The problem
Booking a client's trip is quick; the itinerary afterwards is not. Flight times, train tickets, hotel addresses, booking references and meeting details sit in 6 or 7 confirmation emails, and copying them into a tidy document takes about 40 minutes a trip. At 12 trips a month across clients, that's 8 hours, and one wrong time or missing reference means a call from an airport.
What the AI does
Gemini in the Google Docs side panel can use files from Google Drive and summarize emails from Gmail, and Google says it can pull details from Drive, Gmail or the web into a document. You open a copy of the client's itinerary template in Docs and ask Gemini to fill it in, day by day, from the booking confirmations for that trip in your Gmail, with times, addresses and booking references. Then you check every line against the confirmations before sending it. Gemini in Docs comes with Google Workspace Business Standard (about $16£12€14A$23C$23 per user a month). Google states it doesn't use customers' Workspace data to train its generative AI, which matters when the data is a client's travel plans.
A worked example
A virtual assistant business in Cheltenham, the owner and one associate, books travel for 4 executive clients, about 12 trips a month. Confirmations are booked to, or forwarded to, the business's own Workspace Gmail, and each itinerary is built from a shared Docs template with Gemini.
Before
About 40 minutes copying details into each of 12 itineraries: 8 hours a month
After
About 15 minutes checking Gemini's draft against the confirmations: 3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $186£140€167A$269C$263 a month in time saved, against about $32£24€29A$46C$45 for 2 Workspace Business Standard users. 25 minutes saved on each of 12 itineraries is 5 hours, at an assumed $37£28€33A$54C$53 an hour.
How to set it up
- Move the business onto Google Workspace Business Standard (€13.60, about $16£12€14A$23C$23 per user a month on a one-year commitment) or above. Business Starter has Gemini in Gmail but not in Docs.
- Have every booking confirmation for a client's trip sent or forwarded to your Workspace Gmail, with the client's name and the trip in a label or the subject line.
- Make one itinerary template in Docs with a section for each day: travel, hotel, meetings, booking references and contact numbers.
- Open a copy for the trip and ask Gemini in the side panel: "Fill in this itinerary from the confirmation emails for [client]'s Manchester trip on [dates], with times, addresses and booking references."
- Check every time, date, address and reference against the confirmation emails, then share the itinerary with the client.
What goes wrong
- Gemini only sees your own Workspace Gmail and Drive. Confirmations that went only to the client's inbox won't be found, so ask clients to forward them or book with your address.
- It can pick up an old booking or a canceled train from the same thread. A wrong time on an itinerary is worse than none, so check every line before it goes to the client.
- Clients' travel plans are personal data under UK GDPR. Keep them in Workspace rather than a personal Google account, and leave passport numbers and payment details out of the itinerary.
- Each extra user adds about $16£12€14A$23C$23 a month. The personal Google AI Pro plan also has Gemini in Docs, but it's on consumer terms and not for client data.