Key findings:

  • 30% of US travelers say they’re comfortable using AI for trip planning in 2025, while 40% say they are not.
  • Comfort among 18–24-year-olds dropped sharply, from 47% in 2024 to 34% in 2025
  • Men’s comfort with AI also declined, from 39% to 34%; women’s comfort remained steady at 26%
  • Top use case is review and rating analysis (28%), followed by recommendations and translation tools
  • 23% of US travelers say they prefer not to use AI in their trip planning
Travel industry insightsRun your own survey

Comfort with AI is shifting – especially among younger travelers

New YouGov data reveals a subtle but telling shift in how Americans feel about using artificial intelligence to plan travel. In 2025, 30% of US travelers said they feel comfortable using AI-driven tools to help organize their trips – slightly down from 32% the year before. Meanwhile, 40% say they are not comfortable using AI for trip planning, a number that has remained unchanged year over year. This signals that, despite growing availability and use cases, a sizable share of travelers remain hesitant about letting AI play a role in their travel decisions.

What’s more striking is how views have changed among different age groups. In 2024, younger travelers led the way in AI enthusiasm: 47% of 18–24-year-olds and 47% of 25–34-year-olds said they were comfortable using AI for trip planning. In 2025, those numbers dropped to 34% and 38%, respectively. That’s a significant shift – especially among Gen Z, who saw a 13-point decline in comfort levels.

By contrast, comfort with AI ticked upward among older Americans. Just 16% of travelers aged 55 and over were comfortable using AI in 2024, compared to 20% in 2025. And among those aged 35–44, comfort rose from 37% to 41% – making this group the most AI-positive demographic in the latest survey.

Gender gap persists, but men are less comfortable than last year

There was also a notable change in how men perceive AI in travel. In 2024, 39% of male travelers said they were comfortable using AI for trip planning. That number fell to 34% in 2025. Female comfort levels remained nearly unchanged, at 26% in both years. Women continue to express more skepticism, with 44% saying they’re not comfortable using AI – compared to 36% of men.

At the same time, more Americans overall seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach. Neutral responses rose from 20% to 24% between 2024 and 2025, and the number of travelers who said they “don’t know” dropped from 8% to 6%.

How AI is being used in travel

When asked how they’ve used – or would consider using – AI to improve their travel experiences, US travelers pointed to several favorites. The most common use case was analyzing reviews and ratings, selected by 28% of respondents. Travel recommendations based on interests or preferences came in next at 26%, followed closely by language translation tools at 26%.

Other options like building customized itineraries (21%) and using real-time chatbot assistance (17%) were less common but still show interest in AI’s more interactive or automated features. That said, some travelers remain skeptical: 23% say they prefer not to use AI at all when planning their trips, and another 16% say they haven’t used it yet but would be open to trying it.

A changing picture for travel brands

While younger travelers led early interest in AI-powered planning tools, this year’s data shows a cooling-off period – possibly due to concerns around accuracy, trust, or AI “overreach.” At the same time, middle-aged and older travelers appear to be warming up to the idea, slowly closing the gap in comfort.

For travel brands and platforms, these shifting patterns suggest the need for clearer messaging and more user-friendly AI features. Trust, transparency, and ease of use remain key, especially as travelers reassess how much control they want to hand over to algorithms. With functional use cases like review analysis and personalized recommendations already showing traction, the opportunity to grow adoption is there – but it may depend on how well brands can meet travelers where they are.

Run your own surveyTalk to an expert

Methodology:

This article is based on data from YouGov Surveys: Serviced, a custom research solution using YouGov’s panel of over 2 million US adults. The April 2024 survey was conducted among 718 US travelers, and the July 2025 survey among 880 US travelers. “Travelers” are defined as individuals who have traveled in the past 24 months or plan to travel in the next 12 months. All figures are weighted and representative of the US traveling population.