Plan a trip with an AI agent: flights, a hotel and a budget
Give an agent your dates, budget and home airport, and it can put together a few complete trip options with flights, a hotel and a total. Here is which agents people use and how to check their work before you book.
In a side-by-side test in our feed, one person gave Manus, ChatGPT's agent, Genspark, Grok and Lindy the same 3-night trip with a $1,500 budget. Manus was the fastest and had real links, but it left out 2 stops on an 11-hour flight. ChatGPT's agent was slow but its math checked out. The others often linked to general searches or estimated fares. Whichever you use, ask for real listing links, the number of stops and the total travel time, and book it yourself.
Agents that can do this
Fastest in the trip test in our feed, with real links. Check the stops and travel time it gives you.
Slower in that test and needed one nudge, but its listings and totals were correct.
Said up front when flight sites blocked it, so you know which fares are estimates.
Can book flights itself, but ask which company holds the booking first. US and Canada only.
How to do it
Fix the basics
Home airport, destination, dates, number of travellers and one total budget for flights and hotel.
Ask for options that really differ
Different flights, not the same flight with three hotels. Three options is plenty.
Ask for the details you would check
Airline, times, number of stops, total travel time, nightly hotel price, the total, and a link to the actual listing.
Check it and book yourself
Open each link, compare the price and stops with the airline's own site, then book. Tell the agent to stop before paying.
Copy-paste setup
Plan [NUMBER] nights in [CITY] for [PEOPLE], flying from [HOME AIRPORT] on [DATE] and back on [DATE], with a total budget of [BUDGET] for flights and hotel. Give me 3 options that use different flights. For each flight, list the airline, departure and arrival times, total travel time, number of stops and where they are. For each hotel, give the nightly price. Add up the total for each option and link to the actual listing, not a general search. If a site blocks you, say so and mark the price as an estimate. Do not book anything.
Our own prompt, written from the cases on this page. We haven't run it on these agents ourselves. Text in [BRACKETS] is what you replace.
Watch out for
- A fast answer can hide a bad flight. Always check the stops and total travel time.
- Some flight sites block agents, so prices can be estimates. Ask the agent to say when that happens.
- If an agent books for you, find out which company holds the booking and how refunds work before it pays.
Questions people ask
Can AI agents book flights for you?
Some can. Meta Muse books flights through a booking service, and agents that use a browser can fill in checkout pages if you let them. In our feed, one person's Muse refund got stuck with that booking service. The safer setup is to let the agent find options and send links, and to book yourself.
Is there a free AI agent for trip planning?
Manus has a free plan with 300 credits a day, Genspark gives 100 free credits a day up to a lifetime limit, ChatGPT Work is in the free desktop app with limits, and Meta Muse is free with a usage limit in the US and Canada. A full trip search can use a lot of credits, so start with one clear request.
Why do AI agents find different prices for the same trip?
They search different sites, some sites block them, and some estimate fares when they can't get in. Ask the agent to name the sites it checked and to mark any price it couldn't confirm.
Seen in the feed
Five agents planned the same trip, and the fastest one left out two stops
The poster gave Manus, ChatGPT's agent, Genspark, Grok and Lindy the same job: 3 nights in Austin for 2 people, flights from Raleigh and a hotel, $1,500 in total, 3 different options with links, and stop before booking. Each got one try in a fresh session and was scored on an 8-point checklist. Manus finished first in about 90 seconds with correct totals and real links, but its outbound flight took about 11 hours with 2 stops it never mentioned. ChatGPT's agent took 12 to 16 minutes, needed one nudge and gave 3 options on the same flights. Genspark said flight sites blocked it, so its fares were estimates, and Grok and Lindy mostly linked to general searches instead of real listings.