How to plan a trip with AI

An AI chat can turn "4 days in Osaka with a 10-year-old" into a day-by-day plan. For one that works, give it your constraints, ask for days grouped by area with travel buffers, make it critique the draft, and check times and routes on official sites. Then turn the agreed plan into one itinerary page with the form above.

What to tell the AI first

Leave something out and the AI guesses. Tell it:

• Dates and times: arrival and departure times, not just days.
• Base: where you sleep, and how many hotel changes you'll accept.
• Party: ages and needs, such as slow walkers.
• Budget scope: what it covers, such as tickets and transport.
• Pace: stops a day and a time to be back.
• Must-dos and fixed bookings: day and time for anything booked.

Still deciding dates or budget? Start with the travel planning checklist.

For Japan, JNTO, the national tourism organization, suggests in its planning tips choosing your timing, base, and interests, and warns against too many long journeys and hotel changes. Its itineraries page offers official route ideas you can paste in to start from (sources checked October 25, 2026).

Plan a trip with AI in 4 steps

1. Put the constraints in one message

Start your first message with that list; constraints added later get patched in, not planned around.

2. Ask for a draft grouped by area

Fill in and send:

Draft a trip itinerary. I'll check every fact myself.
Trip: [place], [arrival day, time] to [departure day, time]
Base: [hotel area]; hotel changes: [none/one]
Party: [people, ages, needs]
Budget covers: [what]
Pace: [number] main stops a day, back by [time]
Must-do: [list]. Fixed: [booking, day, time]
Group each day by area, add travel time plus a buffer between stops, never move a fixed booking, and mark every opening time, price, and route "check" instead of linking it.

3. Make the AI critique its draft

Then send:

Critique that draft as a tired traveler would.
1. Which day is overloaded? Cut it to my pace; say what moved where.
2. Where does a day double back?
3. Give each outdoor stop a nearby indoor rain backup.
4. Return the revised plan by day with times, then the "check" list.

Illustration only, not a checked plan:

• Draft, day 3: Nara in the morning, lunch in Arashiyama, dinner in Dotonbori: three cities in one day.
• Revised: Nara only, back by late afternoon. Arashiyama joins the Kyoto day; a museum is the rain backup.

A useful follow-up: "Day 2 has a 10:00 timed entry. Rebuild that morning around it."

4. Check the facts and agree one version

Confirm each "check" item on the official site, close to your dates, then agree one version with the group.

What the AI proposes and what you check

Unless the AI shows a source, treat its times, prices, and routes as questions.

Turn the agreed plan into a shared itinerary

Paste the checked plan into the form at the top of this page, or just your destination, dates, party, and interests. Convika's AI lays it out from its travel itinerary template as a mobile itinerary: each day a timeline, with map links for places. Check it against your notes. Full steps are in the AI travel itinerary guide.

The preview opens for 3 minutes from when it's ready, so use it to check, not to share; at the end the preview link stops opening, though the page isn't deleted then. Sign up and claim the page, then publish it yourself. Companions open the published address without a Convika account; after changes, publish again to the same address.

Free suits a public itinerary: no credit card, the Convika bar at the foot of the page, 1 live page within 10,000 page views a month. Click Publish page, choose Public, and click Next; the first time, click Publish free. Search and Convika's gallery may show public pages, so leave out hotels and meeting points.

If the page says where you sleep or when and where you meet, use Pro: a Private link opens for anyone with the URL, Only people with the password for anyone who knows it. Neither checks who opens it, so share only with your group. If you plan in Claude or Codex, connect Convika over MCP: your AI can create the itinerary page from the chat, update it when plans change, and publish it when you explicitly ask. Check the page first, then tell the AI to publish.

Before you travel, use your Pro trial to try sharing by private link or password, and check that your travel companions can open the itinerary on their phones.

If eligible, a workspace's first Pro monthly subscription starts with Pro's card trial: free for 1 day with a card, then $12 a month unless you cancel; checkout shows details and eligibility. If that Pro ends unpaid, private-link and password pages go offline, stay in your account, and never turn Public on their own.

Questions about planning a trip with AI

Can an AI plan the whole trip for me?

It can draft and rework it. It can't promise a venue is open, a train runs, or a table is free.

How do I keep an AI itinerary from being too packed?

State your pace up front and run the critique prompt; if a day still runs long, ask for one cut.

Can my travel companions edit the itinerary?

The published link is for viewing. Companions send changes in the group chat; you apply them and publish again at the same address.

Should I send my group the preview link?

No. It opens for 3 minutes so you can check it. Publish the page and send that address.