Over the past few years, AI-powered travel planning has moved from novel curiosity to the mainstream. According to Skift’s State of Travel 2025 report, 37% of global travelers used AI tools such as ChatGPT to help plan their trips in the third quarter of 2024 — a figure expected to grow, though not evenly around the world. In China and India, more than 75% of travelers intend to use AI in the next 12 months, while in the United States, fewer than one-third express similar intent. This gap does not suggest that Americans are uninterested in AI for travel; rather, it indicates a tendency to distinguish between embracing AI broadly and using it for specific, low-risk tasks.
Among U.S. travelers who do intend to use AI, two-thirds plan to apply it to destination research and more than half to planning activities and attractions. Functional tasks such as booking flights and choosing accommodations also rank highly. Usage drops sharply, however, as decisions become more transactional, revealing a familiar pattern: travelers view AI as capable and helpful but remain cautious about handing off key decisions, particularly to brands without an established trust relationship or external AI tools.
CarTrawler’s 2025 GenAI survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers who had previously used AI for travel planning reinforces this narrative, finding that travelers are far more open to AI when it is delivered by trusted brands they already engage with. In this context, adoption is less about technical capability and more about trust.
Why Familiar Brands Lower the Barrier
More than half of respondents in the CarTrawler survey said they are more likely to use AI tools when they are offered by a trusted travel provider. Brand reputation, familiarity, and perceived accountability exert an outsized influence on whether consumers turn to AI to help plan and book their trips. When these tools are embedded within a known platform, using them feels less like a leap of faith and more like a natural extension of an existing service.
Experience plays a decisive role in how trust evolves. Survey data shows that travelers who have previously used AI and had positive outcomes are significantly more comfortable using it again. More than 80% said they were very or completely satisfied with AI-generated travel recommendations.
These early interactions tend to occur during research and discovery. Both Skift and CarTrawler found that travelers consistently value AI when it helps narrow choices, surface relevant options, improve decision-making around pricing, support personalization, and reduce the mental load of planning.
As comfort grows, so does openness. More than 80% of respondents said they are comfortable using AI to enhance their bookings, with the highest comfort levels among those already using it for more complex tasks such as transfers, hotels, and holiday packages. Adoption, in this sense, is cumulative. Familiarity reinforces trust, and trust expands the range of tasks travelers are willing to delegate.
Car Rentals: A Study in Trust and Control
Car rentals offer a particularly useful lens for understanding both AI’s appeal and its limits. Rental decisions are highly comparison-driven, price-sensitive, and closely tied to payments and personal data.
Nearly one-third of respondents said they had used AI to research car rentals or transfers, and 67% of those users’ reported satisfaction, citing easier price comparisons and simpler vehicle selection. Yet only 8% said they would use AI to complete a car-rental booking. Even among those most comfortable with AI, more than half prefer to handle payments manually.
This hesitation is not unique to car rentals. It reflects a wider pattern across travel: travelers readily accept AI for guidance and evaluation but pause when it comes to financial commitment.
Where Confidence Breaks Down
At the heart of this hesitation are concerns around security, privacy, and control. Almost half of AI users surveyed said they were worried about the safety of their financial data.
Even among respondents comfortable delegating booking tasks, roughly half expected their data to be kept private and used only to improve their personal experience. They are willing to share data, but only when its use is transparent, limited, and clearly beneficial. When those expectations are not met, confidence erodes quickly. Without clear guardrails and communication, adoption stalls at the point where the stakes feel highest.
Adoption Is About Experience, Not Age
Another notable insight from the Gen AI survey is that optimism about AI usage is expanding across demographics. While Millennials and Gen Z remain the most active users, older travelers show increasing comfort once they gain hands-on experience. Families with children are among the most enthusiastic users, likely reflecting the appeal of time savings and planning efficiency.
This suggests that adoption barriers are less generational than experiential. Exposure, not age, is the stronger predictor of trust.
Travelers trust AI most when it is delivered by familiar brands, reinforced through positive experiences, and constrained by clear rules around data use and control. For organizations integrating AI into travel platforms, the path forward is incremental. Focus on high-value, low-risk use cases. Make transparency a design principle, not an afterthought and recognize that adoption is a journey shaped by experience, not a single leap.
