Okay, so I decided to give this AI thing a shot for finding flights. Honestly, the usual websites were starting to get on my nerves. Too many clicks, too many ads, you know the drill. I figured, maybe AI could just… understand what I wanted?
Getting Started with AI Chat
First thing I did was just open up one of those popular AI chatbots. Didn’t really know where else to start. I typed something simple, like, “Find me cheap flights from New York to London for a week in October.”
The response looked kinda promising at first. It gave me a list of airlines, suggested some dates, even mentioned potential price ranges. Seemed pretty smart.
Hitting the First Roadblock
But then I asked for specifics. “Okay, what’s the price on British Airways around October 15th?” That’s where it got shaky. The AI would say something like, “Prices can vary, check the airline’s website.” Or sometimes it would give me a price that sounded way too good to be true. And guess what? It usually was. When I actually went to the airline site or a regular search engine, the price was totally different. Higher, obviously.
I realized pretty quick that these general AIs don’t really have live access to flight prices. They’re working off older information they were trained on, or maybe doing a quick web search that doesn’t capture the real-time dynamic pricing of flights. That was a bit of a letdown.
Trying Different Angles
So, telling it to find the cheapest flight directly wasn’t working reliably for the final price. I shifted my approach. I started using it more for ideas and planning.
- I asked things like, “What are interesting European cities I can fly to from Chicago for under $700 in spring?” This actually worked better. It gave me a list of places, some I hadn’t thought of.
- I also tried, “Compare legroom and service on KLM versus Delta for transatlantic economy.” It could give me a general summary based on reviews and info it had scraped, which was kinda useful for setting expectations.
- Finding complex routes was another thing I tried: “Suggest a multi-city trip: USA to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Bangkok, then Bangkok back to USA, in November.” It could map out potential airlines and layover points, giving me a starting point for more detailed searching.
The Actual Search Process
My process now looks more like this:
Step 1: Brainstorm with AI. I use the chatbot to explore destinations based on budget, time of year, or interests. Or to ask about general airline comparisons.
Step 2: Get Rough Ideas. I take the AI’s suggestions – cities, airlines, maybe even date ranges it thinks might be cheaper.
Step 3: Use Traditional Tools. Then, I head over to Google Flights, Skyscanner, or directly to airline websites. This is where I do the real searching for current prices and availability, armed with the ideas the AI gave me.
Step 4: Compare and Book. I use the reliable search engines to compare the actual, live prices and schedules and then make the booking through them or the airline.
So, What’s the Verdict?
Look, using AI for flight search isn’t the magic bullet I maybe hoped it would be. It can’t reliably find you the cheapest flight with an exact, bookable price right now. Its biggest weakness is the lack of real-time pricing data. It often hallucinates prices or gives outdated information.
However, it’s not useless. It’s actually pretty good for the early stages:
- Getting travel inspiration.
- Exploring options you didn’t know existed.
- Understanding general airline reputations or route possibilities.
- Figuring out maybe the best time to fly generally (like “is Tuesday cheaper than Friday?”).
Think of it like talking to a reasonably knowledgeable travel agent who doesn’t have the booking screen in front of them. They can give you ideas and general advice, but you still need to go to the ticket counter (or the modern equivalent, the search engine) to see the actual price and buy the ticket. It’s a tool for research assistance, not yet a replacement for dedicated flight search engines. That was my experience, anyway. Worth trying, but keep your expectations in check.