Travel in 2026: Why the Best Vacations Are Built by Humans

If you’re eyeing up ChatGPT (or anything similar) to plan your next trip, read this first.

AI is everywhere right now. People use it for recipes, snappy emails, and convincing the internet that punctuation is a crime! But handing it the keys to your vacation? That’s where things go off the rails. But even beyond the fact that AI can be confidently, spectacularly wrong, there’s a bigger problem.

It can’t tune into the tiny human details that make or break a trip for you. Sure, it can tell you that La Fortuna is wonderful (it is!) or that Carnival in Rio happens in February (correct!), but it has zero ability to interpret the nuance behind your preferences, your timing, your energy levels, or your actual travel style.

And in the moment you need real help? AI won’t pick up the phone or answer an email.

Here are 3 reasons to stick with a human travel advisor for your vacation needs instead.

Lack of Nuance

AI can spit out a list of things to do, but it doesn’t understand how you like to travel, the things you like to do. I ask those questions when talking to a client before planning their trip. You may travel differently than I would and we don’t all like the same things.

AI can read 10,000 reviews of a resort, but it’s never personally smelled the lobby, tasted the breakfast, or noticed that the “ocean view” is actually blocked by a construction crane. I travel to a lot of properties personally and can give you “the real scoop” that isn’t in a brochure.

AI calculates that you can physically fit six museums into one Tuesday because the opening hours allow for it. It treats your vacation like a Tetris board. I know that after three days of walking 20,000 steps in Rome, my client is going to be “museum-ed out.” I build in a “do nothing” afternoon, AI doesn’t know what it feels like to be tired.

Missing Context

I don’t think I’d trust AI to map out a multi country Europe trip for me. I go back to basics and get out the map when needed. I like to get into the details with these types of trips, that’s half the fun!

AI is a “maximalist.” It looks at a map and sees that Brussels is only two hours from Amsterdam, so it slots them into the same day. AI doesn’t factor in “travel fatigue.” It doesn’t realize that checking out of a hotel, hauling luggage to a station, navigating a foreign terminal, and checking into a new hotel takes 4 to 5 hours of mental energy.

Inaccurate and Out of Date

If you didn’t know, AI learns from old information. This is how a great trip turns into a nightmare. AI models can occasionally be overconfident about facts that aren’t true.

Fabricated Landmarks: In 2025, there were reports of tourists in Peru searching for a “Sacred Canyon of Humantay” that AI had invented by merging the names of two different real locations. They ended up at a dangerous 4,000m altitude with no signal, looking for a place that didn’t exist.

It isn’t just about a wrong phone number; it’s about what the industry calls “Hallucinations”, when an AI creates a reality that sounds completely plausible but doesn’t exist.

Why does AI sometimes give incorrect travel information?

AI models use “predictive text” based on historical data. They don’t have a “live” view of the world. This leads to hallucinations, where the AI might confidently recommend a restaurant that has closed or a train route that no longer runs. A travel agent uses live booking engines (GDS) and personal networks to ensure every recommendation is current.

The future of travel isn’t a choice between a bot and a human—it’s about choosing an expert who knows how to use both. Think of AI as autopilot. It’s amazing for maintaining a steady course and handling data in the background. But you wouldn’t want to fly on a plane that didn’t have a human pilot in the cockpit for takeoff, landing, and those moments of unexpected turbulence. When you book with a professional travel agent who uses AI, you’re getting the speed of the machine with the judgment, ethics, and ‘bat-phone’ of a human expert.

Don’t hand your PTO to an algorithm. Let’s build a trip with intention, context, and real expertise! You deserve the kind of vacation AI couldn’t dream up even on its best day.

Algorithms find data. I find experiences.” AI is great for the ‘what,’ but I’m here for the ‘who,’ ‘where,’ and ‘how.’ Beyond just booking, I provide the VIP perks and local connections that a bot simply can’t access.

Ready to move past the generic and into the extraordinary?

📍 Let’s Plan Your Next Adventure!

If you’re dreaming of a trip, I’d love to help make it happen! As a travel agent with Lake Pointe Travel, I can take the stress out of planning and find the best deals for you. Email me at Sarah@LakePointeTravel.net to start planning! You can also contact me here.

📆Prefer to make an appointment? Check out my schedule on Calendly. 

By day, I’m a travel agent and I share our vacations and travel tips here. Stay connected for more travel inspiration!

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Happy travels!

**This post was brainstormed with AI, then fact-checked, edited, and given a soul by a human travel expert. Because even blogs are better when we work together.