Travel
Let AI plan your next trip (but don’t hand over your passport just yet)
For seasoned travellers who’ve earned their stripes in paper maps and handwritten itineraries, AI offers a whole new travelling era. Just use it wisely.
By Bron Maxabella
Once upon a time, planning a holiday meant flipping through dog-eared travel brochures, pencilling notes in the margins of your Lonely Planet, and calling your local travel agent (on the landline, no less). These days, you can plan a trip from your lounge chair while sipping a cuppa, and the entire itinerary can be whipped up by artificial intelligence before your tea goes cold.
From turning Instagram posts into ready-made travel plans to chatting with bots that book your hotel and recommend the best neighbourhood wine bar, AI is officially your new travel agent. And unlike your old one, it doesn’t knock off at 5.
Here’s how AI is transforming the way we plan, book and experience travel, and a few smart ways to take advantage of it without simply following the hordes.
Your AI travel toolkit
1. ChatGPT Trip Planner
Let’s start with a familiar face. Tools like ChatGPT can plan an entire trip with just a few prompts. Want a 2-week beach-and-bazaar escape to Vietnam in November with mid-range hotels and excellent food? Just ask. Prefer a slow-paced road trip through Tasmania with art galleries, gentle hikes and no caravans in sight? Sorted – well, probably not the zero caravan bit. It’s Tasmania, after all.
You can even request packing checklists, travel timelines, rainy-day plans and custom Google Maps pins. The trick is to be as specific as possible with your request; treat it like a well-travelled friend with unlimited time and zero judgement.
2. AusMyWay
AusMyWay offers a versatile trip planner with 3 modes:
- User-Driven: Manually add attractions to each day.
- AI-Powered: Input your trip dates, interests (e.g., nature, food, culture, adventure), and trip type (e.g., family, solo, friends), and let the app generate a personalised itinerary.
- AI-Assisted: Organise your shortlisted attractions with AI assistance.\
This tool is particularly useful for planning visits to Australia's national parks and attractions.
3. Priceline’s ‘Trip Vibe Selector’
Planning based on your travel mood? Priceline offers a way to search destinations and neighbourhoods by ‘vibe’ – think ‘party mode’, ‘self care’, ‘senior friendly’ or ‘group getaway’.
Their AI assistant, Penny, lets you list exactly what you want in accommodation (quiet, close to cafes, no bunk beds!) and serves up the best options.
4. Google Maps’ screenshot scanning
Ever taken a screenshot of a travel tip – like a must-try restaurant or a secret beach – and lost it in the black hole of your camera roll? Google Maps now scans those screenshots for place names and pins them to a private map under “Screenshots” in your Saved tab. No more hunting through photos labelled “IMG_2064”.
5. Wonderplan AI
Wonderplan AI is a customisable travel itinerary app that uses advanced algorithms to create personalised itineraries. The more you input into the preferences area, the better tailored the accommodation and experience options will be. It allows you to build, personalise, and optimise your travel itineraries, including making quick changes based on budget or timeline.
6. Expedia’s ‘Trip Matching’ from social media
Love that glossy reel of pasta twirls in Rome or sunrise swims in Santorini? With Expedia’s new (beta phase) tool, you can DM a Reel to their Insta account, and they’ll send you a full-blown itinerary. Yes, from a Reel. You’ll get hotel suggestions, transport links and ideas for what to do nearby, all based on the aesthetic from the Reel that sparked your wanderlust.
Sadly, this one is only live in the US for now, but the future is coming fast.
A word of caution
AI can book your trip, but can it really know you?
There’s no denying that AI tools are brilliant for saving time, streamlining searches and helping you get a trip off the ground. But as convenient as it is to let an algorithm plan your dream holiday, it’s worth remembering that travel isn’t just a logistics exercise; it’s a personal journey.
AI doesn’t know your travel quirks, your fear of heights, or that you once got food poisoning in Naples and vowed never to eat seafood again. It can’t tell when a place feels right. And it definitely won’t warn you when a hotel looks good online but smells like damp carpet in real life.
So while AI is a powerful planning partner, consider it as your enthusiastic intern, not the boss of your trip.
Smart ways to keep the human touch:
- Start with AI, finish with your flair: Let AI suggest the bones of the trip, then tweak based on your preferences, pace and passions.
- Cross-check recommendations: Use reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor, Reddit, or Google to sense-check AI suggestions.
- Use AI to uncover, not decide: Ask for options, not absolutes. AI is great for surfacing ideas you may not have thought of.
- Keep your identity safe: Be mindful of sharing personal details like passport numbers, travel insurance or exact travel dates in public or unsecured apps.
Final boarding call
At its best, AI can take the stress and slog out of travel planning and free you up to enjoy the good bits – the dreaming, booking and ultimately, going. For us old folk who cut our teeth on paper maps and doorstop Lonely Planets, this is a whole new ballgame. The tech’s flashier now, but, like in days of old, the best trips still need your good instincts.
And maybe keep a pen in your bag. Just in case.
Feature image: iStock/freemixer
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