Gemini: Travel

Compare Disney World trip budgets from three AIs with ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity

Amanda Caswell gave ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the same prompt: plan a five-day Walt Disney World trip for a family of five flying from Philadelphia, from March 30 to April 3, 2027. ChatGPT came in cheapest, suggesting about $8,500, but its hotel estimate was far too optimistic for those dates. Gemini estimated $10,050 to $13,350 after noticing the dates fall just before Easter Sunday 2027, in a busy spring-break period, and that kids 10 and older pay adult ticket prices. Perplexity's full estimate reached $10,545 to $13,955, more than $5,000 above ChatGPT's figure, and Caswell liked its itinerary best. Caswell judged that Gemini wins on budgeting. When shown the other two estimates, ChatGPT revised its target to about $10,000, with $11,000 available.

Plan a five-country family trip with Gemini, despite some wrong tips (partial)

Manish Kurse planned a family trip through France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands with little kids and several families, testing Gemini and ChatGPT along the way. A detailed prompt in Gemini Canvas, covering needs like vegetarian food and kids in strollers, produced a day-by-day itinerary that saved hours and was updated as plans changed. On the road, the AI helped with a lost parking ticket at an Amsterdam P+R, Brussels metro tickets and questions at the Louvre. But a highly recommended Paris creperie was closed, a pizza tip 'didn't sell pizza', and a chairlift in Cochem was shut. Google Maps mostly had it right; 'even Gemini gave the wrong answers.'

Find which gate your flight usually leaves from before it's posted, with Gemini

The poster asked Gemini which gate their flight number usually departs from. Gemini's answer was right, and it saved the poster from running across the airport 30 minutes before the gate was listed on the screens.

Check a visa rule with a quick Google Gemini answer, and get denied boarding to Honduras

Daniel Ross, a UK citizen travelling through Central America, was in Medellín when they realised they hadn't checked whether Honduras needed a visa. They searched in Chrome on their phone, and Google's Gemini answer said US, Canadian, UK and EU citizens don't need a visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days. They took its word for it. At the airport the agent asked for a visa, and the UK government's travel page showed one was needed, obtainable only at a Honduran embassy. Airline staff helped them rebook to end in Panama instead. The mistake cost $457, and Ross says they will stick to official sources for visa rules.

Underpack for a Mount Shasta climb after following Gemini's advice, ending in a rescue

According to the U.S. Forest Service, three novice hikers planned a Mount Shasta climb partly with Google Gemini, which recommended supplies for an 8-hour climb rather than the 16 hours it took and told them to eat simple carbohydrates rather than fats. They reached the summit at 7 p.m., got lost off-route on the way down after their phone battery died, and one hiker injured a knee at about 11,500 feet. Rangers reached them the next morning; the hikers said they 'relied too much on AI rather than our own critical thinking.'

Plan a Hong Kong trip with Gemini, Grok and ChatGPT (some addresses were made up)

A traveller planned a Hong Kong trip mainly with Gemini, using Grok and ChatGPT as extras, to organise locations, build itineraries, make packing lists and turn store addresses into Google Maps links. The traveller says routes were logical and personalised, but the AIs sometimes produced convincing addresses that didn't exist, and got names, opening hours or whether shops were still open wrong. Next time they'd verify every important detail on maps and official sites.

Plan a flexible beach day with an infant in Goa by voice with Gemini

Overwhelmed by pins on Google Maps while travelling with an infant, Android Police's Akshay Bhalla asked Gemini by voice for a flexible day at Mandrem Beach in North Goa: sunset, local food at a beach shack rated 4.2 or higher, maybe water sports, using maps, weather, UV index, traffic and blogs. Gemini suggested a creek in the morning, a local restaurant for lunch, shade during the peak UV hours of 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM, and the beach from 5:30 PM for sunset, then added a café with good Wi-Fi when asked.

Plan a month of family travel and remote work across Europe with Gemini, from route to co-working bookings

Planning a month of travel with kids while working remotely, Nick Thomson gave Gemini the family's profile, preferences and goals. It talked them out of a there-and-back route from London to southern Italy, suggesting three routes starting with a flight to the furthest point; recommended beaches by the kids' ages and swimming ability, off-peak trains, surf schools and teen-friendly activities; flagged when train companies release cheap tickets; and found co-working spaces, compared day rates and drafted booking emails in French and Spanish. Over the month, one recommendation was wrong: a bus to a market that didn't exist.

Use Gemini each morning on holiday to plan the day's route, sights and meals with Google Maps

On vacation, Stefan Heil asked Gemini every morning for a route for the day: what to see, where to eat and roughly when to be where. Through its Google Maps integration it surfaced places they wouldn't have found, sanity-checked their own plans, and found a restaurant and somewhere to unwind at the end of long days. Heil notes they didn't compare it with other AI tools.

Plan a two-week Taiwan and Hong Kong trip with a toddler using Gemini and Ask Maps

A New York Times personal tech columnist used Gemini (with personal data from Gmail) and Google Maps' Ask Maps to plan a 14-day Taiwan and Hong Kong trip with their wife and 20-month-old. The columnist says activity planning took only about 30 minutes; Gemini drafted family-friendly daily plans that accounted for jet lag, to-do and packing lists, and found a cheap data plan. But the packing list left out the columnist's own socks and underwear, and in Hong Kong it suggested restaurants near the previous hotel in Taiwan; Ask Maps handled real-time requests better.

Plan a vegetarian trip around Vietnam with Gemini

Over two weeks in Vietnam, Android Police's Parth Shah used Gemini to check weather by region, which showed they'd need warm clothes for Ba Na Hills and Sa Pa, and to build packing lists, shopping hotspots and a list of pure vegetarian restaurants they saved in Google Keep. On the trip it helped them check snacks for eggs and hidden allergens and explained the history behind temples and old towns.

Get a full refund after a flight returned to its origin, using rules Gemini found

After their diverted flight returned to the origin airport in Delhi, a traveller used Gemini as a crisis consultant: they asked for the specific DGCA rules for a full refund instead of a credit shell, compared night train and bus reliability in fog, and got the exact Metro route to the interstate bus station. They say they secured a refund using the clauses Gemini gave them and were on a sleeper bus within an hour.

Plan a 4-day family road trip to South Dakota with five chatbots and use the best plan

A Tom's Guide writer asked five chatbots to plan a four-day family trip from near Minneapolis to the Black Hills and Badlands, with gas and food stops, meals, lodging and under 1,400 miles in a borrowed minivan. Gemini was best at routing; ChatGPT did worst, with a broken map link and a needless night in the Badlands; Copilot was minimal; Claude was good apart from the route. DeepSeek won by basing the family in Custer State Park and planning every meal, and they followed its plan exactly, calling it a blast.

Pick a holiday destination for three friends from their questionnaires with ChatGPT and Gemini Deep Research

For an AI-planned trip with two colleagues, TechRadar's Josephine Watson sent the same Deep Research prompt and three completed preference questionnaires to ChatGPT and Gemini: four days, one base, about $2,000 each, scenic and filming-friendly. Gemini returned five well-known picks such as Lagos and Mallorca in under five minutes. ChatGPT asked follow-up questions first, then ran 110 searches across 34 sources in 16 minutes and suggested Santorini, Madeira, the Bay of Kotor, Cappadocia and Essaouira. ChatGPT came out on top in their head-to-head.

Find the airline's hidden refund option instead of a voucher with Gemini

After a day of 4 delays, 4 rebookings and a last-minute diversion, a traveller was handed a Southwest form that, if filled in, gave up the right to a refund in exchange for a voucher. They asked Gemini whether there was really no refund option, and it gave them a near-identical link that included a refund request.

Plan a food-focused trip on a fixed budget with Gemini

Android Police's Akshay Bhalla gave Gemini a Rs 1,00,000 budget for a September trip to North Goa with flights and stays already booked, and a cap of Rs 3,000–4,000 per meal. They say Gemini used Google Maps to suggest restaurants and activities in their favourite neighbourhoods, mapped routes and best visiting times, and found hidden gems and beach shacks after they refined the prompt.

Plan a solo summer vacation with Gemini (forgot it was a solo trip)

XDA's Mahnoor Faisal let Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini plan a real summer vacation they were taking alone. They say Gemini kept forgetting basics, repeatedly defaulting to group and couple-oriented ideas like a romantic candlelight dinner, and tended to agree their plan was great when it needed work.

Shortlist cheap, quiet places to stay for a holiday weekend with Gemini

For a New Year's trip to Oxford, MakeUseOf's Jack Mitchell asked Gemini for 5 hotels or B&Bs in or around the city that were cheapest and not overcrowded over the holiday. They say Gemini shortlisted places factoring in seasonal crowds and typical costs, and they then compared travel times, tolls and fuel or transit costs in Google Maps before choosing.

Plan a vacation with flight, hotel and busy-week checks in Gemini

A Hacker News commenter says they've been using Gemini to plan a vacation and finds it surprisingly useful: it can look up flights from Google Flights and hotels from Maps, and knows about busy weeks at the destination. They add that you have to hope it isn't hallucinating, which they see as safer for trips than for healthcare.

Plan a 10-day Malaysia trip with flights and hotels with Gemini

Hulry's writer asked Gemini to plan a 10-day trip from Bangalore to Malaysia for two at a moderate pace, low-to-mid budget with hotels under ₹5,000 a night. Gemini returned a decent itinerary and, using Google Flights data, flight options with accurate timings and pricing, but it mixed up the travel dates while searching for flights. The article says the whole plan took under 15 minutes.