The Future of Agentic Payments and AI Booking in Travel
The travel industry is moving closer to true end-to-end AI-powered booking within chat interfaces, and the payments layer is emerging as the critical piece needed to unlock that future.
In September, Stripe and OpenAI introduced Instant Checkout inside ChatGPT, powered by a jointly developed open standard called the 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,” said Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI.
The launch allows ChatGPT users to purchase from U.S.-based Etsy merchants directly in chat, with more than one million Shopify sellers—including Spanx, Skims and Glossier—coming soon.
This milestone signals that AI-driven travel distribution is no longer theoretical, according to Mike Coletta, senior manager of research and innovation at Phocuswright. Damien Cramer, global SVP of travel at Nuvei, called the development the “first real step toward agentic commerce,” noting its potential to coordinate itineraries across airlines, hotels and ground transport—and automatically confirm bookings.
Major payments players are also preparing for this shift. Visa introduced a model context protocol (MCP) to help AI agents interact with its services. Mastercard released developer tools for agentic commerce, and Google partnered with PayPal on its own agentic payments solution.
The road to fully AI-driven travel purchasing
While Stripe and OpenAI’s Instant Checkout demonstrates the potential for seamless in-chat payments, Coletta says widespread direct booking via AI remains years away. Travel purchasing is complex, involving tickets, room types, upgrades, ancillaries and dynamic pricing. Travelers have also historically resisted “instant booking” models—seen with failed attempts by Tripadvisor, Kayak, Google and Meta.
However, Coletta believes that advances in digital identity and agentic capabilities could overcome past barriers. Phocuswright’s Chat, Plan, Book: GenAI Goes Mainstream report shows strong traveler interest in AI platforms like ChatGPT for planning and booking, with about one-third of U.S. travelers open to letting AI assistants handle bookings.
Mastercard’s Sherri Haymond sees agentic commerce as a “major shift” that will fundamentally change traveler interactions. As conversational platforms evolve into transaction-ready environments, AI agents will be able to discover, compare and book travel in real time—effectively embedding booking capabilities into the discovery phase.
OTAs such as Expedia and Booking.com currently have an advantage thanks to early ChatGPT integrations, but Coletta believes supplier-side players will also have opportunities as AI agents will need neutral, trusted sources to deliver value to consumers.
Could AI payments improve conversions?
AI-enabled payments could significantly boost conversion rates. Nuvei’s research shows 92% of frequent flyers view ease of payment as essential when booking travel. Cramer says reducing friction through AI-driven transactions could become a powerful competitive differentiator.
Agentic booking flows—where AI anticipates traveler needs, curates options and completes secure payments via agentic tokens—may feel more like personalized concierge service than traditional e-commerce. This level of ease could sharply reduce drop-off rates and increase completed bookings.
Implications for travel distribution
AI is poised to reshape distribution as it blurs the lines between direct and indirect channels. What will matter most, Cramer said, is having the infrastructure to verify agent-initiated payments, manage risk and settle globally.
Coletta suggests travel brands prepare now. That includes:
- Making products discoverable via OpenAI Product Feeds
- Becoming bookable through the Agentic Commerce Protocol
- Applying to join Instant Checkout
- Preparing for Google’s parallel move into agentic commerce
As agentic payments mature, the travel industry stands on the edge of a major transformation—one where discovery, decision-making and booking unfold in a single, seamless conversational flow.
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