Your AI assistant can no longer buy a United ticket: CEO says "I don't want to create another middleman"

United Airlines is barring personal AI agents from booking flights on behalf of travelers.

According to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg on Nov. 11, United changed its booking and ticketing terms so third-party AI agents cannot make, change or service tickets or buy extras, and it is restricting access both on its own app and site and through travel agencies and aggregators. Assistants like ChatGPT can still show fares and schedules; they just stop at checkout. The blog View from the Wing, which read the revised contract of carriage, says United can cancel reservations made that way. Kayak, Hopper and Google Flights bookings reportedly are unaffected.

United said sharing account credentials with personal AI assistants "can expose sensitive information, and actions taken by these tools may result in unintended purchases, account changes, or use of MileagePlus miles." The Journal reported the airline also cited possible FAA rule violations. CEO Scott Kirby said: "I don't want to create another middleman."

The reaction was cold. Under Polymarket's post, "the ai would've picked a different airline anyway" drew about 400 likes and "Banning the customer's assistant is how you know the fees were the business model" about 220. The change lands just before the holiday travel peak.