Get real flight and hotel prices from a Claude Code travel skill, which only guessed price ranges until it was given a browser (partial)
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- by Christopher Johnson (Substack)
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Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.
PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.
What went wrong: Without a browser the skill gave guessed ranges; with Claude in Chrome it gave real options.
Outcome
Christopher Johnson built a Claude Code skill in about twenty minutes to act as a travel agent, sorting flights and places to stay for a business trip. Asked for real prices, it gave ranges, such as 'Flights typically run $280 to $420', and none of them was a price they could actually pay. Claude explained that the booking sites load prices with JavaScript after the page renders, which its tools couldn't see, so it had been estimating. With the Claude in Chrome extension installed and the same skill and request, it opened the sites and returned three specific places to stay with current prices and direct links. It was slower and used more of the plan's usage limits. They kept 'Act without asking' off, and Claude never bought anything.
Agent
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Find real, bookable flight and hotel options for a trip, with current prices and links. Fill in before running: - Where, when and who's travelling: [DETAILS] - My budget and must-haves (area, direct flights, cancellation): [DETAILS] Rules: - Only give prices you have read on a live page today, with the link; never give typical ranges. - If you can't open a site or see its prices, say so plainly instead of estimating. - Give three options for each of flights and places to stay, ranked against my must-haves. - Don't book or pay; hand me the links. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: Two short tables (flights, places to stay) with price, key details and link. You'll know it worked when: every price in the list is one I can actually book.
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Your prompt
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Find real, bookable flight and hotel options for a trip, with current prices and links. Fill in before running: - Where, when and who's travelling: [DETAILS] - My budget and must-haves (area, direct flights, cancellation): [DETAILS] Rules: - Only give prices you have read on a live page today, with the link; never give typical ranges. - If you can't open a site or see its prices, say so plainly instead of estimating. - Give three options for each of flights and places to stay, ranked against my must-haves. - Don't book or pay; hand me the links. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. Output: Two short tables (flights, places to stay) with price, key details and link. You'll know it worked when: every price in the list is one I can actually book.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Find real, bookable flight and hotel options for a trip, with current prices and links. Fill in before running: - Where, when and who's travelling: [DETAILS] - My budget and must-haves (area, direct flights, cancellation): [DETAILS] Rules: - Only give prices you have read on a live page today, with the link; never give typical ranges. - If you can't open a site or see its prices, say so plainly instead of estimating. - Give three options for each of flights and places to stay, ranked against my must-haves. - Don't book or pay; hand me the links. - If a site asks me to sign in, pause and let me do it myself (including any CAPTCHA or two-step code); never guess or store passwords. - Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Note when each price was checked, as fares can change within hours. Output: Two short tables (flights, places to stay) with price, key details and link. You'll know it worked when: every price in the list is one I can actually book. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
https://cjonsystems.substack.com/p/my-ai-travel-agent-was-guessing
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