The world is inching closer to end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI)-powered travel booking in chat, and the payments layer is essential to achieving that goal.
In September, Stripe and OpenAI announced “Instant Checkout” within ChatGPT, powered by a co-developed, merchant-friendly open-standard called “Agentic Commerce Protocol.”
“By co-developing the Agentic Commerce Protocol with Stripe, we’re making it possible for businesses of all sizes to meet people where they are—and for shoppers to complete purchases seamlessly in conversation,” Fidji Simo, CEO of applications for OpenAI, said in a release.
The launch enabled ChatGPT users to purchase from U.S.-based Etsy stores in chat, and more than a million Shopify merchants, including big-name brands like Spanx, Skims and Glossier, will be available soon.
The ability to complete transactions in ChatGPT indicates that AI travel distribution is no longer “theoretical,” according to Mike Coletta, senior manager of research and innovation at Phocuswright.
All travel players need to be thinking about how to position themselves for the future of distribution should agentic commerce take off among consumers.
Mike Coletta, Phocuswright
And for Damien Cramer, senior vice president of global travel for Nuvei, the launch represents a “first real step toward agentic commerce.”
“In travel, that could mean AI systems coordinating directly with multiple providers such as airlines, hotels and transport to find the best itinerary and automatically confirm bookings,” Cramer said.
Other major players are leaning into the possibility of agentic payments as well: Google has partnered with Paypal to launch an agentic commerce solution, and Visa is looking at advancing AI commerce too.
The future of AI purchasing in travel
Stripe and OpenAI’s instant checkout feature, its Agentic Commerce Protocol and developments like the launch of apps in ChatGPT show potential for the travel industry to offer AI purchasing.
But direct booking via in-chat payments remains far off, according to Coletta.
There’s a long way to go to enable the selection and purchase of different kinds of tickets, reservations, products, ancillaries, upgrades and the like. And Coletta wouldn’t be surprised if other hiccups arise based on how travelers have felt about past changes and updates to payments processes.
“The outlook for purchases is muddled because travelers did not embrace purchasing in metasearch platforms with instant/assisted booking nearly 10 years ago,” Coletta said. “It just didn’t work for Tripadvisor, Kayak and even Google, which in 2022 shut down Book on Google for flights as well as hotels. This has also been the case outside travel. As a more recent example, Meta just ended native checkout for shopping on Facebook and Instagram a few months ago.”
However, Coletta does think things could be different this time due to technological advances and improvements in digital security.
“Agentic capabilities in tandem with digital ID could make the process easier and more trustworthy,” he said.
That said, traveler interest is there, and Phocuswright’s Chat, Plan, Book: GenAI Goes Mainstream report showed that travelers are open to booking within AI platforms such as ChatGPT.
Coletta, who is an author on the report, said travelers are also keen on allowing AI assistants to book for them online.
“Around one third of U.S. travelers say they’re interested in doing both,” Coletta said. “It appears that this will be a point of friction until it’s solved.”
Sherri Haymond, co-president of global partnerships for Mastercard, which has launched its own agentic payments tools, said enabling agentic commerce marks a “major shift.” It could fundamentally alter how consumers, including travelers, interact with commerce.
“As conversational interfaces like ChatGPT evolve into transaction-enabled environments, we anticipate similar flows emerging in travel, where AI agents can discover, compare and book experiences in real time,” Haymond said. “This opens the door for travel providers to embed booking capabilities directly into chat-based discovery.”
While it’s unclear who stands to gain the most in the travel industry, Coletta said online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com have an “early lead” with initial apps in ChatGPT, and they have “historical economics” on their side.
But for AI agents to earn consumers’ trust, there will need to be a level of neutrality, according to Coletta. That leaves room for other players to succeed.
“I expect suppliers to have ample opportunity to play in the long run, and the end provider of the product should be able to maximize value for the customer,” he said.
Could AI purchasing improve conversions?
If and when travel gets on board, the industry stands to benefit from potentially higher conversion rates.
Cramer said AI payment capability could be a game changer for those who employ the technology.
“Nuvei recently conducted a research report of over 1,000 frequent flyers, and 92% said ease of payment is critical when booking travel,” Cramer said. “That tells us frictionless, AI-enabled transactions will not just enhance the experience but become a key competitive differentiator.”
With agentic commerce, agents should be able to anticipate traveler needs and preferences in real time and make bookings within a conversational interface, Haymond said.
Frictionless, AI-enabled transactions will not just enhance the experience but become a key competitive differentiator.
Damien Cramer, Nuvei
“In agentic travel booking, the flow is deeply personalized and proactive—AI agents curate itineraries based on user preferences, past behavior and contextual data like weather or local events, then initiate secure bookings using agentic tokens,” Haymond said.
She continued: “Unlike traditional e-commerce, where consumers manually browse and compare, agentic AI streamlines discovery, decision-making and payment into a single conversational interface.”
That flow creates an experience that’s more seamless. For travelers, it’s likely to feel less transactional and more akin to a concierge service for travelers, Haymond said.
That level of ease for consumers could make a difference in travelers’ booking behavior.
“This level of contextual relevance and convenience has the potential to significantly reduce drop-off rates and boost conversion,” Haymond said.
Implications for travel distribution
According to Cramer, it’s a given that AI will impact distribution, given how it is reshaping discovery, booking and servicing.
“As systems become better at interpreting traveler intent and matching it to supply in real time, the boundaries between direct and indirect channels will blur,” Cramer said. “What matters most is ensuring that whichever path the traveler takes, the underlying payment infrastructure can verify agent-initiated transactions, manage risk and settle globally with confidence.”
In terms of preparing for oncoming changes, Coletta offered tangible next steps.
“All travel players need to be thinking about how to position themselves for the future of distribution should agentic commerce take off among consumers,” Coletta said. “This means getting findable via OpenAI’s Product Feeds, and getting bookable via the Agentic Commerce Protocol.”
To start, Coletta recommended applying to join Instant Checkout, as OpenAI suggests.
“While we’re at it, don’t forget about doing similar work to prep for Google’s similar moves toward agentic commerce,” Coletta said.
Want more from Stripe?
Register now to attend The Phocuswright Conference, November 18-20, in San Diego to hear from Clara Liang, head of global strategic operations for Stripe, in an executive panel focused on how AI agents will change travel search and booking.