Should I Use a Travel Agent or AI to Plan My Trip?
Use a travel advisor. AI itineraries can look polished while containing closed restaurants, outdated hotel details, and routes that do not exist. When a trip matters, the details need to be right, and someone accountable needs to be reachable. That is the short answer. Here is the longer one.
Should I Use a Travel Agent or AI? Why AI Trip Planning Gets It Wrong
It is easy to see the appeal. AI is fast, free, and it answers in a confident voice. That confidence is the problem. We have seen the same pattern from clients who arrive with an AI-generated plan, and a recent New York Post report on the trend describes it well.
Where AI Trip Planning Goes Wrong
The reported examples will sound familiar to anyone who plans travel for a living.
A renovation that never happened. A hotel described as recently updated had not been renovated in well over a decade.
A train station that did not exist. A Lake Como hotel was described as a short walk from a station that is not there. Reaching it meant taking a ferry.
A restaurant that was closed. A traveler in Italy was sent to a restaurant that has always been closed on Mondays.
A waterfall that could not be verified. A scenic stop near Banff was described in convincing detail and only fell apart when the traveler tried to confirm its location.
The pattern is the same each time. Outdated or invented information arrives with certainty, and you find out at the worst possible moment, often after you have paid for it or arrived.
Accuracy Is Only Half the Story
Even when the facts are right, a list of recommendations is not a good trip. AI tends toward familiar choices, which means popular stops and long lines. It cannot weigh the things that make a plan work for the people in it.
A long layover affects a six year old and an 80 year old very differently.
A teenager may enjoy one palace and be finished with the second.
A group of six can have six different dietary needs.
Cobblestones and steep hills are charming until they are not.
What a Travel Advisor Does for You
Verification. Hours, closures, and logistics are confirmed by people, not assumed. Luggage forwarding between Japanese cities has to be arranged in advance. Cruise ports require precise timing between ship departures and land transfers. Getting any of it wrong costs time you cannot get back.
Access. Some of the most meaningful moments do not come from a search. A private conversation with a Hiroshima survivor, a lunch with a North Korean defector in Seoul, and a cooking class run by women entrepreneurs overlooking the Julian Alps in Slovenia all came through trusted partners and long relationships.
Judgment. We start by asking what the trip is for. A milestone, a reunion, a tradition, a passion. The purpose shapes the pace, the places, and the people involved.
Current local knowledge. Where Seoul’s pop-ups and limited drops are happening this week. Which lake offers the same beauty as the famous one with far fewer crowds. This comes from being on the ground, repeatedly.
Support during the trip. When a flight is delayed or a plan shifts, you call a person who already knows your trip and can fix it.
When a Travel Advisor Matters Most
An advisor makes the biggest difference when:
The trip marks a milestone or celebration
Several generations are traveling together
Your time is limited and you cannot afford a misstep
You want experiences that do not appear in search results
Plan With People Who Have Been There
When every detail is thoughtfully planned, you can focus on being present. After three decades of designing trips, that is still the part we care about most. If you are thinking about a family trip, a milestone, or a journey built around something you love, let’s talk about what it could look like.
For families planning across generations, start with our guide to multi-generational family travel.
Reporting referenced in this article: The New York Post, October 6, 2026.
Q&A
Question: Should I use a travel agent or AI to plan my trip?
Short answer: Use a travel agent or advisor. AI itineraries can contain outdated hotel details, closed restaurants, and routes that do not exist. An advisor confirms the details, tailors the plan to your group, and supports you if anything changes.
Question: Can ChatGPT replace a travel agent?
Short answer: No. Travelers have reported outdated hotel information, closed restaurants, and routes that do not exist. AI cannot secure hard-to-book reservations, adapt a plan to the people in your group, or help you in person when plans change.
Question: Is AI travel planning accurate?
Short answer: Not reliably. AI can present stale or invented details with confidence, and you may not find out until you arrive. A travel advisor verifies hours, availability, and locations before you go.
Question: When is a travel advisor worth it?
Short answer: Most often for milestone trips, multi-generational travel, complex destinations, and trips where your time is limited. An advisor verifies details, tailors the pace to your group, secures experiences that are hard to book, and supports you while you travel.
Question: What does a travel advisor do that AI cannot?
Short answer: A travel advisor confirms every detail with real people, arranges private and hard-to-book experiences through trusted partners, plans around the needs of each traveler, and stays reachable during your trip.
