Travelers Still Don’t Trust AI to Book Trips

Travelers Still Don’t Trust AI to Book Trips

From Skift Daily Briefing by Skift

April 15, 2026 · 5 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the trust gap travelers have with AI in booking trips, the challenges faced by hotel owners, and the implications of a potential merger between United and American Airlines.

Travelers are using AI to plan trips but stopping short of letting it book, hotel owners are getting squeezed while brands post record profits, and a potential United and American merger could reshape the airline industry. On today’s Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why AI still has a trust gap at checkout, how the hotel business model is creating tension between brands and owners, and why even talk of a merger between United Airlines and American Airlines is a major signal for the future of aviation. This episode is presented by Lodgify. Articles: Honorable Mention: AskAConciergehttps://skift.com/2026/04/14/expedia-ai-survey-travel-discovery-booking-8-percent/https://skift.com/2026/04/13/the-squeeze-inside-the-crisis-crushing-americas-hotel-owners/https://skift.com/2026/04/13/united-airlines-floated-possible-merger-with-rival-american-report/ Connect with SkiftLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnewsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@skiftnewsBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.socialX…

People in this episode

Host: Sarah Dandashy

Topics covered

  • AI in travel
  • hotel industry
  • airline merger
  • trust in technology

Keywords

  • travel planning
  • hotel business model
  • aviation future

Sponsors

Lodgify

Mentioned in this episode

Products: AI travel planning tools, hotel booking platforms

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