I have always loved traveling, and whenever I fly back to China to visit my family, I always spend my time with them. But last year I wanted to do something different and make small round trip to Asia, instead of just a family visit. Planning this felt overwhelming and there was a lot to consider, the accommodation, coordinating the flights, visiting the family and the sightseeing, while staying within a tight schedule and budget. This took a lot of research, many comparisons and consideration. So, last year I decided to test ChatGPT as a travel assistant and it changed the way I approached my travel plannings.
ChatGPT helped me analyse complex itineraries and suggest optimized flight routes, while on a budget based on my preferences. Last year, it recommended me starting in Beijing then Hangzhou then flying to Tokyo and finishing in Singapore before returning to China and then heading back home to Amsterdam. The itinerary generated by ChatGPT perfectly fitted with my needs, enough time for sightseeing in Beijing, few days with the family in Hangzhou, and then exploring something new in Japan and Singapore.
It also helped me recommend activities, local cuisine and cultural highlights and help me reduce the time of research and comparing flight tickets. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the trip, because I didn’t know where to start and if it was feasible. But ChatGPT, helped me generate a personalised itinerary based on my preferences and even suggested practical tips for comfort on long flights. But there are also disadvantages, I still had to book everything myself and the pricings were not always the one ChatGPT recommended, so I still relied on my own search with the pricings, just like the recommendations for hotels.
Overall, using ChatGPT changed my travel planning faster, smarter and more organised. While I still enjoy the spontaneity of discovering places on my own, AI tools make it easier to visualise options and making hard choices. So, do you think that AI travel assistants enhance the way we explore, or do we risk losing the joy of discovery when everything is optimised for efficiency?
Really like the post! If you travel a lot, AI can help with the heavy lifting like routes, timing and budget, this way you can focus more on family and fun things to do. I still enjoy the unexpected, so that is why I also use AI when I travel, but like to do it 50/50, so plan 50% with the help of AI and the other 50% open to figure out during the vacation. In my opinion, AI really enhances travel when you use it as a co-pilot, but I agree with you that it is still important to figure things out by yourself, that’s what keeps it fun.
Thank you for your article Helen! I also use ChatGPT for traveling, maybe on a monthly, if not weekly basis, at some period. I found it very relevant to use the AI tool to define the itinerary and overall planning organization, which you mentioned when you discussed the organization between different trips.
What I like to do with ChatGPT is to make decisions, like which country to visit, depending on the period of the year. I also often ask it to refer to travel blogs and testimonies to find hidden gems and the most recommended addresses.
I believe that AI, when used as a personal assistant for personal projects like traveling, cooking, and more, might be the best use case. A lot of startups enter this market as the technology needed already exists. The tasks are basic and straightforward. It is inspiring for the next projects we will have to develop in the next courses of the BIM master’s!
Really enjoyed reading this Helen! It actually felt super relatable, since I also did an Asia trip last year myself. I went from Shanghai to Japan, Korea, Thailand, and then Yunnan and Sichuan, and honestly, I also felt the pain of trying to coordinate flights, timing, and budget. It’s funny how AI like ChatGPT can now take away a lot of that chaos and make process smoother. I get what you mean about losing a bit of spontaneity though because sometimes the best parts of travel come from the unplanned moments. Still, I’d rather have ChatGPT deal with flight comparisons than do it myself 🙂
Great take on how ChatGPT and AI in general is impacting traveling for us! Recently I have also tried out ChatGPT to develop an itinerary for a roadtrip to Belgium, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I agree with you that regarding pricing it still lacks accuracy, and perhaps for accommodation I would also avoid it for now, but for the scheduling and sightseeing aspect I thought it behaved extremely well!
Regarding the spontaneity, it does take away some of the excitement of discovering things on your own. Still, if you use it mainly to figure out the structure of your trip, and leave the actual on-site exploration for yourself, it will balance things out. I believe AI travel assistants won’t entirely optimise traveling, but rather just complement and show us some perspectives we could be missing, whilst allowing space for the spontaneity we value so much!
Nice post, Helen! I really enjoyed reading how you used ChatGPT to plan your trip. It’s true that AI makes things like finding flights and organising routes a lot easier. Therefore, it reminded me of a story I read recently about a woman who wasn’t allowed into a country because ChatGPT told her she didn’t need a visa. That shows how useful AI can be, but also that you can’t always rely on it for official or important information.
I agree with you that using AI as a starting point works best. It’s great for getting ideas and saving time, but the best part of travelling is still discovering things yourself once you’re there.