I Used ChatGPT To Help Buy My Plane Ticket: Here’s How Much I Saved
Written by
Karen Doyle
Edited by
Amen Oyiboke
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Trying to find the best price on a plane ticket can be an exercise in frustration. Prices change all the time, you have to factor in layovers, and you may have to choose between nearby airports. Is this the kind of thing that ChatGPT can help with? We tried to find out.
Here’s how much I saved when I asked ChatGPT to help me buy my plane ticket.
The Right Prompt Is Critical
To get a helpful response from ChatGPT or any AI system, you need to write a good prompt. It’s important to include all the details and specify anything that will help the bot give you a good answer.
This is the prompt I used for my plane ticket inquiry:
- “Find the lowest price for a round-trip flight from New York City to Los Angeles. The flight should leave on Oct. 15, 2025, and return on Oct. 21, 2025. It should have no more than one stop. Provide options for nearby dates and other nearby airports if they are cheaper.”
ChatGPT’s Response
The response from ChatGPT was detailed and provided a lot of information about options, like different dates and other airports, that impact the price. It also gave me some handy advice on booking.
Here’s what it said:
- “I dug into current data for flights from New York City – Los Angeles around your specified dates of Oct. 15, 2025 (departure), and Oct. 21, 2025 (return), with no more than one stop. While exact-date fares are limited in publicly indexed searches, here’s what I found — and some promising nearby-date options and alternate airports that might help you save.”
Current Fare Options
Expedia Highlights
- Spirit Airlines, round-trip (NYC-LAX)
Depart: Tue., Oct. 14
Return: Unspecified, but around that week
Price: $73 round-trip - Frontier Airlines, round-trip (JFK-LAX)
Depart: Wed., Oct. 15
Return: Fri., Oct. 17
Price: $192 - Frontier Airlines, round-trip (JFK-LAX)
Depart: Tue., Oct. 21
Return: Sat., Oct. 25
Price: $188
Trip.com Insights
- Spirit Airlines, nonstop (EWR-LAX)
Example: Depart Oct. 14
Price: $67 one-way - Southwest Airlines, LGA-LAX (1 stop)
Example: Depart Tue., Oct. 21
Price: $75 one-way - Frontier Airlines, nonstop (JFK-LAX)
Example: Oct. 29
Price: $83 one-way
Skyscanner Trends
- October is the cheapest month for NYC-LAX flights, with fares starting around $60 one-way.
Summary Table: Price Highlights
| Option | Route / Dates (Approx.) | Stops | Fare (USD) |
| A | Spirit (EWR-LAX), ~Oct 14 | Nonstop | ~$67-73 RT |
| B | Frontier (JFK-LAX), Oct 15-17 | Nonstop | $192 RT |
| C | Frontier (JFK-LAX), Oct 21-25 | Nonstop | $188 RT |
| D | Southwest (LGA-LAX), Oct 21 | 1 stop | $150-160 RT est. (?–2 one-ways ≈ $75 each) |
| E | Skyscanner forecast (October) | — | from $120 RT |
Best Value Options Around Your Dates
Best deal overall: Spirit, nonstop EWR-LAX at ~$67-73 round-trip (if the return aligns within your range).
Best match to your desired dates: Frontier, JFK-LAX, Oct. 15-17 for $192. Closest to your original plan.
Slight flexibility option: Frontier, Oct. 21-25 for $188. Perfect return range if you can shift travel days.
Alternate airport route: Southwest via LGA, one-stop option around Oct. 21, ~$150 round-trip.
Track and monitor: Set alerts on Expedia, Google Flights or Skyscanner to monitor dips — fares often drop within 1-3 months of departure.
Final Thoughts
If you’re flexible — even slightly — Spirit’s deeply discounted fare (~$67-73 RT) could be the best bargain of the month. But if you need those exact dates, Frontier’s $192 fare is your closest match, with a better-aligned alternative at $188 if you can shift your return.
What a Traditional Search Found
I wanted to compare ChatGPT’s result with what I would have found if I had searched for my flight the old-fashioned way. I went to Kayak.com and entered my parameters: round-trip from any NYC airport to any LA-area airport, no more than one stop, departing on Oct. 15 and returning on Oct. 21.
The best option I found was a Southwest flight from LaGuardia to LAX and back, with one stop, on those exact dates. The cost for the round-trip flight was $149 in Basic Economy. There was also a nonstop Frontier flight for $150 round-trip.
How Much Did I Save?
The lowest-priced flight recommended by ChatGPT was $67 round-trip, $82 less than the $149 I found on my own. The comparison isn’t strictly apples to apples, since the Spirit flight that ChatGPT suggests has an unclear return date, and it’s unclear if the departure date is correct. But with some flexibility and a little more research, this could be a significant savings over the fare found through Kayak.
The bottom line is that using ChatGPT to research airfares can save you serious cash, particularly if you have some flexibility in your travel dates. If nothing else, you may learn something about the best ways to book a flight.
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