Google's AI Mode can now track flight prices and book hotels

Google announced on August 27, 2026 that it is adding new ways to plan and book trips through AI Mode, the conversational search experience built into Google Search that lets people ask travel questions in plain language instead of typing keywords. The update lets users track flight prices, book hotels, and see the cost of flights and hotels in points or miles, all without leaving the chat. As TechCrunch's Aisha Malik reported the same day, the changes signal that Google wants to position AI Mode as a kind of AI travel agent, moving beyond simply helping people find information toward actually handling parts of the trip-planning and booking process itself.

Tracking flight prices without leaving the chat

According to Google's own announcement, published by James Byers, Group Product Manager for Search, on the company's official blog, users can now describe when and where they want to fly, and AI Mode will surface the best options with the latest prices pulled from more than 300 partner airlines and travel sites. Anyone ready to book can build a full itinerary directly inside AI Mode. Those who would rather wait can simply say something like "track these flight prices for me"; once confirmed, Google will send an email if prices change for the destination and dates entered — folding Google Flights' existing price-tracking feature directly into the chat interface. Flight price tracking in AI Mode is now available in more than 180 countries and territories.

Booking a hotel inside a conversation

Hotel booking works in a similar conversational style: users tell AI Mode about their upcoming trip and hotel preferences to get a list of options alongside guest reviews and key comparison factors. Once a user picks a hotel, they can ask AI Mode to help complete the booking by selecting "Continue on Google," an option that appears next to Google's integrated booking partners. From there, the process moves to choosing a room type, reviewing details such as the cancellation policy, and completing the reservation with Google Pay. Google says the hotel or booking platform itself acts as the merchant of record and handles any customer service related to the stay — Google is not the one selling the room.

Hotel booking through AI Mode has started rolling out only in the United States, and only in English for now. Google says it will expand "over the coming weeks" with the following launch partners:

• Booking.com
• Choice Hotels International
• Expedia
• Hilton
• Hotels.com
• IHG Hotels & Resorts
• Marriott International
• Priceline
• Trip.com
• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Comparing prices in points and miles

AI Mode can also now show the cost of a trip in loyalty points or airline miles rather than cash. Google's example query is telling: a user could ask something like "I want to travel from Atlanta to Miami using my AA miles — help me find some options for nonstop flights departing Oct 9 and returning on Oct 12," and AI Mode will show how many miles are needed for matching flights, using data supplied directly by loyalty partners. The same works for hotels: users specify their destination, dates and preferred rewards program to see the point cost, then follow a link to the partner's site to complete the redemption. Unlike hotel booking, this points-and-miles view is available globally from launch, starting with Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Choice Hotels International, Hilton and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, with Accor, Flying Blue, Hyatt, LATAM Airlines and Lufthansa Group set to join in the coming weeks.

The three updates build on features AI Mode already offered, such as comparing flights and hotels with real-time data and drafting a full itinerary from a single conversation. Taken together, they push Search further into territory long occupied by dedicated travel agents, price-comparison sites and airline or hotel apps — with Google acting as the interface that ties bookings back to its existing advertising and payments business through Google Pay.

For travelers and travel businesses outside the United States, the rollout is uneven for now: flight price tracking and the points-and-miles view are already available almost everywhere AI Mode operates, in more than 180 countries for the former, but in-chat hotel booking itself remains US-only and English-only at launch, with no date yet given for other markets or languages. Online travel agencies, hotel chains and airline loyalty programs watching this launch will want to track which of their booking or rewards flows Google folds into "Continue on Google" next, since that integration — not the chat interface itself — is what will determine whether AI Mode complements their business or starts to compete with it.