Google Adds Hotel Booking to AI Mode
Google has begun rolling out hotel booking inside AI Mode in Search for U.S. users in English. Travellers describe their trip and hotel preferences in the conversation and get back a visual list of options with guest reviews and comparison details. Eligible reservations can be completed without leaving Google through a "Continue on Google" flow that takes Google Pay.
Ten partners are live at the start. Booking platforms include Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline and Trip.com, while hotel chains include Choice Hotels International, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. The hotel or booking platform remains the merchant of record and handles customer service.
Google is also adding flight price alerts and points or miles rates to AI Mode. Users can set up price tracking during a conversation, and Google emails them when fares change, drawing on current prices from more than 300 partner airlines and travel sites. Tickets are still bought through an airline or booking platform. Flight tracking covers more than 180 countries and territories, excluding the EEA.
Points and miles support launches with Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Choice Hotels, Hilton and Wyndham, with Accor, Flying Blue, Hyatt, LATAM Airlines and Lufthansa Group due in the coming weeks. Redemptions finish on the partner site. Hotel checkout is the first of the features Google previewed to go live, and it will widen across the named partners over the coming weeks. Google has not said how options are ordered or what booking reporting partners receive.
Reported by Search Engine Journal ↗
Topics: AI Mode, Google Search