Google Assistant Now Has a Bunch of New Travel Features
Hey Google, check into my flight — and book my hotel while you're at it.
As we get closer and closer to Google planning entire trips for us, the tech giant announced upgrades to its Google Assistant today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that will make certain aspects of travel easier, and hands free.
If you're unfamiliar with Google Assistant, it's the little helper on Android and iPhones (Google's Siri or Alexa, if you will) and Google Home devices. Ever since 2016, we've been able to work with Assistant to do certain aspects of trip planning. As Brad Rickman put it for Traveler: "Instead of doing what you do today — pulling out your laptop and vanishing down a troll hole of Yelp commentary — you just say, out loud, into the air of your presumably empty apartment, 'I want to go to Bali.' And a voice that's almost librarian-like, familiar but not intimate, friendly but professional, says back to you, "Okay. When?" Twenty minutes and a few exchanges later, you've reviewed your flight options, picked out an Airbnb, booked a seafood dinner for your second night on the island, and added the whole trip to your calendar without lifting a finger. The flight's on an airline with which you have status; the Airbnb has Wi-Fi because that's always non-negotiable for you; and the restaurant's gin game is strong. And it's all already on your phone, right beside a list of recommended sights built around your bookings in place and time."
So what's new? Here a few prompts you can now give your Assistant.
