Travelport, Booked AI, Basis Theory and Mastercard have completed a live flight booking and payment carried out by an AI agent.
The agent searched for a flight, booked it, processed the payment and issued a ticket for a major international airline. The customer completed the process within the conversation, without having to visit a separate website.
The booking used Travelport TripServices to retrieve a live flight offer through the airline’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) system. After the customer confirmed the flight and fare, Mastercard Agent Pay handled the payment using a tokenized card credential. The underlying card details were stored in Basis Theory’s PCI-compliant vault and were inaccessible to the AI agent.
Mastercard’s Verifiable Intent technology linked the customer’s approval to the transaction. This allowed the system to check that the payment matched the flight and amount the customer had agreed to. If the details had not matched, the payment would have been declined and another approval would have been required.
The airline remained the merchant and processed the payment through its systems, without an intermediary checkout.
Andrew Jordan, Chief Technology Officer at Travelport, said airlines should be able to participate in AI-driven bookings without handing over control of sales and payments. Booked AI CEO Mennan Yelkenci said the aim is to replicate the work of a human travel agent, from flight search to ticketing, with the customer approving the purchase.
Not all airlines are ready to give AI agents access to their booking systems. United Airlines plans to restrict AI bots from accessing its digital platforms, according to Reuters.
The measures will also cover access through travel agencies and aggregators, with the carrier preparing changes to its booking, ticketing and distribution policies.
United is concerned that customers may share their account credentials with third-party AI assistants. This could expose personal information and lead to purchases, account changes or frequent-flyer mile redemptions that customers did not intend to authorise.
The airline has also raised concerns about regulatory requirements. During flight check-in, passengers must confirm that they are not carrying prohibited items, including explosives. United says allowing an AI agent to complete this step could create compliance risks.
Other travel companies are taking a different route. Expedia and Booking are among the online travel businesses working with OpenAI rather than restricting AI access to their services.
