{"id":949478,"date":"2026-05-10T01:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949478\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T01:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T01:40:23","slug":"the-gemini-app-shines-in-trip-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/949478\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gemini App Shines in Trip Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

SadaNews – Trip planning may seem like a daunting task, filled with activities that are supposed to be expedited by AI-powered chatbots. This technology was still in its early stages a few years ago; has it now become up to the task?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a tech columnist for the “New York Times” and a frequent traveler, I was eager to test whether AI could simplify the planning process, which usually takes me hours of reading travel guides and jotting down information in notebooks and spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

Travel Planning Options<\/p>\n

I was planning the details of a 14-day trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong with my wife and our 20-month-old daughter, and I also wanted help planning an upcoming summer vacation to Hawaii.<\/p>\n

I had several options, including partial apps that use AI for flight bookings, along with popular chatbots like “ChatGPT” and “Claude.” Since I found it generally easier to use one app rather than navigate multiple applications, I decided to focus on a single app.<\/p>\n

The “Gemini” App<\/p>\n

I chose Google’s “Gemini” chatbot for two reasons: First, unlike other chatbots, “Gemini” was already connected to Google’s vast resources for finding flights and restaurants. Second, I wanted to try it out alongside “Ask Maps,” a new AI feature integrated into Google Maps.<\/p>\n

* The good news: The “Gemini” chatbot, recently optimized to offer more personalized responses based on personal data, along with “Ask Maps,” formed an effective combination that saved me a lot of time, especially in searching for restaurants and tourist attractions. I spent only about 30 minutes planning my activities in Taiwan and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

* The bad news: “Gemini” sometimes made mistakes\u2014such as forgetting to add underwear to my packing list\u2014which required me to do some manual work. Despite these flaws, I generally recommend using “Gemini” as a virtual travel agent to help plan your next trip.<\/p>\n

Testing Results<\/p>\n

* A chatbot with a wide network. It is more efficient than other AI chatbots in trip planning, thanks to direct access to “Google Flights” and “Google Hotels” for searching flight ticket prices and accommodations. Google recently released two new AI features beneficial for trip planning: “Personalized Intelligence,” an option that users can activate from the settings of the “Gemini” app, and “Ask Maps,” a button that has recently started appearing in the “Google Maps” app.<\/p>\n

* Data extraction from Google services. Thanks to “Personalized Intelligence,” “Gemini” can extract data from multiple Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, and search history, to provide its answers. In other words, if you ask “Gemini”: “Recommend some restaurants near my hotel upon my arrival,” it will know your accommodation location and estimated arrival time based on the information in your email. I appreciated the ease and speed of getting help from “Gemini” without needing to remind it of the details of my trip.<\/p>\n

If you are, like me, concerned about granting the “Gemini” app access to such a vast amount of personal data, create a dedicated travel Gmail account and enable the “Personalized Intelligence” feature only on that account.<\/p>\n

In “Google Maps,” the “Ask Maps” button allows you to ask interactive questions like “Can you explain the Tokyo train system?” or “Is there a stroller-friendly route to the space museum?” and receive personalized answers from “Gemini” based on your location.<\/p>\n

Lists… with a few minor issues<\/p>\n

During my trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong, I primarily used “Gemini” for preparation and research, including creating packing lists and task lists.<\/p>\n

I wrote: “Create a list of clothes and necessary items for travel for my 20-month-old child.” (My wife used her own list). The chatbot provided a helpful list that included diapers, medicines, noise-canceling headphones, and a power adapter. However, the robot overlooked adding socks and underwear to my packing list.<\/p>\n

I also asked “Gemini” to create a list of important tasks to complete before the trip, and it generated a helpful summary that included checking family passport validity and researching mobile network coverage options abroad, another task I assigned to the bot. It recommended a cheap data plan that works in both Taiwan and Hong Kong – excellent.<\/p>\n

When I was satisfied with the lists, I asked “Gemini” to copy them into a notebook for later use. The lists appeared within Google’s “Keep” notes app, with checkboxes to mark off when tasks were completed.<\/p>\n

Planning Skill<\/p>\n

The “Gemini” app excelled in setting up tentative travel plans without requiring much effort. I asked it to create a daily activity plan, and since it already had access to the flight and hotel bookings I had emailed, and was aware that I was traveling with a small child, it devised a family-friendly activity plan for each day. I asked “Gemini” to save the trip plan as a note in the “Keep” app.<\/p>\n

As my family and I followed the itinerary in Taiwan and Hong Kong, we had a great time\u2014even considering travel fatigue, with short breaks for our small child. For example, “Gemini” recommended a relaxed first day in Taiwan by walking to Dan Forest Park and Yongkang Street, a nearby area known for its restaurants. We enjoyed our outing and had a bowl of delicious mango shaved ice before returning to the hotel.<\/p>\n

Varied Success in Real-Time<\/p>\n

While the “Gemini” app thrived in searching for ideas in advance, it began to struggle when I needed help in real-time. For example, when I arrived in Hong Kong, I asked it to recommend restaurants near my hotel, but it suggested restaurants near my previous hotel in Taiwan. Google clarified that the “Personalized Intelligence” feature is still under development and that timeline mix-ups are a known issue they are working to resolve.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the “Ask Maps” feature handled these types of requests efficiently. On a rainy day in Hong Kong, I opened “Google Maps,” pressed the “Ask Maps” button, and wrote: “The weather is rainy. Find activities you can do with a small child nearby.” The app suggested visiting the Science Museum and provided walking directions to get there in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

Smarter.. and Cheaper Flights<\/p>\n

In my experiences, I found that using the “Gemini” app to search for flight and hotel options was more effective than browsing travel booking websites in the traditional way. This is because “Gemini” not only prioritized prices but also provided me with the best options based on my personal circumstances.<\/p>\n

For instance, for my upcoming trip to Hawaii, I asked “Gemini” to search for the best flight deals in July. “Gemini” extracted information from “Google Flights” to show the cheapest geographically nearby options.<\/p>\n

Similarly, when I was searching for a hotel, sharing details about my situation helped me get personalized results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SadaNews – Trip planning may seem like a daunting task, filled with activities that are supposed to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3159],"tags":[547,53,16,15,264898],"class_list":{"0":"post-949478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-264898"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116547736401519347","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}