Asked to plan trips, AI chatbots sent travelers to places that do not exist. Among the 485 U.S. leisure travelers in the Greetwell AI Travel Survey 2026 who had used or tried AI for travel, 55% hit at least one recommendation that was inaccurate, unavailable, nonexistent, closed or otherwise wrong. Broken down: 27% got incorrect prices, hours or other details; 21% were pointed to something fully booked or unavailable; 17% got something simply wrong for what they asked; 16% were sent to a place, tour or activity that did not exist; and 10% were recommended a business that was permanently closed.

Asked to cancel only the outbound leg of a round-trip SkyMiles award between New York JFK and Los Angeles while keeping the return, Delta Concierge told the passenger in writing: "Your JFK to LAX flight has been canceled, and your LAX to JFK flight remains booked." Delta's own refund confirmation shows the opposite: all 32,400 miles were redeposited and the full $11.20 in taxes refunded, with both DL752 (JFK-LAX) and DL938 (LAX-JFK) listed as canceled - the receipt even displayed "Refund Number: null". The AI confirmed an itinerary state that Delta's ticketing system had already destroyed, and Delta Reservations then told the passenger the original award could not be restored and that a replacement one-way would cost nearly twice as many miles.

A passenger asked United Airlines' customer-service chatbot how long she had to use a $200 United travel credit before it expired. The chatbot answered that the money would stay available for years. A screenshot of the exchange shows the bot stating that her $200 TravelBank credit "stays active for 5 years from the date it's deposited." The passenger, Alison Gil, planned around that answer and held the credit for a larger trip. A few weeks later United emailed her to warn that the same $200 in TravelBank cash would expire on September 27, 2026 - roughly one year after it was deposited, not five. When she questioned the discrepancy, she says United told her: "sorry, the bot told you that, but it's one year and we can't change it." The airline later acknowledged to NBC 5 Responds that its "AI chatbot provided this customer with the wrong information for her situation," while noting the disclaimer customers are shown saying information "may not always be complete or relevant."