Virgin Atlantic wants you to use ChatGPT to book your next holiday. Yes, really
Virgin Atlantic wants you to use its ChatGPT-powered AI assistant to book your next holiday, but I'm not sure I'm sold yet
Perhaps it’s just me, but I roll my eyes at the thought of a travel agent now. Even my nan books her holidays online now. But perhaps I’m the one being left behind now. Virgin Atlantic just rolled out a new digital concierge powered by ChatGPT to talk you through your next sun-soaked escape or long-haul red-eye. And I’m not entirely sure why.
The AI assistant is now live across both the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays websites. The goal is that you can book an entire holiday without having to do anything yourself.
Virgin’s AI concierge was built in partnership with OpenAI and London-based tech shop Tomoro. It’s apparently got a personality – the “warmth” of Virgin Atlantic, as the travel brand wanted to remind me. It’s happy to chat via text, voice, or you can still opt to do everything yourself if you want to avoid AI.
This new digital assistant promises to “listen, understand and respond” like a real human being while curating holidays, flights, and handling Flying Club queries. Apparently it can even suggest a Maldives trip for your anniversary based on the information it knows about you. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
In theory, it’s all very slick. It remembers your preferences and throws together travel plans that align with your dreams – or at least your browsing history. And Virgin assures me it isn’t just there to upsell. It’s meant to offer genuinely useful recommendations and help you avoid that spreadsheet of flight options you always forget to update.
Of course, we’ve been down this road before. Brands have promised “chatbots but actually good this time” more times than I’ve had passport delays, so forgive the raised eyebrow. But Virgin Atlantic is clearly betting big on AI, and if nothing else, you’ll get a slightly jazzier route to booking your next trip.
Connor Jewiss
