Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 1, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleOnline travel stocks jumped sharply on March 5, 2026, after reports that OpenAI will de-emphasize direct checkout in ChatGPT—easing disintermediation fears and buoying Expedia (+12%), Booking Holdings (+8%), and Tripadvisor (+5%).
March 5 (Reuters) - Shares of online travel agencies surged on Thursday after a report that OpenAI is scaling back plans to integrate direct bookings into ChatGPT, easing investor fears that the AI chatbots could eventually cut out travel intermediaries.
Shares of Expedia were up over 12%, while Booking Holdings and Tripadvisor rose 8% and 5%, respectively.
The rally followed a report by The Information that OpenAI found ChatGPT users were researching products in the chatbot but not completing purchases through it.
The AI company will instead focus on checkouts within specific third-party apps that plug into ChatGPT, the report said, citing an OpenAI spokesperson.
OpenAI did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Investors and analysts have grown increasingly concerned that generative AI tools could become the dominant platform for planning and booking travel, potentially bypassing intermediaries such as online travel agencies.
We see the OpenAI news as incrementally positive for online travel agencies, Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said in a note.
"This means that Booking and Expedia can continue to get in front of consumers on AI-platforms, lowering the risk of disintermediation," Clarke added.
Expedia and Booking Holdings were among the first companies to integrate with ChatGPTwhen OpenAI launched its plugins programme in 2023.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
Online travel stocks surged after reports that OpenAI is scaling back plans for direct bookings in ChatGPT, easing fears about disintermediation.
Expedia, Booking Holdings, and Tripadvisor all saw their stock prices rise following the news.
OpenAI is focusing on checkouts within third-party apps rather than enabling direct bookings through ChatGPT itself.
Investors feared generative AI platforms like ChatGPT could bypass online travel agencies and diminish their role in booking processes.
Both companies were among the first to integrate with ChatGPT when OpenAI launched its plugins programme in 2023.
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