Planning a trip is hard work. Not everyone has the time or inclination to find information online and then use it to create their itineraries. Some would use an online travel agency (OTA) or a travel agent. But now, there’s artificial intelligence (AI). It transforms how people design their trips and can help you assemble an itinerary in minutes. AI trip planners today do not outsmart or even create original travel information. Still, they can utilize the power of the internet and throw together fantastic starting points for you to start making your travel plans.
In this post, we explain why an AI travel planner is the best AI trip planner out there.
Featured Photo 141730195 Ā© Skrypko Ievgen | Dreamstime.com
What is an AI trip planner?
An AI trip planner is a website, an app, or both that uses artificial intelligence to recommend itineraries and create travel plans. Many are currently powered by ChatGPT, the most popular AI chatbot. But an AI trip planner is not a conversational bot like ChatGPT – it is a recommendation engine that focuses on suggesting trip itineraries rather than engaging in a Q&A with you. That said, some AI trip planners have conversational bots that answer your specific questions about a destination.
What are the benefits of using AI to generate your trip plans?
Generating trip plans using an AI trip planner is easier and faster. The best AI trip planner will consider several of your preferences in tailoring a trip to your requirements. They’re not perfect – you might want to customize your trip further with your knowledge, tips from family and friends, or an online search. But there’s no denying that AI travel planners help you get ahead with your trip planning, saving you a lot of time and sparking ideas for your trip!
What are the drawbacks of an AI trip planner?
The most important takeaway is trip planning software, as it exists today, does not create original information or match the human intellect in any way, shape, or form. It can scour the internet’s vastness and create custom trip plans that match your search queries. These are excellent platforms to start your trip planning but don’t trust them as a knowledge expert but as a fantastic starting point and idea generator.
AI-powered trip planners also use content found on the internet to generate trip plans. They may or may not use the latest content to create trip plans. So, suppose an AI trip planner uses internet data until 2021 to generate plans. In that case, it may not create an itinerary that includes a newly built and increasingly popular museum at your destination or fail to consider a historic place temporarily closed down.
Even the best AI trip planner app has its limitations. It may not suggest places off the beaten path or include rare sights you’re likely to find in niche travel blogs or social media feeds when you research.
The 5 Best AI Travel Apps
Let’s now look at the five best AI trip planner apps chosen for their ability to create custom trip plans easily.
1. Travel-Wise
We started with our app for a good reason – it is an AI travel planning app that also offers a plethora of user-submitted itineraries. You get the best of internet-derived data and personal travel experiences from avid travelers.
The AI brain of the app creates a trip itinerary, which you can share on other websites and collaborate with travel companions.
There’s a map that can help provide a big-picture perspective of where you’re headed on each day of your trip, as well as with route planning.
The app has a trip planner, allowing you to customize your daily itinerary further. You can use an AI-generated itinerary to search for a user-submitted itinerary. You can then create events, add event ideas, and move trip dates around until you’re happy with what you have.
Travel-Wise integrates with Skyscanner – you can book your flights, hotels, and vehicle rentals from the app.
Journaling is another cool feature that makes Travel-Wise a top contender for the best free AI travel planner. You can save your trip memories by adding your personal stories, notes, pictures, and experiences to Travel-Wise’s journal.
2. Vacay
One of the best free AI trip apps, Vacay is powered by ChatGPT. The AI chatbot can be used on the website in two ways – for travel advice, wherein you provide the prompt and the chatbot answers your question, and for generating an itinerary. The website has thematic AI advisors that cover a variety of trip themes such as luxury, wellness, golf, solo, and family trips, among others.
Itinerary builder: Enter your trip details, as shown below
Vacay AI generates an itinerary based on the trip details you’ve entered.
AI chatbot:
Vacay’s AI travel advisor answers your specific questions about your trip, as seen below:
Thematic advisor: You can find the AI advisor for your trip theme and begin your chat.
On Vacay, you can browse by destination and book trip activities using the ‘Book Now’ link to Viator, the largest online marketplace for tours, activities, and attractions. You can also book flights, hotels, and car rentals via a third-party link directing you to Skyscanner.
3. iPlan.AI
iPlan.AI is a mobile AI trip planner, which means you can use it on the go to explore itineraries, generate one that matches your needs, and use links on the site to view a hotel or attraction on Google Maps and view prices, ratings, and reviews.
Our research hinted that iPlan.AI is free. However, downloading the app (iOS and Android) made it clear that iPlan.AI charges a small fee to generate the itinerary, citing the ‘tremendous computational power’ to generate a custom travel plan. Still, the app is good enough to be added to a list, helping you decide on the best free AI trip planner.
iPlan.AI is straightforward to use. Choose your destination and complete six steps, each being a specific trip detail, and generate your itinerary.
iPlan.AI Usage Steps
Step 1: Enter the days you plan to stay at your chosen destination.
Step 2: How many hours a day do you expect to spend exploring the city? For example, if you plan to take in the nightlife at the destination, set the end time to 23:00 or till the wee hours. If you want to head out post lunch at your hotel or retire early to your hotel on some days, you can adjust the timer according to your preferences.
Step 3: Choose the start date for your trip. The AI will automatically mark the end date based on your trip duration.
Step 4: Will you be traveling solo, with your partner, with family, or with a group of friends? Select the option that applies to you. The AI will generate an itinerary that suits your situation.
Step 5: What would you like to do on your trip? State your level of interest in the standard categories. The AI will use this information to craft your custom trip itinerary.
Step 6: Choose your budget. The AI will base its recommendations on your spending capacity for the trip. If you’re looking at a budget trip, it will choose hotels or activities that fit your budget, and so on.
The app generates a time-based itinerary, including indicating the time from one destination to another on foot or by taxi/car and bus/public transportation, which is a valuable feature. As stated, you can check the places on Google Maps within the app. For more perspective, check out the video on how iPlan.AI works.
4. Curioso
Curioso (currently available in Beta mode) is one of the more creative and visually appealing AI travel planners we’ve seen. To be exact, it is a road trip planner which uses AI to create travel plans.
You start by entering your trip details.
Curioso then generates trip plans within 100 seconds.
Click on a travel plan to view the itinerary, motoring miles/km, and a route map. You can customize your trip further by clicking on ‘supertrip’ and adding travel-through points.
5. Trip Planner AI
The easy-to-use AI travel planner generates custom itineraries, calculates daily trip costs, and provides a map reference.
Start by filling out the form with basic trip details.
Add the top sights from the options on the page. A map on the right offers an estimate of distances between the attractions.
Specify your meal budget and dietary preferences.
If you’ve already booked your hotel, you can enter its name.
Now, Trip Planner AI will generate your shareable trip itinerary, complete with costs for meals, commutes, and entry fees to attractions. The map feature helps plan your day. Clicking on a city attraction will bring up an information box with a Google Maps link, website link, phone number, ticket booking website, and tips.
Pick the best one for you
AI technology is still evolving, and we’re yet to experience the wonders this technology can create in travel planning. Try Travel-Wise and let us know how our AI itinerary generator works. We welcome your feedback and continuously seek to improve your travel experience!
Except for iPlan.AI, you can try all these best AI trip planners free of cost! Give each a whirl to see which ones work best for your travel needs. Happy exploring!