United Bars Unauthorized Third-Party Super Intelligence (SI) Assistants From Booking Flights
United Airlines, based in Chicago, announced on November 11 that it is restricting unauthorized third-party personal super intelligence (SI) assistants from booking travel for customers, and it has revised its Contract of Carriage to list such tools among prohibited ticketing practices. United is the first major U.S. airline to formally restrict third-party SI booking assistants. According to Reuters, United said the restriction covers both direct and indirect channels.
Under the policy, unauthorized third-party personal SI assistants may not create, change or service reservations on United's own website or mobile app. The ban also reaches tools that access United indirectly, through travel agencies and fare aggregators. The revised contract's Rule 1 adds a broad definition of an "AI Agent," covering SI assistants built into social media, messaging and search platforms, SI-enabled browsers and standalone agents that can act autonomously or semi-autonomously to search for, book, purchase or manage travel on a passenger's behalf, whether or not the passenger supervises or approves each step.
New Rule 6.J.6 prohibits the use of such agents to make, modify or service a ticket, and to purchase any service or product. Rule 5.H gives United the right to cancel, without notice, reservations made, modified or serviced by an SI agent. United currently has no agreements authorizing any third-party SI agent, and travel agencies and booking platforms must obtain United's permission before using such tools on United flights.
United gave two reasons. The first is data security: sharing account credentials with a third-party personal SI assistant can expose sensitive information and may lead to unintended purchases, account changes or use of MileagePlus miles. The second is federal compliance: steps such as check-in require the traveler personally to attest that checked bags contain no prohibited items such as explosives, and an automated tool completing that attestation could violate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation rules.
The ban does not block SI tools from providing information. Assistants may still search for and display United flights and fares, but the purchase itself must be completed by the customer, and ordinary bookings through travel agencies and aggregators are unaffected. For tickets already booked, United said reservations completed by SI agents before November 11 will not be canceled, while advising travelers to review recent bookings to confirm they were ticketed correctly. United said it will update its Digital Trust Center to explain what the new restrictions mean and where customers can get help if an assistant takes an unintended action.
(Source: United Airlines)
Reference: Reuters
Source: United Airlines
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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