What ChatGPT can do for a trip
ChatGPT is a general assistant: it can help you narrow down where to go, draft a day-by-day plan and rewrite it when you change your mind. For travel it adds four things:
- Web search, so it can check current details and show where an answer came from.
- ChatGPT Maps, for places and local recommendations.
- Travel apps inside the chat, which search real listings from companies such as Expedia, Booking.com and Omio.
- ChatGPT Work on the Plus and Pro plans, whose cloud browser can carry out tasks on websites, including bookings, after asking you to confirm.
Plan a trip with ChatGPT, step by step
- Start with the constraints, not the destination. Give your dates, budget, who is travelling, how fast you like to move and anything you want to avoid.
- Ask for a day-by-day plan grouped by area. Grouping by neighbourhood keeps each day from zig-zagging across a city. Ask it to keep travel time between stops realistic.
- Check anything time-sensitive. Ask ChatGPT to search the web and give links for opening hours, seasonal closures and entry rules, then open the source. An assistant can state an out-of-date detail as confidently as a current one.
- Use the travel apps for real prices. Some apps, such as Iberia’s, must be connected the first time you use them. Then ask for hotels, flights, trains or tours by name, for example “with Expedia” or “with Omio” (Iberia asks you to start the message with “Iberia”), and compare the live options in the chat.
- Book where the seller is. In the normal chat, most apps send you to the provider’s site to finish, so that company’s change and refund rules apply; check whose confirmation you receive. If you use ChatGPT Work’s browser on Plus or Pro, it asks before it books; check the details on the confirmation screen yourself.
ChatGPT travel prompts to copy
These are examples to adapt, not tested recipes. Swap in your own dates, places and budget.
Choose where to go
Suggest five places for a week in early October for two adults who like walking, food and a bit of history, under €1,500 each including flights from London. For each, say why it suits us and what the weather is usually like then.
Draft the itinerary
Plan 4 days in Lisbon in late May for two adults who like food and walking, budget about €150 a day each. Group each day by neighbourhood, keep transfers under 30 minutes, and mark anything that needs booking in advance.
Pressure-test the plan
Look at this itinerary and tell me which days are too full, where we zig-zag across the city, and what to cut if it rains. Search the web for opening hours and link the sources.
Set a budget
Estimate a daily budget for this trip, split into food, transport, entry tickets and extras, and show which items you checked on the web and which are guesses.
Find a hotel with the Expedia app
Using Expedia, find hotels in Alfama under €180 a night for 23 to 27 May with good reviews, and list the cancellation policy for each.
Compare trains and buses with the Omio app
With Omio, what is the fastest and the cheapest way from Lisbon to Porto on 27 May? Compare train and bus.
Pack for the weather
Make a packing list for 5 days in Lisbon and Porto in late May, carry-on only, with one smart dinner. Group it by bag and flag anything I can buy there instead.
If you want the list to stay on your phone and follow the forecast, a packing app such as PackNinja (iPhone and iPad) builds one from your destinations and dates.
Check the rules
What are the entry requirements for a UK passport holder visiting Portugal for a week? Link the official government sources so I can check them myself.
Travel apps that work inside ChatGPT
| App | What it does in ChatGPT | Where you book | Availability noted by the provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expedia | Hotels and flights with live prices and maps | On Expedia | Free, Go, Plus and Pro; not in the EU |
| Booking.com | Stays and rental cars | On Booking.com | Plans not stated |
| Tripadvisor | Hotel deals from 400+ sites, with a map | On Tripadvisor or a partner | US only; Free to Pro plans |
| Iberia | Iberia flights and flexible-date inspiration | On Iberia | Plans not stated |
| Trainline | Rail routes and options | In Trainline | Described as an early deployment |
| Omio | Trains, buses, flights and ferries compared | Not described | English; 47 countries |
| GetYourGuide | Tours and activities | GetYourGuide says without leaving the assistant | Regions and plans not published |
What ChatGPT will not do
- Book flights, stays or trains in the normal chat. The Expedia, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Iberia and Trainline apps hand you to their own sites to pay. GetYourGuide says its app lets you book tours without leaving the assistant, but does not describe how.
- Book on Free or Go. The browser that can act on websites needs Plus or Pro. The older “agent mode” is no longer available; OpenAI points people to ChatGPT Work instead.
- Manage restaurant bookings. It can search availability on OpenTable, Resy and Yelp, but it does not save, change or cancel reservations, and that search is not available in voice conversations.
- Work the same everywhere. OpenAI says some apps may be unavailable in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland.
ChatGPT or a dedicated trip planner?
ChatGPT is enough for a one-off plan you will book piece by piece. A dedicated planner earns its place when you want the trip to live somewhere: a shared map, saved bookings, offline access or booking in the same app. The guide to AI trip planners compares those options, and ChatGPT vs Gemini for travel sets out what each assistant can book.
Common questions
Can ChatGPT book flights?
Not in the normal chat. Travel apps inside ChatGPT, such as Expedia's, show flights with live prices, but you complete the booking on the airline or booking site. On Plus and Pro, ChatGPT Work's cloud browser can carry out a booking on a website, and it asks for your confirmation before it does.
Is ChatGPT free for trip planning?
Yes, for planning. The free plan can draft itineraries and use web search, and Expedia's and Tripadvisor's apps work on the free plan. Usage limits are higher on Go ($8 a month) and Plus ($20 a month), and the browser that can book on websites needs Plus or Pro.
Which travel apps work inside ChatGPT?
Among them: Expedia, Booking.com, Tripadvisor (US only), Iberia, Trainline, Omio and GetYourGuide; Skyscanner for flights (UK and US); and hotel and airline apps from IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, Accor, Wyndham, Radisson, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia, which send you to their own sites to book. Availability varies by country: Expedia's app is not offered in the EU, and OpenAI says some apps may be unavailable in the EEA (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), the UK or Switzerland.
Is ChatGPT or Gemini better for planning a trip?
It depends where your trip already lives: Gemini plans with Google Flights, Google Hotels and Maps data and can refer to flight and hotel confirmations in your Google apps when Personal Intelligence is on, while ChatGPT searches the web and works with partner travel apps. ChatGPT vs Gemini for travel sets out what each can book.
Sources
- Pricing (ChatGPT learn)learn.chatgpt.com, checked
- Browser (ChatGPT Work)learn.chatgpt.com, checked
- Searching the web with ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center)help.openai.com, checked
- Introducing apps in ChatGPT and the new Apps SDKopenai.com, checked
- Smart trip planning: new Expedia app in ChatGPT (Expedia newsroom)expedia.com, checked
- Booking.com Is Making Car Rentals Easier with App in ChatGPTnews.booking.com, checked
- Plan travel with Tripadvisor in ChatGPTtripadvisor.com, checked
- Omio launches in ChatGPT (Omio press release via PR Newswire)tools.prnewswire.com, checked
- Iberia launches its ChatGPT appgrupo.iberia.com, checked
- GetYourGuide unveils new tools (fall release 2026)getyourguide.press, checked