Google paid $10 million for Spirit Airlines’ data. Airbnb is showing real AI-driven savings. Booking says AI still accounts for less than 1% of room nights.
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko break down travel’s AI reckoning: what is paying off, what is still experimental, and why data, trust, and ROI now matter more than AI hype.
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00:00 Google Buys Spirit Data
01:35 AI’s Hunger for Training Data
03:13 LLM Language Quirks
05:39 From Jokes to Business Impact
05:45 Bankruptcy Data as New Brand
08:03 Why Travel Data Is Special
10:25 Seat Politics and Spotify Age
13:18 Google’s ITA Playbook
18:13 AI Usefulness in Travel Tech
20:09 Airbnb AI ROI Proof
22:17 Beyond Chatbots Debate
25:43 Revenue Upside Signals
29:23 Bookings Still Tiny
31:34 AI Trip Planning Stories
34:45 Trust Gap Chart
36:46 Who Owns Booking
38:37 GDS Plumbing Goes AI
39:43 Winners Listener Shoutouts
41:36 Closing Thanks
