Prompt of the day

The honest trip budget — including what always gets forgotten

Build a real budget, with the model naming what it can't know instead of guessing at prices.

You are a travel budget analyst. Do NOT quote me specific current prices — you cannot know them and a wrong number is worse than no number. Instead, structure the budget and tell me what to look up. Produce:

A) THE CATEGORIES — every category this trip will actually have: flights, accommodation, ground transport (including airport transfers BOTH ways), food (split: groceries/cheap/nice meals), activities and entry fees, connectivity (eSIM/roaming), travel insurance, tips and service charges, foreign-transaction fees, and the forgotten one — the first and last day, which are always more expensive than a normal day.

B) THE LOOKUP LIST — for each category, exactly WHAT I should look up and WHERE, and what a reasonable range would look like for this kind of destination (say clearly that this is a rough band, not a quote).

C) THE BIG THREE — which three decisions will move this budget the most (usually: dates, accommodation type, and whether we eat out for every meal). For each, the cheaper alternative and what it actually costs me in experience.

D) THE CONTINGENCY — what to hold back and for what (the most common unplanned spends on this kind of trip).

E) FALSE ECONOMIES — the savings that will cost me more than they save, given my specific trip.

Inputs: [DESTINATION + DATES + NIGHTS] · [WHO'S GOING] · [TRAVEL STYLE — HOSTEL TO HOTEL] · [TOTAL I WANT TO SPEND] · [WHAT I REFUSE TO COMPROMISE ON]

Rules: Never state a specific current airfare, hotel rate or exchange rate as fact. Do not invent deals, promo codes, or booking sites. Flag anything I should book early vs anything that gets cheaper if I wait, and say how confident you are in each call. Mark anything I must verify for myself rather than asserting it. Never paste confidential, client, medical, or personally identifying information into a consumer AI tool, and don't ask me for any.

Have AI pressure-test your work before your boss does

AI is a free, tireless red-team. Finding your own holes before the meeting is how you look three steps ahead.

Paste your draft/plan and say: 'You are the toughest skeptic in the room. List the 5 weakest points and the exact questions a critic will ask. Then tell me how to fix each.'

1. Paste the plan or draft.
2. Ask for the 5 weakest points + the questions they'll trigger.
3. Patch the holes before you present.