound origin and destination, then a separate return origin and destination — so if you’re flying Istanbul to Belgrade and returning from Dubrovnik, you enter: outbound Istanbul–Belgrade, return Dubrovnik–Istanbul. The booking engine prices this as a single itinerary, which in most cases is cheaper than booking two one-ways separately through the same system.
When to Book Separately
Sometimes the best price comes from booking each leg independently rather than as a combined itinerary. This is particularly true when your trip spans different seasons, when one leg is on a promotional fare that isn’t available in the combined booking flow, or when the overland connection falls outside a standard window. The trade-off is that separately booked flights carry more risk: if one leg is delayed and causes you to miss a separately booked connection, the airline is not obligated to rebook you. Build buffer time between legs when booking separately — at least three hours for a same-day connection, overnight for anything involving an early departure.
What the Upgrade Package Actually Does
On a multi-city trip with moving parts, the Pegasus upgrade package earns its cost more than on a simple return. It includes flexible rebooking, priority boarding, and additional baggage — all of which matter more when you’re stringing multiple legs together, when a delayed overnight bus might affect your next morning’s flight, or when you’re carrying more than you would for a single-destination weekend. Check what’s included before you buy and compare against the individual cost of the services you’d otherwise add separately.
How to Pack Smart for a Multi-City Trip
The Carry-On Case for Moving Cities
Every additional bag you check is a drag on a multi-city trip: you wait at baggage claim in each city, you pay per leg if bags are charged separately, and you carry more into each hotel than you need. The case for carry-on only becomes stronger the more cities you visit. Check the Pegasus baggage allowance page before you pack to confirm what fits in the cabin — the dimensions and weight limits are clearly stated and worth knowing before you arrive at the desk. A cabin bag plus the permitted under-seat bag gives most travelers enough space for a 7 to 10-day multi-city trip if they pack with any discipline.
The Packing Logic
- Three layers, not three outfits. A base layer, a mid layer, and an outer layer that can be compressed covers most weather across most European destinations. Rewear the mid layer. Wash the base layer in the hotel sink.
- Shoes are the weight problem. One pair of walking shoes that works from morning sightseeing to evening dinner, plus a pair of compact flip-flops or sandals if you’re heading anywhere coastal. That’s it.
- Your documents layer. Passport, travel insurance, any visa documentation, and a photo of each — stored separately in your bag and as digital copies in cloud storage. Losing your passport in City Two of a four-city trip is a very different problem from losing it on a simple return trip.
- Electronics are non-negotiable weight. A universal adapter, a portable battery, a short charging cable that you keep accessible rather than buried, and earphones. Everything else is optional.
- Medicine and essentials on your person. Any prescription medication, your phone charger, and your cash go in your personal under-seat bag — never in the overhead, never in checked luggage. On a multi-city trip this rule matters more because there are more opportunities for bags to go wrong.
What to Check Before Each New City
Do your online check-in for the next flight as soon as the window opens — typically 24 hours before departure for Pegasus. This locks in your seat, confirms your boarding pass, and gives you one less thing to manage on the morning of a busy travel day. Seat selection on each leg is worth a few minutes’ thought before you board: window if you want to sleep or see the landscape, aisle if you want bathroom access or a fast exit, front rows if you’re connecting to something tight. On a multi-city trip where some days involve both a flight and an overland connection, arriving and getting out quickly can matter.
Eating Well on Pegasus Flights
Pre-ordering your meal via the Pegasus Café pre-order menu is one of the smallest decisions with the most reliable return on a travel day. You can pre-order up to 24 hours before departure, the selection is broader than what’s available on the day, and knowing you have something decent coming makes a 6am departure or a long connection considerably more manageable. On a multi-city trip where some days involve an early flight followed by several hours of overland travel, a proper in-flight meal is the difference between arriving ready to explore and arriving depleted.
The practical rhythm that works: book your flight, select your seat, pre-order your meal. Do all three in the same sitting, ideally the day before departure. It takes ten minutes and removes three potential sources of airport stress. Don’t leave meal selection to the flight itself — by the time the trolley reaches you, the options you wanted are often gone, particularly on busier routes in peak season.
BolBol: Earning Points While You Travel
What Is BolBol?
The Pegasus BolBol program is Pegasus Airlines’ free loyalty program, and the setup is simpler than most frequent flyer programs: all you need to sign up is your mobile phone number and an email address. Your phone number becomes your membership number. There’s no card, no annual fee, and no complicated tier structure — you join, you fly, you earn BolPoints, and you use them toward future flights.
How You Earn BolPoints
Points accumulate across everything you do with Pegasus, not just the base ticket price. The BolBol earn page has the current full breakdown, but the main categories are:
- Flights: Points are earned on every Pegasus flight booked directly through flypgs.com or the Pegasus app. Note that bookings made through third-party travel agencies do not earn BolPoints — always book direct.
- Add-on services: Extra baggage, meal pre-orders, seat selection, and other ancillary services all earn BolPoints on top of the ticket.
- First flight bonus: New members earn 1,000 BolPoints on their very first flight. On a multi-city trip where you’re flying two or three legs, those points stack up from the first departure.
- Partner spending: BolPoints can also be earned through the ING Pegasus BolBol credit card, hotel bookings via partner platforms like Rocketmiles (1,000 to 15,000 BolPoints per hotel night), and a range of other program partners — meaning your accommodation costs on a multi-city trip can be earning you points toward the next one.
- The BolBol Game: Every week, BolBol members can play a hidden-object game in the Pegasus mobile app to earn additional BolPoints. It takes two minutes and costs nothing.
- Referrals: Invite a friend to join BolBol and after their first flight you receive 1,000 BolPoints; they receive 2,000 on top of their own flight points.
How You Spend BolPoints
The BolBol spend page covers the full redemption options, but the headline numbers are: international winter season tickets from 25,000 BolPoints, international summer season tickets from 30,000 BolPoints (taxes and fees not included). Domestic Türkiye tickets start lower — 10,000 BolPoints in winter, 15,000 in summer. If you’ve accumulated enough, you can book a ticket entirely with BolPoints. Otherwise, points can be applied to reduce the price of a ticket, or used toward additional services.
BolPoints can also be transferred to friends or family if you have expiring points you want to use — the transfer system means accumulated points don’t have to be wasted if your travel plans shift.
BolBol Youth
If you’re between 12 and 27, the BolBol Youth program offers additional advantages on top of the standard membership — including the ability to change or cancel bookings without additional fees. For younger travelers building multi-city itineraries where plans sometimes shift, this flexibility has real practical value. Membership and all its terms are covered in full on the BolBol page.
The Full Pre-Flight Checklist for a Multi-City Trip
When you book: Confirm the Pegasus route map connections. Compare open-jaw, two returns, and three one-ways on price. Book direct on flypgs.com or the app to earn BolPoints. Add the upgrade package if your itinerary has tight connections or you want rebooking flexibility.
One week out: Check baggage allowance and pack accordingly. If you haven’t already, join BolBol — your first flight earns 1,000 bonus points. Confirm overland connections: train or bus tickets, ferry bookings, border crossing requirements.
24 hours out: Complete online check-in as soon as the window opens. Pre-order your meal through the Pegasus Café. Confirm seat selection on each leg. Download your boarding pass.
At the airport: Arrive with time — allow more than you think you need, particularly at unfamiliar airports or when connecting from an overland leg that could run late. Your BolBol membership number is your phone number; you don’t need a physical card.
After landing: Check your BolPoints balance in the Pegasus app. Points from the flight and any add-on services should post within a few days. If you’re staying in a partner hotel, confirm your BolBol number was attached to the booking. Then put your phone away and go see where you are. You can plan the next trip on the flight home.
