Nearly three in four U.S. travelers in a new Amadeus study said they had used artificial intelligence while planning a trip. That sounds like a handoff to the machine until the booking question appears. Only one in five said they would let an AI tool spend within a fixed budget without another approval.
The gap is the real story. Travelers increasingly use AI to discover hotels, compare routes and get live information, but most still want control when money moves. That suggests a safer planning pattern: use AI to build options, then verify the price, policy and supplier before paying.
- Study size: 1,000 U.S.-based travelers surveyed in July 2026, including 500 regular business travelers.
- Planning use: 74% said they had used AI during trip planning.
- Perceived benefit: 85% agreed that AI tools save time and provide more personalized recommendations.
- Autonomy limit: 20% would let AI spend within a set budget without further approval; 43% would allow it only with conditions.
- Traveler rule: Let AI suggest; require a human check for identity, price, cancellation and payment.
What the Amadeus survey found
Amadeus’s Tailored Horizons summary on PhocusWire says the research included 1,000 U.S. travelers and interviews with executives from Amadeus, Amgine, Hopper and Navan. Half of the survey respondents were regular business travelers, which is important context when applying the results to all U.S. vacationers.
Seventy-four percent reported using AI during planning to find hotels, itineraries or local transportation. Fifty-three percent used it for inspiration, while 49% used it during the trip for real-time information such as flight updates, navigation, weather or local recommendations.
A large majority, 85%, said AI saves time and gives more personalized recommendations. Forty-three percent said AI had surprised or impressed them more than once with travel options, and another 26% said it had happened once.
Trust fell when software moved from advice to action. The study says 65% were interested in booking and paying directly through an AI assistant, yet only 20% would let it spend within a predetermined budget without another approval. Another 43% would permit spending only under conditions, while 29% would not allow it.
Why “used AI” does not mean “trusted AI with the trip”
Planning is reversible. A traveler can ask for a four-day Orlando itinerary, reject the answer and start again. A purchase creates a charge, a supplier record and cancellation rules. That change in consequence explains why interest in AI booking can coexist with reluctance to delegate final control.
The study also found limits in personalization. Sixty-four percent said they received familiar or limited recommendations. An answer can look tailored because it uses a name or budget while still recycling the destinations and hotels most visible in its source material.
That makes AI useful as a fast first pass, not a single source of truth. It can organize possibilities and reveal questions the traveler forgot to ask. It cannot guarantee that every hotel exists as described, a visa rule is current or a fare remains available.
| AI task | Human control to keep |
|---|---|
| Destination ideas | Check seasonality, safety, access and whether the examples match your actual interests. |
| Flight comparison | Verify airports, dates, bags, connections, operating carrier and final fare on a live booking source. |
| Hotel shortlist | Confirm the address, room type, fees, recent reviews and cancellation policy. |
| Live disruption help | Use the airline, airport or government source for operational truth before changing plans. |
| Payment or rebooking | Require explicit approval, show the final total and preserve a receipt and cancellation terms. |
A safer five-step AI travel workflow
First, give the tool constraints instead of asking for “the best trip.” Dates, mobility needs, room configuration, budget and tolerance for connections produce a more testable answer. Do not include passport numbers, loyalty passwords or payment credentials in a general chat.
Second, ask for alternatives and tradeoffs. A useful plan should explain why one airport, neighborhood or rail route beats another. If every suggestion sounds perfect, request the downside and the condition that would change the recommendation.
Third, verify the claims that can ruin the trip. That means entry rules, operating hours, transfer time, mandatory fees and cancellation terms. Use official sources and live supplier pages rather than an AI citation that merely repeats another summary.
Fourth, compare the final price outside the conversation. An assistant may quote a cached fare or omit a resort charge. The payment page should show the exact supplier, dates, travelers and total before approval.
Fifth, save the final human-approved itinerary. A clean record of confirmations and policies matters more during a disruption than the chat that originally inspired the trip.
AI is becoming a normal travel-planning layer, but the Amadeus results support a permission boundary: discovery and organization can be broad; booking, payment and disruption changes should require explicit review against a current authoritative source.
What travelers want in exchange for their data
The study says 55% would share information for better prices or deals, 51% for time savings and 46% for better recommendations. That is a value exchange, not blanket consent. A traveler may be comfortable sharing a preferred departure airport while refusing access to a full email account.
Before connecting a calendar, inbox or loyalty profile, check what the tool can read, how long it stores the data and whether access can be revoked. Use the smallest permission that completes the task. A convenience feature should not silently become permanent account access.
Free also matters. Half of respondents expected AI assistance at no extra cost, while only 4% said they would pay a premium. Providers may therefore fund tools through sales, data or supplier relationships, creating another reason to distinguish advice from a ranked commercial offer.
How this fits broader 2026 travel behavior
Amadeus’s broader Travel Trends 2026 report describes “travel mixology”: people moving among language models, social platforms, videos and brand tools rather than relying on one channel. The new U.S. study gives that behavior a control boundary around money.
Deep Arrival has tracked the same shift in our coverage of Google Maps’ AI travel planning and the finding that many travelers still prefer human support. The tools are improving, but confidence remains task-specific.
What to watch next
The next test is not how many people ask AI for ideas. It is whether booking tools disclose the supplier, current price, sponsored placement and cancellation rule before a purchase. Error correction and access to a human during disruption will matter just as much.
Travelers should also watch whether agents can operate within narrow permissions. For example, they might hold a refundable room but not pay, or propose a rebooking without confirming it. Those controls could close the gap between interest and trust without demanding blind autonomy.
Red flags in an AI-generated travel answer
Be cautious when an answer names no source date, invents a certainty such as “always,” or mixes neighborhoods, airports and countries. A tool that cannot distinguish a hotel from a similarly named property should not handle payment.
Another red flag is false urgency. AI should not claim a fare will disappear unless it has live inventory and explains the source. Countdown language can push a traveler past the cancellation or identity check that protects the purchase.
Finally, inspect the recommendation set. If every option comes from one booking platform or paid partner, the tool should disclose that limitation. Personalization is not meaningful when the eligible catalog was narrow before the traveler asked.
How many U.S. travelers use AI to plan trips?
In the Amadeus survey, 74% of 1,000 U.S.-based respondents said they had used AI during travel planning.
Do travelers trust AI to book automatically?
Interest is high, but only 20% said they would let AI spend within a set budget without additional approval.
What should travelers verify?
Check current price, supplier, dates, airport, entry rules, fees and cancellation terms on authoritative live sources.
Is an AI itinerary safe to follow without changes?
No itinerary should be followed blindly. Verify time-sensitive and high-consequence details and adapt the plan to the traveler.
