‘I’ve saved £3,000 on family holidays with THIS ChatGPT trick – here’s how to do it’

A mum has revealed a clever ChatGPT travel hack that saves her hundreds on every holiday – and most people have no idea it exists.

Lara Joanna Jarvis uses the free AI tool to plan all her trips, from weekend getaways to six-month family adventures across the globe.

The 41-year-old, from Hampshire, has travelled across South America, Southeast Asia, the US and Europe – all while sticking to a tight budget.

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But it wasn’t until she started using ChatGPT to plan out her trips that the real savings began – totalling £3,000 to date.

“The key is to give it as much detail as possible – the more you put in, the better it gets,” the content creator, who has 42,000 following on Instagram @‌larajoannajarvis, told What’s the Jam.

“I always start with things like: ‘I’m a mum with two kids, aged 10 and 12, they like outdoor adventures and animals. We’ve never been to this country before and want to explore at a relaxed pace’.

“I’ll add in our daily budget – say £100 a day – and ask what the most affordable way to get around is.

“Should we hire a car, take public transport, or fly?

“Then here’s the trick that makes all the difference: I always end my prompt by saying ‘Ask me any questions you need to know to help you answer accurately.’

“That one sentence completely changes the results.

“It starts asking smart follow-up questions I hadn’t thought of, and the itinerary becomes so much more accurate and personalised.

“You’ve got to treat it like a conversation – load it up with all your preferences and let it help you fill in the gaps.”

From building full itineraries to uncovering free activities and working out cheaper transport options, Lara now uses ChatGPT for most of her travel planning.

She even uses it to avoid tourist traps and cut down on unnecessary costs – and predicts the tool helps her shave off a whopping £800 per trip.

In total, Lara estimates she’s saved around £3,000 since she started using the tool.

The mum, who has been sharing travel vlogs and money tips to her YouTube audience of almost 80,000 subscribers, has now developed her own set of go-to prompts to squeeze even more value out of every holiday.

Rather than asking for the usual popular – and pricey – destinations, she tells the AI to suggest cheaper alternatives.

She said: “I don’t just ask it where’s hot in September – I’ll say something like, ‘Where can I go that’s sunny, warm, and budget-friendly in Europe?’ It’s so much more helpful.

“I treat it like a virtual travel agent and give it all our details. I’ll say, ‘Plan a five-day itinerary in Portugal under £700, with mostly free or low-cost activities and easy transport.’

“I’ve even had it compare entire countries – like, ‘What’s cheaper for a family of four: Thailand or Vietnam for a two-week summer trip?’ It breaks it all down in seconds.”

And it’s not just about saving cash – Lara says the time reduction is just as valuable.

Now, all she has to do is give clear prompts, and the AI does the heavy lifting.

She said: “It’s taken a huge weight off.

“Before, I’d spend hours, sometimes weeks piecing everything together from blogs, forums and Instagram – as much as I love planning out all the details and still do a lot of it manually.

“I also tell ChatGPT what we want and it helps me sort it all out in minutes.”

Lara has used the platform to plan detailed multi-day itineraries, weigh up transport options like taxis vs airport transfers and find free museums or cheaper places to eat.

She even had it calculate whether a City Pass would be worth it for her New York trip – and it was.

She said: “It’s brilliant for breaking down costs you wouldn’t normally think about.

“I had no idea how expensive things like entry tickets or food would be in New York until ChatGPT laid it all out.

“I asked it to compare the cost of individual tickets versus the City Pass, and it actually worked out cheaper for everything we wanted to do. That would’ve taken me much longer to figure out on my own.”

Lara has even asked ChatGPT to suggest supermarket stops to avoid overspending on snacks and meals while out sightseeing.

She said: “It’s those little tips that add up and really help keep the budget on track.

“Buying snacks at supermarkets instead of cafes made a huge difference over the course of the trip

“It helps avoid any surprises. For example, when I was researching Iceland, I had no idea how expensive it was.

“It told me, for example, a coffee and croissant in the morning could be around £20. I would never have thought to research that.

“So I knew then to stock up at the supermarket when we got there so the snacks weren’t adding up every time we were out.

“It’s a new level of information that you wouldn’t necessarily have thought of.”

Whether it’s cutting costs, saving time, or avoiding holiday headaches, ChatGPT has transformed how Lara travels.

She added: “I’ve been researching trips for over a two decades, as well as sharing tips and ideas on my blog for the past 13 years, and nothing has made it easier – or cheaper – than this.

“For families like us, trying to make amazing memories without breaking the bank, it’s been a total game-changer.”

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