Importing supplier itineraries with AI Chat
AI Chat reads a supplier itinerary, quote or proposal and turns it into one card. You check it, ask for changes in the chat, and add everything to your trip in one click.
🚩 Note: Itinerary imports draw from your monthly AI usage. When you reach 100% of your limit, AI features pause until your next cycle, or you can add more with Tern Pro. See AI Usage Limits.
What you can import
A PDF, such as a tour operator, DMC or supplier itinerary
A screenshot or image of a quote (JPG, PNG, GIF or WEBP)
A text file, or itinerary text you paste into the chat
A link to a supplier's itinerary page, pasted into the chat
Use the import for itineraries with several days or items. Some things don't go through it:
A single confirmation, voucher or ticket for something already on the itinerary. AI Chat attaches it to that activity or updates the activity instead.
Cruises. AI Chat sets up a cruise separately. See Adding a cruise to your Tern itinerary.
A quote with only a few items. AI Chat can add those as separate activity cards instead of one import card.
To import a tour straight from a supplier's website, you can also use the Tern Chrome Extension. See How can I import multi-day tours into a Tern itinerary?
How to import an itinerary
Open the trip and go to the Itinerary tab.
Click Import itinerary in the AI Assist section of the sidebar. AI Chat opens with the trip and itinerary attached and sends this message for you: "I want to import a supplier itinerary into this trip. Ask me for it: I'll upload a file, paste a link, or paste the text." AI Chat replies asking for the document.
1. Import itinerary, in the AI Assist section of the trip's sidebar.
1. AI Chat asks for the document. 2. The paperclip attaches a file.
Add the itinerary. Attach the file with the paperclip, paste the link, or paste the text. A long paste shows up as an attachment called "Pasted text.txt." If you want something done differently, say so in the same message. See "Tell Tern how to read it" below.
1. The attached document. 2. Send it.
Send it. AI Chat reads the document in the background and shows "Reading your document..." in the chat. A long document can take a few minutes. You can close AI Chat while it reads. The Import itinerary row on the trip page shows "Importing…" until it's done.
1. AI Chat reads the document in the background. You can close the chat while it reads.
Review the card. When the read finishes, AI Chat proposes one card with everything it adds. The card counts the items by type, such as flights, lodgings, transfers and activities, and shows the package price. It warns you if the import changes the itinerary's dates, and tells you how many activities are already on the itinerary. Items already on your itinerary are left out. If an item fills a blank placeholder activity you added, the card lists it under Replaces. See "If your itinerary already has some of these items" below. The Import itinerary row on the trip page shows how many items are waiting for review, and clicking it opens the chat again.
1. What the import adds, counted by type, with the package price. 2. Preview shows every item. 3. Accept adds everything at once.
Click Preview to check every item in full: each hotel, flight, transfer and activity with its dates, rooms, description and price. Preview is read-only. Close it to go back to the card.
1. Each item, with the details that will be added.
Ask for any changes in the chat. For example, "Leave out the welcome info." See "Change the import before you add it" below.
Click Accept to add everything at once, exactly as the card and Preview show it. Click Reject to add nothing. If AI Chat also proposed an update card for an item already on your itinerary, accept or reject each card, or click Accept all to accept both together. After you accept, AI Chat recaps what it added.
1. The card shows Accepted. 2. AI Chat recaps what it added, including the changes you asked for.
You'll know it worked when
The itinerary shows the imported items on their days, and the Import itinerary row on the trip page reads "Added just now."
1. The imported items on their days. 2. The Import itinerary row reads "Added just now."
If your itinerary already has some of these items
An import only adds. It never changes something already on your itinerary, and it doesn't add a second copy of it. AI Chat checks the document against your itinerary before it proposes the card.
If a hotel, flight or other item is already on your itinerary, AI Chat leaves it out of the import and tells you which items it left out. It matches items by name, date and price. If you want the document's details on the existing item, such as a hotel's check-in time or confirmation number, ask AI Chat. It proposes a separate update card for that item, which you accept on its own. Click View changes on the update card to see the item's current values.
If your itinerary has a placeholder on the right day, AI Chat fills it in with the document's item instead of adding a new one next to it. A placeholder is a blank activity you added to hold a spot, such as a lodging with no title that shows as "New Lodging." The card lists it under Replaces as "New Lodging with" followed by the hotel's name. If you asked for a new name for that item, the card shows the new name.
If the trip already has a package for this quote, the imported items join that package, and its price and payments don't change. To get a new package or no package instead, ask AI Chat before you accept.
To handle any of these differently, ask in the chat before you accept. For example, "Add the hotel as a new stay" or "Update the Hyatt with the confirmation number from this."
1. Replaces: the document's hotel fills the blank "New Lodging" placeholder. 2. A separate update card adds the confirmation number to the Hyatt already on the trip. View changes shows what it had before.
Note: If your itinerary changed after the card was proposed, Accept adds nothing and AI Chat proposes an updated card for you to review. Check the new card, then accept it.
Change the import before you add it
While the card is waiting, type what you want changed in AI Chat. For example:
"Leave out the welcome info."
"Push everything a day later."
"Make the Hyatt 3 nights."
"Change the dinner to 7pm."
"The confirmation number is ABC123."
AI Chat proposes a new card with your changes, and the old card closes. AI Chat doesn't read the document again. Keep asking until it's right. Each new card includes every change so far, and Preview shows them.
1. The change you asked for. 2. The new card. The welcome info is no longer on it.
You can:
Leave items out
Move an item to another day
Move every date earlier or later
Change any field Preview shows, such as the title, description, start and end times, nights, price, confirmation number, rooms, payment schedule, locations and type
You can't change a flight's dates or times, because they come from the flight itself. You also can't change which supplier or hotel Tern matched. Edit those on the activity after you accept.
Note: Moving every date earlier or later doesn't move payment due dates.
Tell Tern how to read it
You can also say how to read the document in the same message you send it with. AI Chat applies it while it reads. For example:
"Leave out the hotels, the client booked their own."
"Include the optional tours in each day's description."
After the read, AI Chat tells you which instructions it followed and any it couldn't.
Good to know:
To put items into descriptions instead of adding them as activities, ask in the same message as the document. If you ask after the card appears, AI Chat reads the document again.
Only requests about reading the document go into the import. Anything else in your message, like "then share it with the client," AI Chat handles as usual.
If you don't give instructions, Tern imports the document as written.
Good to know
Use Import itinerary on the trip page for a multi-day itinerary. The AI Assist box inside an individual activity fills in that one activity, so a whole tour sent there lands on one day.
Sending a message while AI Chat is still reading stops the read. If your message still asks for the import, AI Chat reads the document again with anything new you said.
To cancel a read, click the notifications bell and cancel it there.
Items already on your itinerary are left out, not duplicated. AI Chat can update them on a separate card if you ask. Empty placeholders on the right day are filled in. See "If your itinerary already has some of these items" above.
Packages: items priced together in the document go into one trip package with the total price. If the trip already has a package for the quote, the items join that package instead.
Confirmation numbers are filled in only when the document labels them as one. To add one, tell AI Chat before you accept.
Photos in the document aren't added. When a hotel matches Tern's hotel database, its photos and details come from the database.
Common issues
"This PDF is password-protected."
Remove the password, or paste the itinerary text into AI Chat.
"Unable to read this PDF."
The file is damaged or isn't a standard PDF. Paste the itinerary text instead, or save the PDF again (see below).
"No readable text in this file."
The PDF is a scan or is made of images, so it has no text to read. Send screenshots of its pages instead, or paste the text.
How to check a PDF, and save one Tern can read
Open the PDF and try to highlight its text. If you can't highlight it, the PDF is a scan, and Tern can only read it as screenshots. To save a PDF with readable text, use your browser's Print > Save as PDF, Microsoft Print to PDF, or Adobe Acrobat. Avoid scanning apps, which save pages as images.
"Unable to open this page."
If the page needs a login, or doesn't show the itinerary until you sign in, Tern can't read it. Paste the itinerary text or upload a PDF. You can save most web pages as a PDF from your browser (File > Print > Save as PDF).
"No itinerary found."
The document may not be an itinerary. Paste the itinerary text instead.
"No trip days found."
The document may be missing dates. Paste the itinerary with its dates.
The card says every item is on one date
The quote may not have a daily schedule. Try the supplier's day-by-day itinerary instead.
A multi-day tour landed on one day
If you used the AI Assist box inside an activity, use Import itinerary on the trip page instead. If you used the Chrome Extension, import the tour again and choose Itinerary, not Activity.
An item you wanted added is missing from the card
AI Chat matched it to an item already on your itinerary and left it out, or it fills a placeholder and is listed under Replaces. Tell AI Chat before you accept, for example "Add the hotel as a new stay."
Accept added nothing and a new card appeared
Your itinerary changed after the card was proposed, so Accept didn't add anything. AI Chat proposes an updated card built from the itinerary as it is now. Review the new card, then accept it.
Accept is greyed out
Adding these items would make the trip longer than Tern's 2-year limit. Check the dates in the document, or ask AI Chat to move them.
"Import stopped before it finished."
The read was cancelled from the notifications bell. Ask AI Chat to run it again.
"You've used this month's itinerary imports."
You've reached the monthly limit on itinerary imports. Contact Tern support for more.
"You've reached your AI usage limit for this period."
See AI Usage Limits.
If an import still fails after trying these, contact Tern support from the Help menu.
Common questions
Q: Can I see each item before I accept?
A: Yes. Click Preview on the card. It lists every item with its dates, rooms, description and price. Preview is read-only, so accept or reject on the card.
Q: Can I change what's imported before it's added?
A: Yes. Type the change in AI Chat while the card is waiting. AI Chat proposes a new card with your changes.
Q: Can I edit the items after I accept?
A: Yes. Every imported item is a regular activity you can edit, move or delete. You can also ask AI Chat to make the changes.
Q: Does importing update what's already on the itinerary?
A: No. The import only adds. If a hotel, flight or other item from the document is already on your itinerary, AI Chat leaves it out. If you want the document's details on it, ask, and AI Chat proposes a separate update card for that item. If your itinerary has an empty placeholder on the right day, AI Chat fills it in and lists it under Replaces on the import card. To add an item as new instead, tell AI Chat before you accept.
Q: I closed AI Chat. How do I get back to the import?
A: Click Import itinerary on the trip page. While it shows "Importing…" or items to review, it opens that chat again.
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