Dennis Schaal

🤖 Citi says AI companies—not hotels, airlines or card issuers—should bear liability when their agents book the wrong trip. Speaking Wednesday at the Skift Commerce Summit in New York, Abhinav Anand, Citi’s head of value cards, lending and commerce for U.S. consumer cards, called agent liability the biggest unresolved question facing banks, payment networks, merchants and AI firms. One possible approach: require agents transacting on Visa or Mastercard to accept some liability.

✈ OpenAI has acquired Odessia, the AI travel startup Sonder co-founder Francis Davidson launched five months ago. Announcing the deal Tuesday, Davidson said he will join OpenAI to focus on travel’s future. Financial terms and Odessia’s standalone status remain undisclosed. The acquisition adds in-house travel expertise as OpenAI develops ChatGPT travel advertising and booking, following Booking.com and Expedia’s integration into its app platform in October 2025.

🏡 Perk, founded in 2015 and headquartered in London and Boston, says it is the first travel management company to integrate Airbnb’s business travel API. Employees can search live prices and availability, book within company policy, and request approval without leaving Perk. Previously, bookings required a concierge. Airbnb bookings reached “double-digit millions” last year, according to partnerships executive Kristina Carter; this year’s total has already surpassed that figure.

✈ Expedia Group spent $676 million on three acquisitions in the first nine months of 2026—its busiest dealmaking stretch since 2015. The purchases were Amsterdam-based Tiqets and Dublin-based CarTrawler for its B2B segment, plus Berlin-based AI trip planner Layla for B2C. According to its third-quarter filing, $4 million was accrued and $672 million paid in cash. The acquired companies brought $124 million in cash; Expedia recorded $484 million in goodwill and $327 million in intangible assets.

✈ Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky outlined plans on the company’s third-quarter earnings call to integrate partners across every travel category, eventually enabling native booking inside Airbnb’s app. Car rentals currently redirect users to CarTrawler; native integrations would increase Airbnb’s revenue share and give it responsibility for customer service. A specialized AI agent is scheduled to reach guests in the first half of 2027. Chesky gave no timeline for the broader booking expansion.

🏠 Airbnb reported Thursday that third-quarter revenue rose 19% to $4.9 billion—its fastest growth in three years—outpacing Expedia’s 12% increase and Booking Holdings’ 1% decline. Nights and seats booked across accommodations, experiences and services climbed 16%. Airbnb credited strong demand across all regions and improvements to search, pricing tools and flexible payments. Booking’s decline reflected a $1 billion accounting hit tied to a possible FTC settlement over allegedly deceptive practices.

✈ Expedia’s Ariane Gorin expressed optimism about advertising deals involving Meta’s Muse and Google AI Overviews, according to Skift’s November 4, 2026, report. She cited Expedia’s proven track record with similar agreements. The potential partnerships raise questions about whether AI advertising could become the next Google Search, while Expedia officials previously complained about Google marketing’s high costs.

🏨 Booking Holdings recorded a $900 million revenue reduction and $100 million accrued loss in Q3 over a potential U.S. FTC complaint against Priceline involving disclosures, fees, support and billing. Restitution and penalties could exceed $1 billion. Revenue and net income each fell 1%, to $8.9 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively. Room nights rose 7%, versus 5% in Q2. CFO Ewout Steenbergen described Q4 travel demand as mixed, with international demand moderating and domestic travel holding up.

🏡 Wyndham announced Homes & Havens on Thursday, offering nearly 800 professionally managed vacation homes and villas across the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico and Europe through Wyndham Rewards. The loyalty program has about 129 million enrolled members. Partners include Brightwild, Simpson Travel, StayTerra and Thousand Trails. Some properties are already available, with hundreds more homes expected in the coming months as Wyndham expands into curated vacation rentals.

🏡 Vrbo launched Reserve Now, Pay Later in Expedia Group’s fall rollout of 30-plus features, allowing eligible vacation rentals to be booked without upfront payment. Cards are charged seven days before hosts’ free cancellation windows close, versus as late as 24 hours before arrival on Airbnb. Airbnb reported adoption above 70% of eligible bookings, while cancellations rose about 1 percentage point to roughly 17%. Other additions include multi-room bookings, AI tools and benefits for flight delays exceeding 90 minutes.