How to Use Travel AI To Plan Your Next Trip Away
For nearly two years, artificial intelligence has been making waves in the travel world, promising customised itineraries spun from the cloud with just a few typed-in preferences.
Whilst early versions were a bit clunky—offering outdated recommendations or inventing attractions that didn’t exist—the latest generation of AI-powered travel planning tools is markedly more useful. What’s more, they’re no longer just your brainstorming buddy; they can now help you book your trip too.
Think of these travel AI tools as a hybrid between a travel agent and a chatbot. You enter the basics—where you’re going, when, and what kind of trip you’re after—and within seconds, an itinerary appears, complete with options for flights, hotels, restaurants, and excursions.
The real inspiration begins when you start fine-tuning it: “Add more local food spots,” “I don’t want to rent a car,” “Find me a hotel under $300 downtown.” AI adapts with responses that feel surprisingly real or even human-like.
Once you’re happy with the plan, links to book everything are embedded right in the app. In theory, it’s a seamless system. In reality, well, it depends on the tool.
These are four of the most popular AI travel assistants to book your next getaway and have a lot of fun with during the process.
Mindtrip: The Closest Thing to a Full-Service Travel Agent
Among the field of travel apps, Mindtrip stands out as the most robust and visually intuitive planner. On one side of the interface, you chat with the AI—an engaging experience not unlike texting a well-informed friend. On the other, you get a constantly updating itinerary that feels like the polished output of a human trip planner.
Where Mindtrip really shines is its ability to integrate and visualize information. Hotel options appear on a map and in scrollable lists complete with images, details, and direct booking links. As you tweak your preferences—want to fly out on a later date? Need to swap out a museum visit for a hike?—the itinerary updates in real time. There’s even a downloadable version and a calendar view, perfect for sharing with travel companions.
But Mindtrip isn’t flawless. In one test, the AI refused to acknowledge a simple request: a downtown hotel under $300 per night. Despite repeated nudging, it kept suggesting places that met only one of those criteria—not both—forcing the user to do a quick Google search that immediately turned up a dozen suitable options. It also briefly insisted the trip dates were in the past, a glitch that, while harmless, highlighted the underlying imperfections of travel AI logic.
Still, for travelers who want everything in one place—from research to booking—Mindtrip is the most complete experience available right now.
Kayak on ChatGPT: Surprisingly Smart, If a Bit Primitive
If Mindtrip is the elegant concierge, Kayak on ChatGPT is the clever travel AI assistant who still needs a bit of coaching. Built into the ChatGPT interface, this tool allows users to describe their trip and get tailored suggestions in return. You can ask it to find flights, hotels, or restaurants, and it will offer links to Kayak’s main site to complete the bookings.
The interface is plain: it’s all in the chat, with occasional images, but it’s functional. Want to save your itinerary? You’ll need to copy and paste the conversation manually into a document. That’s part of the charm—or the frustration—depending on how much polish you expect.
One upside: ChatGPT remembers the context of your trip as you go, so you don’t have to restate every detail. But it does have its quirks. During testing, Kayak on ChatGPT initially said it couldn’t find hotels under $300 per night, then reversed course and provided several. Restaurant recommendations came with links to reserve tables, but some were missing or outdated.
You’ll get about 20 messages per session before the free version times out for three hours. Frequent travelers or planners may want to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus at $20/month, which also unlocks access to newer, more capable AI models. And while Kayak has just launched a standalone site, Kayak.ai, it’s still in early beta and lacks the chat polish of its ChatGPT integration.
So, Should You Plan Your Next Trip With Travel AI?
The answer depends on what kind of traveler you are. If you’re looking for inspiration and don’t mind a little back-and-forth fine-tuning, these tools offer a fresh, efficient way to plan—and even book—your next adventure. But they’re not magic. You’ll still need to verify details, cross-check recommendations, and occasionally troubleshoot when the bot misses the mark.
Still, the trajectory is clear: Travel AI trip planning is rapidly evolving from novelty to necessity. And with each iteration, it’s getting closer to what travelers really want—simple, smart, streamlined travel planning without the hours of browser tabs and endless comparison shopping.
