St. Petersburg – September 18, 2026 -- AI use for trip planning has surged over the past year, but travelers remain wary of letting algorithms make actual decisions, according to new survey data from travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth.
AI adoption for trip planning has more than doubled since last year
The share of travelers who said they never use AI to plan trips fell from 63.1% last year to 27.6% this year. Nearly one in five travelers, 18.7%, now say they use AI to help plan every trip they take.
Gen Z shows the most skepticism toward AI in travel
Despite being widely seen as the most tech-savvy generation, only 38.0% of Gen Z respondents strongly agreed that AI is integral to how they travel. That compares with 55.7% of Gen X, 52.7% of Millennials, and 45.5% of Boomers. Gen Z also posted the highest rate of strong disagreement at 31.0%, versus 24.6% for Millennials, 21.2% for Boomers, and 18.4% for Gen X.
Trust in AI lags far behind usage
Only 16.7% of travelers say they have high or complete trust in AI, including for tasks like entering payment information or buying tickets. Another 36.5% describe "average trust,