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Leverage Expedia Plugin with ChatGPT to Plan Travel Itineraries

Table of Contents

Introducing the Expedia Plugin for ChatGPT

ChatGPT plugins allow you to connect ChatGPT to external APIs and services to extend its capabilities. One such plugin is the Expedia plugin, which gives ChatGPT the ability to provide travel recommendations and booking options powered by Expedia.

In this blog post, we'll provide an overview of what the Expedia plugin can do, how to install it, and then walk through an end-to-end example of using it to plan a hypothetical trip to Paris.

Overview of the Plugin Capabilities

The Expedia plugin allows you to ask ChatGPT conversational questions to get travel recommendations. It can provide options and prices for:

  • Lodging/hotels at your destination
  • Flights to get you there and back
  • Local activities and attractions at your destination
  • Rental cars

Installation Process

Installing the plugin is straightforward - you'll need access to ChatGPT plugins, which you can join the waitlist for. Once you have plugin access:

  1. Go to the Plugin Store in ChatGPT
  2. Search for 'Expedia' and click Install
  3. You now have access and can start asking travel planning questions!

Using the Plugin to Plan a Paris Trip Itinerary

Let's go through an example of using the Expedia plugin to plan out a hypothetical 4 day trip to Paris. We'll start by specifying the trip details and parameters:

Specifying Trip Details and Parameters

For our example trip, we will plan for:

  • Traveling from Los Angeles to Paris
  • Dates of June 8th to June 11th
  • A budget of $2,000 USD We provide this full context upfront so ChatGPT and the Expedia plugin have all the details needed.

Recommending Lodging Options

First, we'll ask the plugin to recommend Paris hotel options within our budget. It provides 3 options with star ratings, amenities, nightly prices, and direct booking links. We decide to book the 4-star Hotel Brighton Etoile which fits within our budget at $185/night.

Identifying Optimal Flights

Next we ask the plugin to recommend flights from LAX to Paris departing on June 8th and returning June 11th. It returns 3 options with durations, departure times, and prices. We select the 11 hour routing priced at $982 roundtrip on AirFrance.

Discovering Local Paris Activities

In addition to transportation and lodging, a key part of trip planning is figuring out activities and attractions to do at your destination. This is an area where the Expedia plugin shines.

We ask it to recommend top Paris activities during our travel dates, and it provides 3 options with descriptions, prices, and sometimes even discounts or coupons.

Based on the recommendations, we decide to book skip-the-line Eiffel Tower tickets and a half day city tour.

Arranging Rental Car Logistics

The Expedia plugin can also help arrange rental cars for the destination location and dates. We ask it for Paris rental car options.

It returns 3 choices with company names, vehicle types, pick-up locations, and total rental prices. We go with the low-cost Citroen from Avis at 7.99 Euro/day.

Final Verdict - Expedia vs. Kayak Plugins

We've now completed an end-to-end Paris trip itinerary using the Expedia plugin. But how does it compare to alternatives like the Kayak plugin we recently reviewed?

Overall the Kayak plugin seems to understand budget constraints better, while the Expedia plugin is stronger for local activity recommendations once you've booked flights and lodging.

Conclusion and Next Steps

In summary, the Expedia plugin brings useful travel planning capabilities to ChatGPT with the power of Expedia behind it.

It makes it easy to get flight, lodging, rental car, and activity recommendations tailored to your specific trip parameters. While it has some limitations vs. alternatives, it's a handy addition to ChatGPT for travel planning scenarios.

FAQ

Q: What capabilities does the Expedia plugin offer?
A: The Expedia plugin for ChatGPT enables conversational travel planning focused on lodging, flights, activities, and rental cars.

Q: How do you install the Expedia plugin?
A: You can install the Expedia plugin directly from the ChatGPT plugin store without needing an account. Just search for it and click install.

Q: Can the plugin understand trip budget constraints?
A: The Expedia plugin does not seem to factor in specified trip budget limits when making recommendations.

Q: What's the benefit of the plugin for planning activities?
A: The Expedia plugin provides useful localized activity recommendations and deals when planning things to do at your destination.

Q: How does Expedia compare to Kayak for travel planning?
A: Expedia provides more options for activities while Kayak is better for accommodating trip budget constraints.

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