Google's AI Mode adds flight-price tracking and hotel booking

Google announced Thursday that it’s adding new ways to plan and book trips through AI Mode, its conversational search experience. Users can now ask AI Mode to track flight prices, book hotels, and view the cost of flights and hotels in points or miles — moves that position AI Mode as something closer to an AI travel agent, handling parts of the booking process rather than just surfacing information.

Users can describe when and where they want to fly, and AI Mode will show the best available options with the latest prices from more than 300 airlines and travel sites; if they’re ready, they can build an itinerary directly in AI Mode. If they’d rather wait to see whether prices drop, they can ask AI Mode to “track these flight prices” and will get an email if prices change for the dates and destination they entered. Flight price tracking in AI Mode is now available in more than 180 countries.

For hotels, users can describe their upcoming trip and preferences to get a list of options with reviews and key factors, then ask AI Mode to help complete the booking. They select the “Continue on Google” option alongside Google’s integrated partners, choose a room, review details like the cancellation policy, and complete the booking with Google Pay — with the hotel or booking platform handling the reservation and any customer service. Hotel booking in AI Mode has started rolling out in the U.S. in English and will expand over the coming weeks with Booking.com, Choice Hotels International, Expedia, Hilton, Hotels.com, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Priceline, Trip.com, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Google also said AI Mode can now show the cost in points or miles for flights and hotels — for example, a user could ask to find nonstop flight options between two cities using their airline miles for specific departure and return dates, and see how many miles they’d need for matching flights. That update is available globally.

Why it matters

By handling the booking itself rather than routing users to search results, Google is competing more directly with travel-agent-style startups and metasearch sites for the transaction, not just the query — a shift that could reroute booking-fee revenue away from traditional travel platforms toward whichever assistant completes the purchase.