Dive Brief:
- Booking Holdings’ pursuit of its connected trip vision, in which travelers book more than one travel vertical with the company for the same trip, saw progress in the second quarter, President and CEO Glenn Fogel said on a Q2 2026 earnings call Tuesday.
- Connected trip transactions grew in the low double-digits — more than twice the rate of Booking.com's total transaction growth. Connected trip transactions represented a low double-digit percentage of Booking.com's total transactions.
- “This matters because our data shows that travelers who book with us across multiple travel verticals return more frequently,” EVP and CFO Ewout Steenbergen said on the earnings call.
Dive Insight:
Booking Holdings, which owns Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline, is deploying AI and leaning on its loyalty program to advance its broader connected trip strategy.
Customer engagement among higher-tiered Booking.com Genius loyalty members grew during the quarter, according to Fogel.
Genius members who have reached higher tiers “plan their trips further in advance, return more consistently and have a higher direct booking rate than non-Genius travelers,” Fogel said. Level 2 and Level 3 Genius members represented more than 30% of its active customer base and accounted for a “high 50% share” of room nights — an increase from the same period last year.
Booking Holdings’ AI customer service initiatives are reducing customer friction, lowering contact rates and improving operational efficiency, according to Fogel. The company has scaled voice AI support across the majority of eligible inbound traveler calls and is expanding digital automation.
“As a result of these combined AI and human capabilities, customer service cost per booking continues to decrease at a double-digit rate, while overall customer satisfaction remains high,” Fogel said.
Booking Holdings reported revenue of $7.4 billion, a 8% year-over-year increase, according to an earnings report. Gross bookings grew 9% year over year.
Booking Holdings is pursuing AI discovery across its portfolio. Booking.com is testing a new AI-powered discovery experience, which aims to help travelers in the early inspiration stages of planning a trip. It provides flight prices, traveler reviews and AI-generated insights, such as the best time to visit and itinerary suggestions.
Agoda launched Gallery View, “which gives travelers a more visual way to browse search results by pairing hotel images with relevant guest reviews,” Fogel said. Priceline is deploying the next generation of Penny, its agentic AI travel assistant, which combines customer support and AI discovery in one tool.
People using Penny come back with more satisfaction, according to Fogel. “It makes sense, common sense,” he said. “If you provide somebody with a better way to do the business, they'll be happier doing it.”
AI is already transforming the customer experience, according to Fogel.
“For example, initial testing of Penny's integrated hotel checkout experience has shown that beginning more of the booking journey [in] a single seamless experience has the potential to improve traveler engagement while delivering stronger business outcomes,” Fogel said. “These innovations are just a few examples of how we're using AI to reduce friction throughout the travel journey while advancing our broader connected trip vision.”
Among third-party AI, Booking Holdings remains confident.
“While AI-driven referrals remain a relatively small contributor to our overall business today, we are seeing encouraging momentum that reinforces our belief that the strengths we've built over many years, helping travelers find the right travel options with confidence positions us well as travelers further gravitate towards AI-powered discovery,” Fogel said.
