TravelBetter: from scattered travel ideas to a working AI trip planner

A web app that takes the travel ideas you’ve already saved (links, screenshots, a messy list from the group chat) and turns them into a day-by-day itinerary on a map. It’s now in development for the App Store.

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  • In development for the App Store
  • Built with Google Gemini
  • Built by Jason Ng, Abdulfattah Ab Rahim, Razeen Iqbal and Kai
TravelBetter start screen with a "Describe your dream trip" text box, Link, Voice and Screenshot buttons, and a Generate Itinerary button.
The start screen: describe your trip, or add a link or screenshot.

At a glance.

Ownership

Our founders’ own product

TravelBetter is not an AI Kopitiam client engagement. It’s a product our team built for itself.

Status

In development for the App Store

A working web app is documented with screenshots and a promo video. No App Store launch date has been set.

Built by

Four people

Jason Ng, Abdulfattah Ab Rahim, Razeen Iqbal and Kai. Jason, Razeen and Abdulfattah later co-founded AI Kopitiam.

Built with

Google Gemini

The documented web build uses the Google Gemini API, with Google Places and Geocoding for real place data.

Why we show it.

TravelBetter is our founders’ own product, not a client engagement. It was built with Google Gemini, not Claude. We show it because it’s real, public evidence of how our team works: understanding a pain point, shaping a product around it and getting it in front of people.

Saved everywhere. Planned nowhere.

People find travel ideas everywhere: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube vlogs, Reddit threads, blogs and friends’ messages. When it’s time to plan, that inspiration is spread across apps, camera rolls and bookmarks.

The team’s promo video tells the story through a friend group with a trip to Hatyai, Thailand, 48 hours away and nothing planned. One friend floods the WhatsApp group with places. Another wakes up to the chaos and copies each one by hand into Google Maps and a shared doc. Other travel apps don’t help much, because they ask for forms and details before giving anything back.

The key insight was that the barrier is data input. The research is already done; it’s just in the wrong shape.

Who did what.

Built by Jason Ng, Abdulfattah Ab Rahim, Razeen Iqbal and Kai. As a team: understanding the pain point, shaping the product, and delivering and distributing the app.

Jason Ng

Strategy and go-to-market: understanding the pain point, scoping the requirements and owning delivery. The promo video is on his YouTube channel, Jason4Fun.

Abdulfattah Ab Rahim

Developer. His portfolio covers the app’s features.

Razeen Iqbal

Developer.

Kai

Go-to-market. Pushes the product further and works with real users.

The working web app.

Real captures published by the team: in-app screenshots from the project write-up and frames from the promo video. None are mock-ups.

Preferences screen for a Hatyai trip with options for Solo, Couple, Family, Friends and Group, interest chips, and an auto-filled request box.
Set who’s travelling and what you love. Imported text auto-fills the request, and you can review it before it goes to the AI.
List of AI-suggested Hatyai places, including Chokdee Dim Sum and Kim Yong Market, each with duration, price range, area and an AI explanation.
AI suggestions, each with a short reason it matches the places you’ve already picked.
Day 1 itinerary for Hatyai with four numbered stops, three marked "You" and one marked "AI" with a match bar.
Day-by-day itinerary. Your own places and AI suggestions are labelled differently.
Map of Hatyai with a blue route connecting four numbered stops for Day 2.
Each day’s route drawn on the map with numbered stops.
Close-up of a hand holding a phone and opening Google Maps.
The old way: looking up each place one by one in Google Maps. (Promo video, 0:36)
Phone showing a four-day Hatyai itinerary in TravelBetter with numbered stops.
The TravelBetter way: a pasted list becomes a day-by-day plan. (Promo video, 1:20)
Phone showing a Google Maps driving route between Hatyai stops.
Hand-off to Google Maps for driving directions. (Promo video, 1:32)

What we can show.

  • A working web app. The in-app screenshots and the live demo in the promo video show the full flow: input, preferences, suggestions, itinerary, map, place details and the Google Maps hand-off.
  • A public project write-up on Devpost.
  • A public promo video, about 1 minute 40 seconds, on YouTube.
  • Still moving: in development for the App Store, with no launch date promised.

What we took away.

  1. Start with the pain, not the feature list. The research was already done. The problem was its shape, so the product is built around input rather than forms.
  2. Different travellers need different answers. A foodie couple on a budget and a family need different suggestions for the same city.
  3. Explaining builds trust. Showing why each place was suggested makes the AI easier to check and to trust.
  4. Guardrails beat clever prompts. Category rules, geographic checks and real place lookups reduce the risk of the AI inventing places.
  5. Shipping includes distribution. Strategy, go-to-market and work with real users are part of delivery, not an afterthought.

Got an idea stuck in your notes app or group chat?

We’ve been there. Tell us about it and we’ll help you find the pain point, scope a first version and plan the build. Free first consultation, pricing quoted after enquiry.

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Sources

  1. Devpost project page, TravelBetter ↗. Team, project write-up and app screenshots
  2. YouTube, “TravelBetter: Your Travel Planning Buddy” ↗. Promo video on the Jason4Fun channel; video frames above
  3. Abdulfattah Ab Rahim’s portfolio, TravelBetter ↗. Feature details

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