AI agents can search hundreds of thousands of fares — but someone has to pay.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online Who Really Pays for Your Search? AI agents can search hundreds of thousands of fares — but someone has to pay. GOOD DAY, READERS. An insurtech founder used Claude Code to pull 881,076 fare options from Etihad — every date, route, and stopover combination in range — just to find the best flight. That stunt exposed a slow-moving crisis. Travel search has always cost money — the industry has thresholds, filters, and fragmented billing to manage it when humans are doing the looking. But AI agents never get tired, never run out of patience, and blow past every threshold almost instantly. One theoretical model showed how agentic search drove higher costs than human-driven search. That example pushed infrastructure costs to $35–$65 per booking against a commission of $25–$30. The economics aren't compressed. They're inverted. Nobody has a clean fix yet — but the bill is already arriving.     Skift IDEA Awards Flash Sale Save $100 on your Skift IDEA Awards entry. For 72 hours only, enter for $499 with code IDEAS26FLASH. Offer ends Thursday, June 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Purchase now at the lowest rate but have until July 1 to submit your entry. PURCHASE NOW         DON’T MISS THESE STORIES The High Cost of Infinite Search: How AI Agents Break Travel Economics By Adriana Lee Travel search was built around a useful limit: people eventually stop looking. AI agents don’t. That turns comparison shopping into a cost problem for airlines, intermediaries, metasearch, and hotels trying to keep control of demand. GET THE STORY Barry Diller Moves to Take Over MGM Resorts in $18 Billion Deal By Sean O'Neill The Las Vegas Strip is consolidating fast. Soon, two billionaires (Barry Diller and Tilman Fertitta) may control a large chunk of its hotel rooms. GET THE STORY Expedia AI Chief Xavier Amatriain on Trust, Agents, and the Future of Travel — Exclusive By Adriana Lee In his first media interview as Expedia’s Chief AI and Data Officer, Xavier Amatriain gives a rare look at the logic shaping one of travel’s most closely watched AI strategies.  GET THE STORY         The Hotel Business Is Entering an Owner-First Era MINOR HOTELS + SKIFT Rising costs and thinner returns are forcing a reckoning between hotel brands and the owners who carry the financial risk. GET THE STORY         For $7 a week, Skift gives you something the industry is missing – the full picture. Subscribe today for 25% off.         MORNING HEADLINES Vietnam’s Tourism Boom Gets a Boost from Latest Philippines Pact GET THE STORY Allegiant CEO Says Credit Cards Are the Airline’s Biggest Revenue Opportunity GET THE STORY Women Travelers Are Not a Segment. Treating Them as One Is a Strategic Mistake GET THE STORY Expedia Names Ex-Pinterest Exec to Lead Ads. The Pitch: Real Bookings, Not Intent. GET THE STORY EasyJet’s Latest Suitor: Can Castlelake Succeed Where Others Failed? GET THE STORY Riyadh Air to Take Delivery of First Planes, Plans 100 Cities in 5 Years GET THE STORY         SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK Only 2% of Travelers Trust AI Booking Only 2% of younger travelers are willing to let AI fully book a trip for them. Sarah Kopit and Adriana Lee break down why AI still struggles to earn trust in travel, especially when vacations are expensive, emotionally important, and difficult to get right. GET THE FULL EPISODE         SKIFT TRAVEL 200 How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here. GET TODAY’S INDEX SCORE         See more essential travel news in your search results. ADD SKIFT ON GOOGLE         Thanks for reading. We are switching to a new email platform to improve delivery. What does this mean for you? During this transition, these emails might land in your promotions or spam folder. To ensure you don’t miss out, please move this newsletter to your primary inbox.       DEFINING THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Skift 35 W 31st St. New York, New York 10001, United States Terms of Service