Because ChatGPT can perform many technical tasks such as writing, coding, and researching, a lot of the hype surrounding the chatbot has been on its ability to revolutionize the workspace. However, ChatGPT’s assistance can also be used for other, more exciting projects, such as vacation or trip planning.
If you have ever planned a vacation, you know how stressful the entire ordeal is. From finding the right destination to having everything booked to having an orderly itinerary, there are many things to consider to have a good vacation — that’s where ChatGPT can help.
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Over the summer, I took a trip to Europe and used a travel agent because I was so overwhelmed I didn’t even know where to start. When I was sharing my plight with other tourists I met on the trip, multiple times I was met with, “Oh, we just used ChatGPT.”
ChatGPT can help with every step of the way, answering all your questions the way a travel agent would by searching its robust database and outputting a conversational response.
If you’re daydreaming about your next vacation or planning your next getaway, here’s how you can use ChatGPT or other AI chatbots to do the heavy lifting.
Quick note: I am using ChatGPT for this article because of its popularity. However, the instructions work for any of the many AI chatbots on the market.
It’s worth using a chatbot that has internet access, such as Bing Chat or Google Bard because you will not only get the latest prices, recommendations, and more, but you’ll also get clickable links you can visit yourself.
How to plan your vacation with ChatGPT
The first step in planning a vacation is figuring out where to go. Even though you might not know the exact city or country that you want to visit, you probably have a general idea of what you want to experience.
For example, if you want a summer European vacation, you can ask ChatGPT for destinations that fulfill that desire.
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For the prompt, I said, “Can you give me destination ideas for a European summer vacation?” Within seconds, ChatGPT provided a list of 15 destinations to choose from.
You can continue to narrow down your choices by asking follow-up questions. Once you have a detailed idea of where you’d like to go, like a specific country, you can ask ChatGPT to help you narrow down what city to visit. The possibilities are endless.
Once you pick a location or narrow it down to a few, you can ask ChatGPT to help you figure out what the must-see sites of that location are. This can help you decide on a location because if the must-see sites aren’t for you, it may be time to pick a different location.
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I asked ChatGPT, “What are some things I need to do if I visit Porto, Portugal?” Then, it listed 15 places I should visit and things I should do. The list was very comprehensive, and I can vouch for its accuracy as someone who just visited the city over the summer.
ChatGPT’s list included everything I did, from sites I saw to food I ate and shows I watched. To put my list together, I read countless travel guides, watched YouTube videos, and even bought travel books. Instead, all I could have done to have the same itinerary is type in one sentence into ChatGPT and wait 15 seconds.
Since most of the research is already done, all that is left is booking your lodging and flights. Whether you want to stay in an Airbnb, a hostel, or a hotel, you need to know where you want to stay, and ChatGPT can help with that decision.
Just ask ChatGPT where you should stay, and it will give you different areas of the city as well as an in-depth description of what to expect there.
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I asked ChatGPT, “When visiting Porto, what area should I stay in?” and it provided a list of six different neighborhoods. You can also get more detailed recommendations by including price limitations, what you’d like to see in the area, the night scene, noise levels, or more in your initial prompt.
Lastly, you have to iron out all of the final booking details. You probably want to fly into an airport that is near where you want to stay (if visiting a city like NYC with multiple airports) and book a stay that has the accommodations you want.
For both of these tasks, I will shift to Bing Chat since it is connected to the internet. Since ChatGPT is limited to information before 2021, it won’t have information on flights or recent hotels.
For the flights, I asked Bing Chat, “Can you find me flights for a five-day trip to Porto in July from NYC?” Within seconds, Bing Chat provided me with a sample date and links I could click to book a flight.
More helpful, however, is the hotel booking assistance because it lists different hotels, describes them for you, and gives you links to their individual sites so that you can look for dates, compare rates, and do more yourself.
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I asked Bing Chat, “What are some hotel options in the Boavista region of Porto, Portugal?” and was met with two hotel options as well as a map that displayed many different hotels and their rates. Bing Chat also provided me with a link to Microsoft Bing Travel.
Now that you have your city, hotel, flights, and attractions picked out, the only thing left on the itinerary is picking out what and where to eat, and ChatGPT can help you do that.
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I asked ChatGPT, “What are some places I should eat during my trip to Porto, Portugal?” and was met with a list of 12 items that included both the city’s cuisine staples and actual food locations worth visiting.
After reading the recommendations, if you want a list specifically of recommendations for restaurants or places to purchase any of the food from, you can follow that up on ChatGPT, and it will continue to generate suggestions until you are satisfied.
Hopefully, you used ChatGPT as your AI travel agent, and it is now time to take the trip. ChatGPT can help you with the final piece of your trip planning — creating a packing list.
One of ChatGPT’s most underrated features is composing basic lists, which you can leverage to figure out what to pack.
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All you have to do is ask ChatGPT to generate a packing list for the city you are visiting, which has you covered. I asked, “What should I pack for a trip to Porto, Portugal?” ChatGPT generated a thorough list with subsections with different item groupings and explanations for each item.
