Everyone uses ChatGPT wrong for travel.
They type "find me a cheap flight to Lisbon" and get a shrug, because ChatGPT cannot see live fares. So they give up and go back to refreshing Google Flights, hoping the number drops.
That is backwards. The search engine is not the hard part. Google Flights already shows you every price in three seconds. The hard part is knowing what to do with the number: whether to book now or wait, whether a different airport saves more than it costs, whether the "deal" has $180 of fees hiding behind it, and whether two one-way tickets beat the round trip.
That is the part that saves real money, and it is exactly what ChatGPT is good at.
Here are the 7 prompts. Use Google Flights to get the prices. Use these to decide what to do with them.
First, one setting worth knowing:
If you are in the US or UK, ChatGPT now has a Skyscanner app built in that returns live fares directly in the chat. Open a chat, tap the + button, and look for Skyscanner in the apps list. Type "Skyscanner, find me the cheapest flight to Lisbon in October" and you get real prices in the conversation.
Outside those two countries it is not available yet. Everything below still works, you just paste prices in from Google Flights instead.
1/ The Book Now Or Wait Call
The single most expensive decision in travel, and most people guess.
The prompt:
I am flying [FROM] to [TO] on [DATES]. I just checked Google Flights and the current price is [PRICE] on [AIRLINE].
Tell me whether to book now or wait:
- What the typical booking window is for this specific route and season, and where I currently sit in it
- Whether prices on this route usually rise or fall from this point, and roughly by how much
- The specific events, holidays, or school terms around my dates that will push demand up before I fly
- The realistic best-case price if I wait, and the realistic worst-case if I wait too long
Then give me a straight answer: book now, or wait until a specific date. Not "it depends." Pick one and tell me your confidence level and what would change your mind.Fares move constantly and most people book on emotion. This turns it into a decision with a reason behind it.
2/ The Airport Swap
The savings hiding 90 minutes down the road, minus the cost of getting there.
The prompt:
I am flying to [DESTINATION] around [DATES]. My home airport is [AIRPORT].
Find me every alternative airport worth considering:
- All airports within a 3 hour drive or train ride of me, and all airports within a reasonable transfer of my destination
- For each one, what it typically costs to get there and how long it takes
- Which ones are hubs for budget carriers that do not show up in normal searches
- The realistic fare difference on this route from each option
Then do the actual math: after transfer costs, transfer time, and the risk of a tight connection, which option genuinely saves me money and which one only looks like it does. Be honest when the savings are not worth the hassle.This is where the biggest wins usually are, and it is the one thing nobody bothers to calculate properly.
3/ The Real Price
The $39 fare that costs $214 by the time you board.
The prompt:
Here is a flight I am considering: [PASTE THE FULL DETAILS: airline, route, dates, fare type, and the advertised price].
Break down what this actually costs me door to door:
- Every fee this specific airline charges: cabin bag, checked bag, seat selection, check-in, payment method surcharges
- What is genuinely included in this fare type versus what looks included but is not
- Transport to and from both airports at the times I would actually be travelling
- What I lose if I need to change or cancel this ticket
Then compare it to [THE OTHER OPTION I AM CONSIDERING] on the same all-in basis and tell me which is actually cheaper once everything is counted.Budget airlines price the seat and sell you everything else. This is the prompt that stops a $39 fare turning into the most expensive option on the page.
4/ The Route Rebuild
Sometimes the cheap way there is not the way you searched for.
The prompt:
I want to visit [DESTINATION OR LIST OF PLACES] around [DATES], flying from [HOME AIRPORT]. My budget is [AMOUNT].
Rebuild this trip the cheapest realistic way:
- Compare the round trip against two separate one-way tickets, including on different airlines
- Check whether flying into one city and out of another (open jaw) beats the standard return
- If I am visiting multiple places, work out the cheapest order to do them in and how to move between them
- Tell me whether a nearby hub with a cheap onward connection beats flying direct
For each option give me the rough total and the trade-off in time and hassle. Then tell me which one you would actually book and why.Most people search one route, one way, and take the price they are given. The trip is often 30% cheaper in a shape they never thought to search.
5/ The Dates That Cost Less
Same trip, different week, hundreds of dollars apart.
The prompt:
I want to go to [DESTINATION] for roughly [NUMBER] days, sometime in [MONTH OR WINDOW]. I am flexible on exact dates.
Find me the cheapest realistic window:
- The days of the week that are consistently cheaper to fly this route, and why
- The weeks in my window that will be expensive because of holidays, school breaks, festivals, or local events, in both my country and the destination
- Where shoulder season falls for this destination, and what the weather and crowds are actually like then versus peak
- The exact date range you would pick if you were trying to spend the least
Then tell me what shifting my trip by a few days is realistically worth in money, so I can decide if the flexibility is worth it.Shifting a trip by two days is free. It is often the biggest single saving available and takes one prompt to find.
6/ The Points Check
You probably have points sitting somewhere doing nothing.
The prompt:
Here is what I have: [YOUR AIRLINE MILES, CREDIT CARD POINTS, HOTEL POINTS, OR ANY LOYALTY BALANCES YOU KNOW OF]. I want to fly [ROUTE] around [DATES], where the cash price is currently [PRICE].
Tell me:
- Whether my points are worth using on this trip, with the actual cents-per-point value I would be getting
- If they transfer to airline or hotel partners, which transfers are worth it and which destroy value
- Whether I should pay cash and keep the points for a trip where they are worth more
- What I am likely missing: expiring balances, transfer bonuses, or a partner airline that prices this route far lower
Give me a clear answer on this specific trip, not general points theory.Most people either hoard points forever or burn them on the worst possible redemption. This tells you which trip is actually worth spending them on.
7/ The Trip Around The Flight
You saved on the flight. Now stop losing it back on everything else.
The prompt:
I am going to [DESTINATION] for [NUMBER] days in [MONTH]. My total budget for everything except the flight is [AMOUNT].
Build me the money plan:
- Which neighbourhoods give me the best value to stay in and which ones I am overpaying for purely because of the name
- Whether hotels or rentals win for a trip this length, with rough nightly numbers
- How to get from the airport into the city without the standard tourist markup
- What the local transport actually costs and whether a pass is worth it for my length of stay
- The 3 things visitors reliably overpay for here, and the alternative locals use instead
- The realistic daily food budget at three levels: cheap, mid, and treating myself
Give me a total estimate and tell me where I could cut the most without ruining the trip.The flight is one line in the budget. This handles the rest, which is usually where the money quietly disappears.
Start tonight. Open Google Flights, pull the price for a trip you have been thinking about, and run prompt 1. Find out whether the number in front of you is a good one before you book it.
While everyone else refreshes flight prices hoping for a miracle, you will know exactly when to click.
🚨 Reply "GUIDE" and I will send you my prompting guide. It teaches you how to prompt ChatGPT and Claude the right way, so every prompt you run gets a better answer back.
Cheers,
Matas Jonaitis
Founder, DailyChatGPT (@dailyprompter)