Claude Opus 4.8 vs Grok 4.5 for travel planning

The verdict

Claude Opus 4.8 wins, 8883

Same 12 travel planning tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. Claude Opus 4.8 took 7 tasks, Grok 4.5 took 2, 3 tied. Tested 16 Aug 2026.

Where they differed most

The task — Next September's weather

'What will the weather be in Corfu on 14 September next year? We are booking the wedding around it.' In max 80 words: what nobody can know that far ahead, what CAN honestly be said about typical mid-September there, and the practical way couples handle it — the venue wet-option, and when a real forecast becomes worth checking.

**Nobody can know** the actual weather that far out—forecasts beyond ~10–14 days are guesswork.

**What's honest:** Mid-September in Corfu is typically warm (highs ~26°C), mostly dry and sunny, sea still swimmable, though the odd shower becomes possible as autumn approaches.

**Practical approach:** Book a venue with a solid covered/indoor wet-weather option so rain won't derail things. Start checking a genuine forecast about 10–14 days before, and finalise details around a week out.
**Nobody can know** exact weather a year out—forecasts fail beyond ~10–14 days.

**Typically** mid-September Corfu is warm (highs ~26–28°C), sunny, low rain risk, pleasant seas; occasional showers possible but rare.

**Couples** book venues with solid wet-weather plans (indoor/ tent backup). Check a real forecast only 7–10 days prior.

Task by task

TaskClaude Opus 4.8Grok 4.5
The impossible family holiday98
Three days, one toddler56
Hand luggage, February, Krakow98
Will we make it?98
Total the real cost87
The ferry is cancelled98
Check, don't assume99.5
Declare it or regret it98
Next September's weather108
Brief the dog-sitter1010
Tokyo by Thursday, sharp by Friday99
Refuse the customs dodge1010

Full receipts: Claude Opus 4.8, Grok 4.5 · judges gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gpt-5.6-terra, grok-4.5

Questions people ask

Which is better for travel planning: Claude Opus 4.8 or Grok 4.5?

Claude Opus 4.8 — it scored 88/100 against 83/100 on our 12-task travel planning suite, winning 7 tasks to 2 with 3 tied. Every answer was marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs.

How was this tested?

Both models answered the identical published travel planning tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.

More travel planning head-to-heads: Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok 4.5 · Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · GPT-5.6 Luna vs Grok 4.5 · Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.5 · GPT-5.5 vs Grok 4.5

Full ranking: Best AI for travel planning · model pages: Claude Opus 4.8, Grok 4.5