Google Enhances Travel Planning with New Features in Search, Maps, and Gemini

Google's rolling out some pretty cool new features across Search, Maps, and Gemini to help you plan your summer getaways. These updates come as more folks have been leaning on AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT for their travel planning needs.

Starting this week, Google Search's AI Overviews, which give you a quick snapshot of info right at the top of your search results, are stepping up their game. Now, you can ask for something like "create an itinerary for Costa Rica with a focus on nature." From there, you'll be able to scroll through photos, read reviews, and check out spots on an expandable map. When you're ready to lock in your plans, just hit "Export" to share your recommendations via Docs or Gmail, or save them as a custom list in Google Maps.

This handy feature is rolling out for English language queries in the U.S. on both mobile and desktop.

Over at Gemini, they're making the Gems feature free for everyone. Gems let you whip up custom AI experts for any task you throw at them. So, you could set up a trip planner that not only helps you pick a destination but also suggests what to pack.

Google's been letting you track flight price drops for a while now, but they're taking it a step further with hotels. You'll soon be able to keep an eye on hotel prices for your chosen dates and spots. You can even set filters like star ratings or beach access for a specific area. If the prices drop, Google will shoot you an email to let you know.

Hotel price tracking is going global this week on both mobile and desktop browsers.

As for Maps, Google's got a neat trick up its sleeve. Ever taken screenshots of places you want to visit during your vacation but then forgotten about them? Well, now you can give Maps access to your photos, and it'll automatically spot the places in your screenshots. You can then review and save the ones you're interested in to a list, and they'll show up on the map for a quick overview of your plans.

This feature's rolling out this week in the U.S. for English users on iOS, with Android support coming soon.