Travel planning has given me so much joy that it has almost become the purpose of my life. We travel every 3-4 months, with planning plus execution taking almost a month. Some people hate this so much that they either go with package tours or play it by the ear. Travel planning with AI now eases some of the hesitation and grunt work required
We have many constraints that force us to do DIY trips. Leave timings, small duration per travel, flexibility to cancel plans if priorities change, strong preference to avoid cities make it impossible to find the perfect itinerary at perfect time
Planning used to take hours, weeks and days earlier. With AI coming it, it simplifies finding connections, constraints and substitutes. It has massively made scenario planning easy. There are many ready platforms like these for travel planning with AI
Travel planning with AI: Where can it help
- Discovery: Listing out all places basis our interests in nature, wildlife, ancient architecture and UNESCO sites
- Shortlisting: Basis time of the year, our interests and time we have at hand for the trip
- Route planning: The best sequencing to squeeze many places in a trip and minimize cost. AI can highlight trade offs like which places you can skip to save maximum cost or add by taking flights to save time
With right prompts, it can take actual flight, train times into account and highlight some plans that are in feasible
It can highlight the last bus/ train back and build buffers so that you can make it back in time
4. Costing: Generating point to point plan and respective costs, categorizing what can be done with cards, cash in local currency, cash in USD
It can suggest which places can be visited DIY vs taking tours, without compromising on time or walking distance
5. Booking: AI can point out when each of the attractions open for booking, which are the high demand places, day-wise plan on when each should be booked
6. Food suggestions: Picking restaurants close to your hotel with cuisine of your preference. It can also highlight on which days you need to carry lunch where food is not available or you don’t have enough time
7. Reality checks: If you give a draft plan, it can highlight stuff like site closure days/ times so that you can sequence it differently
8. Actual execution: With tools like Claude Co-work, it can make the bookings as well. In all honesty, I have not used this. I am a bit uncomfortable as of now to give full control. I also want to read the fine print within the journey which the tools might skip highlighting
Some tips and prompts to make your planning easier
1. Assign a role for travel planning with AI
You are a travel planner. You help create and execute travel plans customized to user interests
2.Give a LOT of context: Your likes and dislikes
We have explicitly mentioned our intersted in nature, wildlife, ancient architecture and UNESCO sites. We do not like cities or beaches (we come from a coastal town)
3. Restate the obvious, mainly exchange rates and dates which AI still gets wrong
Today is xx date. Planned travel is in Dec next year during and after Christmas week
Consider exchange rate as of today in all calculations
4. Share your travel style
We like fast travel, can’t drive, swim or cycle. Prefer public transport over tours if it doesn’t take a hit on number of places we visit that day. Prefer taxis if it saves time, significant cost
5. Share constraints explicitly
- Fast traveler, can start at 8 AM after breakfast, end by day light end/ 8 PM for night attractions
- Breakfast at 7:30 AM where open
- Skip breakfast only if no later option available for transport
- We eat only vegetarian food without eggs
- Transport connections should be available on that actual day at that time
- Prefer public transport where there is no luggage and when stopovers are not many
- Taxis are ok if <INR xx per ride where I need to take luggage or if it reduces walking significantly
- No driving, swimming, cycling, snorkeling or diving.
- Prefer fast bullet trains
- Prefer flights if they save time vs bullet train by more than 3 hours and not more than 3x fares vs bullet trains
- Taxis are ok if <INR 500 per ride where I need to take luggage or if it reduces walking significantly
- No transit hotel required if layover is <6 hours
- Hotel locations are fixed but not dates, hence can be swapped for efficient routing
6. Share rough starting point and provide output template
- Using rough plan below, create a detailed excel with itinerary. It should include date, start and end location, start times, end times, mode of transport, cost for 1 and 3 people, link to buy entry tickets if required.
- Change order of cities if efficient on time and cost
- Detail out each day’s plan
- Each row should be one point to point entry
- Split each day into multiple rows
- Create separate rows for attraction to be visited and add entry fee cost
- Start from hotels mentioned below. Hotel locations are fixed but not dates, hence can be swapped for efficient routing
In Tab 1
- Add action column: Highlight prior bookings required/ Metro cards, passes required
- Add column on Indian restaurant available in vicinity for lunch, dinner. Mention exact name of restaurant, not generic options. Choose places close to hotels mentioned above for dinner
- Add column mentioning tickets opening date (basis opening how many days in advance compared to travel date)
- Cost column should have numbers only. Keep zero/blank instead of text
In Tab 2,
- For each attraction that offers advance booking, mention when the window opens (days in advance, time), how early to book, cancellation / refund policy. Highlight non refundable items in red. If I need to book asap, write today’s date. Separate commentary in a different column from date I need to book on
- Add a column on category- Flight/ train/ entry ticket/ others
- Highlight places to avoid in months of travel if any or if places mentioned than cannot be completed in that day
- Validate flight and train options exist at time mentioned in the itinerary created. If those dates are not yet open to check, check similar day of week in next 2 weeks to validate schedule. Do not fabricate or share tentative / approximate schedule
In tab 3,
Add cost summary by buckets- Flight, Tours, Transport, Entry fee, food, hotel, Insurance, visa. Add total cost for the trip
7. Ask AI to validate and double check plans
Travel planning with AI is not error proof. Quality check like a travel manager on feasibility, costs and timings
Travel planning with AI: What it can’t replace
The joy still lies in discovery of places which AI can speed up but can’t replace. Finding what places exist, what each of them offers, checking out photos of the place, judging whether you will like it still needs a human touch in our opinion
The names of places stick in your mind only if you are involved. Travel planning with AI can never give the realistic depth of self research in your mind map
Getting involved helps you find alternates that AI can’t. I have found offers on Tripadvisor which AI didn’t consider during costing, for example
AI also needs many spot checks and iterations despite specifying almost everything which you can only develop by having the experience of doing it yourself