{"id":88168,"date":"2025-10-18T06:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/88168\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T06:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T06:11:08","slug":"the-best-ways-to-use-googles-ai-tools-for-travel-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/88168\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Ways to Use Google\u2019s AI Tools for Travel Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, Google search debuted an AI Mode created to respond in conversational language to users\u2019 questions on just about any topic under the sun, including travelers\u2019 queries about places to go and things to do. Ask it for a \u201cromantic Santa Fe weekend in March\u201d or \u201cwineries to visit in Croatia\u201d and it will zing out ideas and rough, often rather accurate itineraries that get vacation planning started.<\/p>\n

While most people access the itinerary function just by using AI Mode in Google search, more informed users would be wise to use the Gemini app, the Google AI chatbot that powers AI Mode. There\u2019s a paid version, but the majority of consumers will get all the information they need from the free version. Gemini offers additional tools (detailed below) and a better chat interface, taking full advantage of Google\u2019s ability to connect users to the search behemoth\u2019s well-established travel planning services\u2014Google Flights, Google Hotels, and Google Maps\u2014and incorporating its stored search data about users to refine its results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to pull live data about travel products from Google Travel while integrating its answers with data from your Google search history, Maps, Gmail, and YouTube make it an end-to-end experience that\u2019s hard for other platforms to match,\u201d says Mike Coletta, senior manager of research and innovation at Phocuswright<\/a>, a travel consulting firm.<\/p>\n

In other words, Google offers a lot more than simple AI-generated itineraries for travel, and more than most other bots can muster to help travel planners. Here\u2019s how to make the most of Google\u2019s AI travel planning tools.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

You can start a Google Flights search through natural language conversation. Because Gemini is part of the Google ecosystem, it\u2019s tied into flight data in a way other chatbots are not.<\/p>\n

Screenshot by Craig Stoltz<\/p>\n

Find flights by chatting<\/p>\n

Travelers can use the Gemini app to specify what they are looking for in natural language. For instance, you can go to the Gemini app<\/a> and explain your flight needs as follows: \u201cFind me nonstop flights to London from Washington, D.C., the week of January 10th. Show a grid of choices and links to book them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gemini will show you basic choices and send you to Google Flights with a running start. \u201cThe balanced blend of conversational search with traditional filters and inputs\u201d makes the process much easier and better, says Coletta. Other services don\u2019t have access to Google\u2019s real-time flight data.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t specify a destination, Flight Deals will offer good prices to places you probably wouldn\u2019t have considered.<\/p>\n

Screenshot by Craig Stoltz<\/p>\n

Dream big with Google Flight Deals<\/p>\n

The recently launched AI-powered Google Flight Deals tool<\/a> sounds like a way to find cheap fares, and it is. But its super power is that it\u2019s a dream weaver with a budget brain. Try this: Don\u2019t specify a destination. Just tell it \u201cromantic Caribbean vacation long weekend in February from Philly, not too expensive.\u201d <\/p>\n

You\u2019d expect Jamaica and the Dominican Republic to appear, and they do. But right at the top is Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos Islands, selling for 41 percent less than usual as of this writing. Suddenly you\u2019re dreaming of an entirely different Caribbean getaway. <\/p>\n

Power user tip<\/p>\n

Now put the AI field you\u2019ll find on the same page to work on that unexpected destination recommendation, pushing for deeper insights: \u201cWhat specifically makes Providenciales good for a romantic getaway? What downsides should give me pause? Cite examples and give sources for each item.\u201d Next, ask for moderately priced hotels. You\u2019ll get bumped to Google Hotels and discover whether your overnights will suck up your air savings.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Gems are little bios you write for a specific kind of trip you often take. Once you create a Gem, select it from the left sidebar and start your chat. You can upload documents to supplement your Gem, and you can share Gems with others so you can all do similar searches.<\/p>\n

Screenshot by Craig Stoltz<\/p>\n

Create a profile that includes trusted travel sources <\/p>\n

Google\u2019s little-used Gems are essentially profiles you set up for certain kinds of AI searches. \u201cThey help you tailor Gemini<\/a> to your specific needs … saving you time on repetitive prompting,\u201d says Google\u2019s Jasmyn Peterson. To do so:<\/p>\n

Go to the Gemini app<\/a>.Look for Gems at the top of the left sidebar. Click \u201cExplore Gems,\u201d then \u201cNew Gem.\u201d Write a sort of bio that you want the AI to consider when you write a travel query, and give it a name. (I have one each for romantic getaways with my wife, trips with the extended family, and conference travel.) Then, whenever you go to the Gemini app to plan a trip, select a Gem before you enter a prompt. <\/p>\n

Now you don\u2019t have to remind Gemini that you like historic hotels, mom-and-pop restaurants, and e-biking. The more you use it, the better it gets. \u201cGiven the vast amount of data Gems can store, it can remember and reference previous sessions and hone the results,\u201d says Adriana Lee, who covers AI for the travel consulting and publishing firm Skift.<\/p>\n

Power user tip<\/p>\n

Specify in your Gem that Gemini draw only on certain sources for travel information, like trusted publications you name. This greatly reduces (but does not eliminate) information from lower-quality sources. But you might miss some hidden wisdom from unexpected places, too.<\/p>\n

The more you give to Gemini, the more you get<\/p>\n

To super-charge your travel recommendations, give Gemini access to your emails, photos, and documents. This sounds like a crazy invasion of privacy, but you\u2019re essentially giving Google permission to access your Google information. (Google says your Gemini inputs are not shared outside the Google ecosystem, but there are some privacy concerns, Lee points out. Some experts question whether it\u2019s possible to even know if the opaque systems that power AI abide by privacy agreements, and European privacy laws place strict rules on the use of personal data that all AI systems will struggle to comply with.) <\/p>\n

Once Gemini has access to information like your loyalty programs and previous trips, drawn from search history, emails, photos, and documents, it can tailor answers more precisely. This is the unique value of Google, according to Coletta, and the service that Google\u2019s Peterson extolls most. To do this, go to the Gemini app, find Settings, click Apps, and you\u2019ll find instructions for giving Gemini access to your trove of digital personhood.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found this approach, integrated with Gems, shockingly effective. I used my \u201cconference travel\u201d Gem and told Gemini about a certain meeting I went to two years ago and told it to plan a trip to the next one. It found the information on my last trip in my emails, looked up the coming one and its dates, and suggested flights, hotel options, and a restaurant based on my Gems profile.<\/p>\n

Using AI to fact-check AI <\/p>\n

I then told Gemini to check everything by putting all facts and recommendations into a table, verifying that the places were currently operating and priced as originally stated, and providing two linked sources for each fact. You still have to check everything, but this way Gemini catches some of its (inevitable) flubs. <\/p>\n

In this case it got all the facts right, but after digging I discovered it mischaracterized the restaurant. It said Delmonico\u2019s was a \u201cchef-driven independent restaurant,\u201d which is not factually inaccurate, but it misses that Delmonico\u2019s is a swaggering old-school steakhouse foremost. That\u2019s a really typical AI fail: It\u2019s \u201cright\u201d but just doesn\u2019t \u201cget it.\u201d Sigh.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s AI is pretty cool for travel, but it\u2019s by no means error-free. You still have to check everything it suggests. For now, the best way to plan your trip is to start with artificial intelligence and finish with the old-fashioned human kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this year, Google search debuted an AI Mode created to respond in conversational language to users\u2019 questions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-88168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}