Vacation booking can be a stress-free experience with the help of AI travel agents. I tested three of them to see if they could make my travel planning effortless.
Take a load off, folks! Booking vacations ain't my thing – I'd rather let the robots do the work. That's exactly what I did on my latest getaway, and I brought along some friends: the iPhone 16 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Google Pixel 9 Pro.
Welcome to our video series ‘AI planned it’, where we let artificial intelligence (AI) choose our destination, itinerary, and even ventured into bringing AI on vacation with us!
To test these AI travel agents, we used three different platforms: TripAdvisor, Vacay, and Layla.AI.
First up was TripAdvisor, a household name in online travel booking. Its AI assistant utilizes OpenAI's generative AI technology, accessing a treasure trove of customer travel reviews to tailor plans that resonate with real-life experiences.
Next was Vacay, which runs on OpenAI's GPT models to generate personalized travel plans. Unlike TripAdvisor, Vacay seems to have less proprietary training data, but it makes up for it by offering a wider range of planning formats and interfaces.
Lastly, we tried Layla.AI, the pricier option in our experiment. It integrates data from big names like Skyscanner and Booking.com, offering natural language queries and user-friendly AI planning.
Unfortunately, Layla didn't quite measure up, despite the subscription fee. But don't miss the full video to find out why!
In case you're intrigued, here are some more AI-related articles you might enjoy...
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- Unlocking 40's full potential with a ChatGPT prompt – I never knew I needed it
- Oops! 5 AI products that went from brilliant to bust: Causes and lessons learned
Enrichment Data
This comparison of AI travel agents TripAdvisor, Vacay, and Layla.AI provides insights on their core technology, data sources, features, user experience, and strengths/weaknesses:
Core Technology and Data Sources
- TripAdvisor AI Assistant uses OpenAI’s generative AI technology combined with its vast database of user travel reviews, creating highly tailored itineraries based on real traveler feedback and extensive user data.
- Vacay employs OpenAI’s GPT models, integrating less proprietary training data than TripAdvisor but compensating with a wider range of planning formats and interfaces.
- Layla.AI, the paid option, integrates data from major travel providers like Skyscanner and Booking.com, featuring strong booking suggestions and community-curated travel content.
Features and User Experience
| Feature | TripAdvisor AI | Vacay | Layla.AI ||---------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------|| Data backing | Strong user review database | Primarily OpenAI GPT base | Skyscanner & Booking.com data || AI model | Customized OpenAI integration | OpenAI GPT models | Unknown, integrates multiple APIs|| Pricing | Free | Free | Paid subscription required || Itinerary personalization | High (review-based insights) | Moderate (general GPT) | High (comprehensive bookings) || Interface options | Standard web-based | Broader formats & interfaces | Web and mobile app || Booking capabilities | Limited to suggestions | Limited | Direct booking suggestions || Natural language input | Yes | Yes | Yes || Travel inspiration & community features | Limited | Limited | Includes travel ideas & curated itineraries shared by community[4]|| Accessibility | Widely known and accessible | Fun and flexible | Versatile but subscription-based|
Strengths and Weaknesses
- TripAdvisor is strong in providing reliable and trustworthy suggestions thanks to its vast real-world review data. Its interface options might be limited, compared to some competitors.
- Vacay offers a fun and flexible AI travel planner with various planning formats but lacks significant proprietary data training.
- Layla.AI aims to provide comprehensive paid travel planning with strong booking integrations and community-driven inspiration, but its performance relative to cost has received criticism during testing.
In the video series 'AI planned it', we explored three different AI travel agents: TripAdvisor, Vacay, and Layla.AI. Each platform utilizes unique technologies to generate personalized travel plans, with TripAdvisor relying on OpenAI's generative AI technology and its extensive user data, Vacay using OpenAI's GPT models, and Layla.AI integrating data from big names like Skyscanner and Booking.com. These AI assistants offer various features and interfaces, catering to diverse travel preferences and lifestyles, while displaying different strengths and weaknesses in artificial intelligence, computing, and technology integration.
