Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by Affric on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @07:02PM
(#50460885)
I get why they have done it but it’s also a symptom of over segmenting the market based on time. The airlines have absolutely made this bed by having such adversarial pricing.
Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by fn-mote on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @07:28PM
(#50461146)
Definitely agree that those would be hostile behaviors, but I want data that shows it is happening.
Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by panicinducer on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @08:03PM
(#50461539)
Airlines are by nature a risk-averse industry, and throwing something as fundamental as inventory out of whack would lead to unjustifiable losses. Threats need to be prevented not reacted to.
Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by r0fl on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @07:39PM
(#50461276)
Imagine you're an airline and have the ability to hire smart people and can equip them with ai tools.
This is something that should be solved with a 2 person team over a weekend.
Airline prices are the absolute worse! I'm trying to book 5 tickets together between 2 major airports that I have flown multiple times in the past. The price has been a rollercoaster!
$2200, I waited a bit too long to confirm with the group $4000 then $3500, then $2500 which changed within 5 minutes to $2600 and then $3000 and now $5000+
Other than memestocks, nothing else has such insane price volatility!
Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by panicinducer on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @07:56PM
(#50461476)
I understand you're frustrated, but "throw money and people at the problem and it will be solved somehow" doesn't address regulatory requirements.
Re:United Airlines bans AI agents from booking flights on be...
by sjs7007 on Wednesday November 11, 2026 @08:59PM
(#50462068)
> 24 hours to cancel any flight (or some airlines let you reserve with a 24 hour window to pay, which also fits the regulation)
I believe the 24 hours free cancellation requirement is only valid 7 days out. If it's for a recent flight I don't think you get free cancellation?
- 24 hours to cancel any flight (or some airlines let you reserve with a 24 hour window to pay, which also fits the regulation)
- Seats that are sold cannot be sold to another passenger during this window (it's removed from inventory in GDS)
Now imagine you have people using agents to do the following:
- Book and cancel flights regularly to try to save a few bucks
- Set up an agent "if prices hit $xxx, book immediately and then cancel within 24 hours unless I tell you otherwise"
You suddenly have an inventory problem that can effectively DoS an airline.