Travel marketing agency Propellic has published a new study examining how AI agents are reshaping travel search and bookings, finding that most flight reservations initiated through Meta’s Muse and Instinct are routed through third-party booking infrastructure rather than directly to airlines.

The report, Agentic Travel Booking in Meta’s Muse and Instinct, examines Meta’s Muse, launched in the US in September 2026 with integrated travel booking, and Instinct, an invite-only AI agent accessed through text messages.

According to the study, 57% of audited flight booking scenarios would have been processed through Duffel, the booking API powering both agents’ flight reservations, even when users specified a particular airline. Direct bookings with airlines, hotels or tour operators accounted for 28% of cases, while online travel agencies such as Booking.com and Expedia represented 14%.

However, user instructions significantly influenced booking outcomes. Every hotel request explicitly asking for a direct reservation resulted in a booking with the property, while requests naming a specific brand were fulfilled through that brand. When users prioritised the cheapest option, the agents selected the lowest displayed price in 88% of cases.

Despite their growing capabilities, AI agents have yet to gain widespread approval to complete payments independently. Propellic found that 66% of real-world conversations stopped at the research or shortlist stage.

Among interactions reaching the approval stage, approximately half saw users intervene to review details such as baggage allowances, seat selection and cancellation conditions before completing the booking themselves.

The survey also highlighted reservations about automated payments. While 36% of respondents said they would allow an AI agent to pay for a trip, another 36% would consider doing so only under certain conditions, including refundable bookings or low-value purchases.

The findings suggest that while AI agents are increasingly influencing travel discovery and booking decisions, consumer trust and control over transactions remain significant barriers to fully automated travel bookings.

“Earlier this year, we found that AI was recommending direct booking options in 71% of results, with travelers handing AI the research but keeping control of the payment. Now AI agents can take bookings all the way to checkout, but more than half the time, those bookings would go through an intermediary. Agentic AI platforms have swung the pendulum back towards the traditional travel supply chain, adding a new layer in the middle,” said Brennen Bliss, founder and CEO of Propellic.

To understand how these platforms handle travel bookings, Propellic tested both agents across hotels, flights and tours. The research combined scripted booking requests across four routes, a survey of current users and recorded interviews that included a live booking task. It is Propellic’s third study of AI in travel, following From Search to Purchase (2025) and The State of AI Visibility for Travel in 2026. -TradeArabia News Service