I forward all my work flight itineraries to Gmail (so I get Google Now notifications) after cut & pasting them out of the Word document I get them in.

Gmail parses them and displays them using the "Flight details" format, even though there is none of the information required for the "Actions" thing linked above.

When developer / brands create emails following Gmail quick action guidelines, and you have Google Now enabled, then you will see Google Now cards.

I cut and paste plain text out of a word document and send it, and that triggers the Google Now cards.

It's parsing