TL;DR: Connect a travel connector to Claude, then feed it a prompt that spells out your budget, dates, and dealbreakers. You get priced options and refund deadlines in one pass instead of 20 open tabs.
The Setup
A Reddit user in r/PromptEngineering shared a travel workflow that is worth a look. It has two parts: the connectors and the prompt.
For the connectors, open Claude, go to Settings, then Connectors. Click the plus button, hit Browse connectors, and add whichever of these fits:
- LetsFG: flights and hotels, plus review data. The all-in-one option.
- Booking.com: hotels and reviews from Booking only. Narrower, but simple.
- Tripadvisor: best for digging into one specific hotel’s reviews by hand.
If you’re unsure where to start, try LetsFG first. Because it covers flights and hotels in one place, Claude can compare the full cost of a trip without you stitching two searches together. You can switch connectors on and off later, so there’s no risk in testing one.
Once a connector is on, Claude can pull live listings instead of guessing from memory. That’s the difference between “here’s what Thailand trips usually cost” and “here are actual options.” Start a fresh chat after adding it and check that the connector shows as enabled before you paste the prompt. Otherwise Claude may quietly fall back on general knowledge and you won’t notice.
Why the Prompt Works
The original prompt is long, and the length is the point. It’s a family of four heading to Thailand from New York with a $10k budget. A few things make it strong:
- A hard budget, with the trip length left open. Claude decides how many days fit the money, so you don’t have to run the math. With $10k, it might show nine nights at a 4 star or six nights at a 5 star, and you see the tradeoff right away.
- A flexible date window. Late November or all of December gives it room to find cheaper days.
- A cap on flight time. Twenty hours each way, which matters a lot with a 5 and 7 year old. It also filters out itineraries stacked with long layovers.
- Dealbreakers named up front. Airlines with delay or cancellation records, noisy hotels, no bathtub, bad breakfast, bad service. Be specific here. “No bathtub” is better than “good for kids” because Claude can check it against actual listings.
- A smart exception on hidden fees. Fees are a red flag, but if the all-in total still fits the budget and the hotel is great, it’s fine. That tells Claude to weigh tradeoffs instead of filtering blindly.
- A tiered quality bar. Cheap 5 star first, 4 star only if it’s really incredible.
- A closing ask for total cost and the last refund date. Most people forget the refund date, and it’s the one that saves you when plans change.
Use Cases
- Family trips where you need to balance budget, flight length, and kid-friendly stays
- Flexible-date travelers who want Claude to find the cheapest window, such as comparing a Tuesday departure against a weekend one
- Anyone comparing a 4 star bargain against a 5 star splurge
- Checking one hotel’s review history before you commit (Tripadvisor connector)
A Fair Warning
One commenter added a tip worth stealing. Connector prices go stale fast, so ask Claude to show the source of every price, when it pulled it, and whether taxes, resort fees, and checked bags are included. A number with no timestamp isn’t a quote. It’s a hint. Treat the output as a shortlist, then confirm the final price on the booking site before you pay. Save the quoted numbers somewhere, even in a note, so you can compare them against the checkout total later.
Another commenter confirmed the prompt structure holds up in real searches, and called the refund-date ask a nice touch most people skip.
Prompt of the Day ✈️
Swap in your own details:
“I want to go to [destination] from [city] with [who’s traveling]. We want to stay [location preference]. Our budget is [amount] for the whole trip, so you decide how many days that covers. We can go [date window]. Maximum flight time is [hours] each way. Avoid airlines with a bad record for delays or cancellations. For hotels, avoid consistent noise complaints, [other dealbreakers], bad breakfast, or bad customer service. Hidden fees are a red flag, but if the total including fees stays under budget and the hotel is excellent, that’s fine. I’d like a low priced 5 star, but a 4 star works if it’s really incredible. Minimum stay: [nights]. Show me my options, the total cost of going, staying, and coming back, and the last date for a refund. For every price, show the source, when you pulled it, and whether taxes, resort fees, and bags are included.”
Your Move
Add one connector, paste the prompt with your own trip details, and see what comes back. Then tell me how close the final booking price landed to what Claude quoted. That’s the real test.
Captain YAR
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why should I ask for the source and timestamp of every price?
Connector prices go stale fast, and checked bags plus resort fees are the usual gap between the quote and the checkout total for a family of four. Add a line asking for the source, the time each price was pulled, and whether taxes, resort fees, and bags are included. That way you compare real totals, not teaser numbers.
Q: Should I check refund rules for each flight separately from the hotel?
Yes. Long-haul economy tickets are often non-refundable even when the hotel is free to cancel, so one last refund date for the whole trip can mislead you. Ask Claude to list the change and refund rules for each ticket and each hotel separately. Then put the earliest deadline on your calendar.
Q: Does the airline reliability filter actually work?
Some users trust the connector results, while others think Claude just repeats whatever data the connector feeds it. Both views have a point, because the model can only filter on what it receives. Ask Claude to name the source for each delay or cancellation figure, then check the airline’s published on-time record before you book.
Q: How well does Claude balance five-star quality, noise complaints, and bathtubs at once?
Hard rules like a bathtub work best as pass or fail, while noise and breakfast quality are judgment calls. Ask Claude to sort hotels into must-have and nice-to-have groups, and to show how many reviews back each complaint. Treat a handful of reviews as a hint, not proof.
Prompt to use for saving hundreds of $$$ for booking big international trips
by u/Efistoffeles in PromptEngineering