Google’s AI Mode can now track flight prices, help book hotels, and more
TechCrunch Aisha Malik
Google’s AI Mode can now track flight prices and help book hotels. It’s turning search into a travel agent, with booking pulled into chat.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Aisha Malik — read the original for the full story.
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Google is pushing AI Mode further into travel planning, adding tools that let people track flight prices, book hotels, and see trip costs in points or miles. The company said the update went out on Thursday, and the direction is pretty clear: AI Mode is no longer just finding information, it’s starting to handle parts of the booking itself.
For flights, users can tell AI Mode when and where they want to go, and it will surface options with the latest prices from more than 300 airlines and travel sites. If they’re ready, they can start building the itinerary right there. If not, they can ask AI Mode to watch the fare and send an email when prices change for the dates and destination they entered. That tracking feature is available in more than 180 countries.
Hotel booking works in a similar conversation-first way. Users describe the trip and what they want from a hotel, then get a set of options with reviews and key details. If one looks right, AI Mode can help move the booking along. The user then taps “Continue on Google,” picks a room, checks details like the cancellation policy, and pays with Google Pay.
Google says the hotel or booking platform will handle the actual reservation and customer service. The feature has started rolling out in the U.S. in English and will expand over the coming weeks through partners including Booking.com, Choice Hotels International, Expedia, Hilton, Hotels.com, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Priceline, Trip.com, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
The other new piece is points and miles. Users can now ask AI Mode to find flights and hotels priced in rewards currency, such as a trip from Atlanta to Miami using AA miles, and see how many miles would be needed for matching flights. That update is available globally. Google is making search feel a lot more like a booking desk, and that’s the point.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the real AI search play: not answers, but transactions. Google knows people will forgive a chatty interface if it saves a few minutes and gets them to a booking faster, which is a very old internet trick dressed up in new clothes. The risk is obvious too: once search starts steering purchases, the line between help and control gets even thinner.
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