AI and Travel: Friend or Foe?

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is transforming how we plan, book, and experience travel—whether we're ready for it or not. After resisting the AI wave, I've finally accepted its inevitability while maintaining a healthy skepticism about certain applications.

Delta Airlines' recent expansion of AI-powered pricing algorithms reveals a troubling trend. They've increased coverage from 3% to 20% of domestic routes, using your personal data to determine how much you might be willing to pay. This means two passengers on the exact same flight could see entirely different fares. Even more concerning for solo adventurers: early indicators suggest individuals booking single tickets are charged premium rates compared to those purchasing multiple seats. This profit-maximizing strategy raises serious ethical questions about fairness and transparency in travel pricing.

Beyond airlines, AI has quietly integrated into nearly every travel touchpoint. Some applications genuinely enhance our journeys—Google Translate breaking down language barriers, Hopper predicting the best booking times for savings, or facial recognition speeding up airport security. Yet these conveniences come with tradeoffs: potential job displacement for human travel agents, privacy concerns as our data is harvested, and algorithmic biases that steer travelers toward overcrowded destinations while overlooking authentic local experiences.

For those wanting to leverage AI's capabilities while avoiding its pitfalls, try this approach: when using ChatGPT or similar tools, craft specific prompts like "You're a local who hates tourist traps. Give me five spots in [city] for someone who avoids crowds and cares more about feel than famous." This helps circumvent the tendency of AI to recommend only well-known attractions. Most importantly, remember that the heart of meaningful travel lies in human connection. Hire local guides, shop at neighborhood markets, and engage directly with communities. While AI can help organize your journey, it can never replicate the transformative power of authentic human experiences that make travel truly worthwhile.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, I think I personally have hit the wall
where I can no longer resist notusing AI.
I was a bit of a skeptic and insome cases, I still am.
But how does AI?
How is it shaping and changingthe travel industry?
Will it change the travelagency?

(00:21):
Will it replace travel agents?
How will it change the travelagency?
Will it replace travel agents?
How will it change planning oftrips and what are the pros and
cons of it?
Well, we're going to talk alittle bit today about those
very things.
So welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch.
Well, I did an episode a whileback about just kind of dabbling

(00:44):
a little bit in AI and how itcould potentially help with
travel planning.
But I am prompted to do thisepisode because I have seen just
recently in the news how AI andI'm not happy about this use of
AI we know that many companieshave been using it.

(01:05):
They've already been using itfor a while specifically for
customer service, like as a AIbot right and or helping on the
phone get you to the rightrepresentative, and so it's
already been in use.
But now Delta Airlines hasdecided to use it and apparently

(01:26):
they have been using it, Ithink, for a little while, but
they're starting to use it inpricing tickets.
Now, what does this mean foryou?
Well, this means that yourticket price might be different
than someone else who is gettingon the same flight.
Some will pay more, some willpay less, so pricing is going to

(01:51):
be based on you know whathistory you might have, what
they think you might pay, and Ihad heard that if you are a solo
traveler only buying a singleticket, you are likely to pay
more than if you are buying twotickets at the same time or more

(02:13):
.
And so Delta intends to expandits usage of AI to price about
20% of its domestic routes.
Okay, so this is up.
They were doing a trial wherethey just did 3%.
They did like what they wereseeing, which means they are
making more money by doing this.
They're into profit chasinghere.

(02:37):
I'm not thrilled, and apparentlyit is definitely making them
money, definitely making themmoney.
Now it is a question by the USgovernment, you know as the
potential for theseindividualized prices where
people can see different farestied to their own pain points.
Now someone gave a an examplethat they're not thrilled about

(03:01):
this prospect because, forexample, say that you have a
death in the family and they AI,can you know?
Scrub your emails and see thatyou are going to need a flight.
You were desperate, so you'regoing to pay the higher fare,

(03:21):
and so they see that and theykind of can play off of that,
which I think is very unfair.
So I'm not thrilled, actually,with what Delta is doing Now.
Please know that they're notthe first and they're not going
to be the last to probably bedoing something like this.

(03:43):
How do we combat that?
You know, I don't have theanswers for that.
Even people saying you know youclear cache, whatever, it still
doesn't help.
Because, you know, ai is veryintuitive and, for example, I
have chat GPT, of course that Iuse occasionally.
Of course that I useoccasionally, and I recently,

(04:05):
just last week, was puttingtogether a new bio and I gave it
very few bullet points of whatI wanted to create.
However, it knew me enough thatit inserted a few other bullet
points or things about me that Ihadn't put in the chat box.

(04:27):
So it remembers my history, youknow.
So this is similar to what ishappening when and it is
starting to replace the humanfactor, meaning it can, and some

(04:52):
people have been using it toreplace a travel agent.
If you've ever worked with atravel agent, they work very
hard and they organize and youknow, get all your travel,
whether you're doing a tour oryour flights, and they organize
all that for you.
But they also base that on thatpersonal relationship they have

(05:15):
with you, what they know aboutyou, that those very intimate
things that are just special toyou.
Maybe as far as what you'relooking to do Now, ai can't
exactly replace that part, andhaving that human connection
obviously is missing if you tendto use AI for any of your

(05:36):
travel planning needs.
Outside of the airlinesutilizing AI, there are other
booking platforms that are alsopowered by AI and they adjust
costs based on demand, the timeand even customer behavior.
So one example of that is aplatform called Hopper, and so

(05:58):
Hopper actually uses AI topredict the best time to book
for the lowest prices.
So you can put in there maybe atrip that you are looking to
take and if you're flexible ontime, you can kind of put in a
time window, not specific dates,and they will tell you.
They'll tell you when the besttime to book.

(06:19):
They'll even say, oh wait, wepredict lower prices, or hey, it
just went up yesterday.
You might want to book now sothat can present a positive use
of AI on your booking platformssuch as Hopper.
It doesn't always, you know, welook at AI as this beast that we

(06:44):
can't control, but, believe itor not, many people that have
been traveling you don't realizehow much we've already been
using it quite a bit.
For example, google Translateuses AI and how many have used
that while you've traveled to acountry where you don't speak
their language.

(07:04):
So that is a really good tool.
I love Google Translate, so Iam happy with how AI has used
that in conversations and helpedme navigate.
It's also used in airports andhotel experiences.
Believe it or not, there is.
We know we're using facialrecognition or biometric

(07:27):
check-ins for security orboarding recognition, or
biometric check-ins for securityor boarding, and hotels are
actually using AI forcontactless check-ins and even
smart room controls.
So I've noticed in some placeswhere, if they notice movement
in the room, the temperature,the thermostat, starts to adjust
.
If you're not around, it doestypically go into more of an

(07:52):
energy saving mode.
But the other positive is AIcan we know it can forecast
weather, traffic and even flightdelays.
So these are some positivethings I will say as a travel
content creator.

(08:13):
It has affected some of myfellow bloggers and influencers,
some in a positive way andwhere they help generate some
travel guides, do photos and Um,but it also, in the scheme of
things a lot of bloggers aresaying it it has lessened their

(08:37):
ability to make money asbloggers.
There are ways to use it topersonalize your travel planning
.
So if you ever had a questionabout travel and where you
wanted to go, you could put intoyou know an AI chatbot, things

(08:58):
that you're interested in,places that interest you, things
that interest you, maybe abudget.
You want to make sure you put abudget, your time frame, and it
will act like a travel agent,unfortunately, and kind of spit
out some recommendations for youbased on what you've put in,
what you enjoy doing.

(09:18):
So it does have some positives.
However, there are some negativeparts.
One I did mention it can be jobdisplacement for human travel
agents, unfortunately.
So that was one kind of scarypart.

(09:41):
If you are a travel agent oryou know a travel agent, they
are a little concerned about howAI could come and take some
other business over how they canhelp with this human customer
experience right, so it can havethat effect.
Ai also has some inaccuracies,so it's only as good as the data

(10:06):
that it is provided.
Okay, so the data can be biasedand incomplete, so this could
result in over recommendation oftrendy places while ignoring
maybe some lesser known gems.
There could be some pricinginconsistencies, especially if
you're Delta and you're basingyour airfare on AI and how that

(10:29):
person spends money.
There also could be incompleteinformation on cultural
stereotypes in maybe the travelcontent or suggestions that it
makes AI.
Also a major concern around AIis its misuse of data, its

(10:49):
breaches, the surveillanceinvolved in it, and the lack of
privacy is often a concern.
I hear from some people as toseeing this more increase of AI
being used in many, manyindustries.
So what are your thoughts on howAI can be used effectively for

(11:13):
travel and what do you plan, orhow do you plan to use AI in
your travel planning?
An example that you couldutilize if you wanted to test
out chat, gpt or any AI platformfor yourself is if you, for

(11:35):
example, let's say what I saidbefore is often AI will focus
more on the, those popularplaces, those tourist traps I
like to call them, but maybethat's not you.
So here's a prompt that youcould put in to kind of get AI

(11:55):
to work in your favor.
For example, say hidden gemsonly, please.
And the prompt would be you'rea local who hates tourist traps.
Give me five spots in blank.
So you name a city or a spotfor someone who avoids crowds,

(12:17):
loves small, poetic places,cares more about feel than
famous, whatever the highlightsof you, right.
Maybe you like somethingdifferent, all right, and then
you can kind of go micro in.
Once they named the spots, askagain, follow up with another

(12:38):
question to AI is for each spot,because the AI is going to name
five spots.
You have a name andneighborhood.
Ask what makes it special, besttime to go, what to do, notice
or just feel.
That's one way to work throughAI in having it help you search,

(13:03):
because it is doing, you know,a very broad search, versus when
we do, say, a Google search,we're often maybe not putting in
all the right words to get whatwe want, and so there are some
pros to utilizing AI in helpingyou kind of narrow down possibly
where your next trip or whereyou want to highlight in your

(13:27):
next travels.
Well, I hope that you havelearned a little more about AI,
it's pros and cons.
I'm still trying to make a wayaround.
Right now.
I am not booking through Deltauntil I can determine a way
around that pricing that theymight do, especially how it

(13:49):
hinders sort of this solo travelme right and anybody else out
there that does a lot of solotravel we may be paying more if
you fly via Delta, so I plan notto fly Delta for a while, until
again I can figure this out anduse other airlines at this
moment for especially mydomestic flights here in the US.

(14:14):
Well, sister travelers, ai ishere to stay and as much as I
have, you know, resisted, I havefinally determined and see that
it does have value.
But we need to also keep inmind that there is an element of
travel in general that involvesthe human component, and we

(14:39):
want to stay connected and onthe pulse of that as well as
travelers.
Connected and on the pulse ofthat as well as as travelers.
And so, even though you may useAI to help in some aspects,
don't forget about connectingwith locals, especially when you
travel.
I would even, you know, go asfar as hiring locals If you're

(15:00):
hiring a tour guide, if you'rehiring a tour guide shop locally
instead of in the big chainstores, go to the little markets
and support the local community, the culture.
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