United Airlines is restricting unauthorized third-party AI agents from booking and managing travel on its website, its app and through travel agencies, the airline said Nov. 11, 2026. The same day, it revised its Contract of Carriage and website terms with a rule that it may cancel, without notice, reservations "made, modified or serviced by AI Agents."
The move sits in a widening split over who is allowed to transact. JPMorgan Chase and Amazon have moved to block outside agents that try to act with a customer's credentials. Walmart, travel sellers including Expedia and Booking.com, and Southwest Airlines have been building authorized paths so an assistant can help without impersonating the shopper.
United's published case is about data, accounts and one safety example, not a claim that federal rules already ban AI bookings. "Protecting our customers' data and accounts is a priority for United," the airline said in a news release. Sharing account credentials with "personal, third-party, AI assistants can expose sensitive information, and actions taken by these tools may result in unintended purchases, account changes, or use of MileagePlus miles," it said. "Plus, these automated AI actions have the potential to violate FAA and DOT regulations - as an example, flight check-in requires human acknowledgment that bags do not contain banned substances like explosives."
United said it is taking steps to restrict access "directly within our digital platforms and indirectly via travel agencies and aggregators," including updates to its booking, ticketing and distribution policies. It also said, without naming companies, that "corporate leaders in the banking and retail industries have taken similar actions regarding AI agents."
A split over who gets to transact
On JPMorgan's third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 13, 2026, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said, as quoted by CNBC, "We're not going to allow just any … outside agent to come in inside the company, because it's just too risky for clients and for JPMorgan." A JPMorgan spokeswoman told CNBC, "Because it is not safe, we do not permit third parties to access accounts by obtaining customers' banking credentials and logging in on their behalf." She also said the bank is "committed to enabling agentic connections securely."
In a Nov. 4, 2025, statement about Perplexity's Comet shopping agent, Amazon said "third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions whether or not to participate," and that it had "repeatedly requested that Perplexity remove Amazon from the Comet experience." Amazon sued Perplexity the same day in federal court in the Northern District of California. CNBC has separately reported that Amazon has blocked Meta's Muse agent. Walmart, by contrast, officially lists a Muse integration.
In an Oct. 21, 2026, post, Walmart said it already serves customers through "conversational commerce integrations with Muse, ChatGPT, Gemini and others," and that it is introducing Agent Profiles, an Agent Gateway and terms for AI agents. Customers will be able to authorize each agent with a dedicated profile, Walmart said, and "can require approval for every purchase or provide permission for the agent to make purchases within a spending limit they set – for example, $50, $100 or $200." Under those terms, agents do not receive customers' payment-card information.
When OpenAI launched apps in ChatGPT on Oct. 6, 2025, it named Expedia and Booking.com among its pilot partners. Booking.com said users can "browse listed accommodations directly within ChatGPT, with seamless access to the Booking.com platform once they are ready to select and book their room." Southwest, on Oct. 6, 2026, launched what it called a "first-of-its-kind U.S. airline plugin in ChatGPT," the first step in a phased booking approach with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services that lets travelers "discover and shop for Southwest flights in ChatGPT."
United's commercial interest in avoiding another middleman is not in the news release, but it has been reported. Scott Kirby, United's chief executive, said at an event in Chicago on Nov. 10, "To be honest, I don't want to create another middleman," according to The Wall Street Journal, as reported by Quartz.
What an AI assistant can and can't still do at United
Research and planning are still allowed if the tool stays off United's systems. "You can still use AI to research and plan trips, as long as the tool doesn't access united.com or the United app," the airline's Digital Trust Center FAQ says. If an AI tool generates speech or text for a search, United says, "review it and search it yourself on united.com or the United mobile app." Stick to general information, the page says, and do not hand over MileagePlus numbers, passwords, confirmation numbers, or personal details used to validate identity.
A customer's permission is not United's permission. "Just because you've given access to AI assistants doesn't mean United will permit an AI assistant to transact with United," the FAQ says. A person still has to complete the purchase. Asked whether it works with any third-party AI agents, United's answer is: "Not yet, but we are always on the lookout for new ways to serve our customers!" United's test for an unauthorized tool is broad: "If a third-party AI agent, bot, browser extension or browser feature searches, books, buys, manages or collects information on united.com or the United app for you, and United hasn't given permission, it's unauthorized."
Bookings a third-party AI agent made before Nov. 11 "will not be canceled," United says. "However, we recommend you review all recent travel plans to ensure they have been booked and ticketed correctly." If a traveler already shared MileagePlus login information with an agent, United recommends changing the password immediately.
Assistive technology is exempt. "Assistive technology for customers with disabilities isn't affected," the FAQ says. The website terms, last updated Nov. 11, also do not restrict assistive technology, standard web browsers operated by a person, or features that only convert a person's own voice or text into a search the person runs and reviews.
Agencies are covered too. "Travel agencies and booking platforms cannot use third-party AI agents search for, book or manage United travel for their customers on either direct or indirect channels," the FAQ says, in United's published wording. "Agencies can only use their own third-party AI tools with United's permission."
What United says it may do
The website terms say no "Automated Agent" may access united.com or the United app "without United's prior written permission." "United may block or limit any Automated Agent at any time." Processing or accepting payment for a transaction started or completed through an Automated Agent does not waive those rights, the terms say.
The Contract of Carriage, revised Nov. 11, defines an "AI Agent" broadly — including an assistant, an AI-enabled browser, or a tool that reaches United through a travel agency — even if a person "supervises or approves its actions." Using AI Agents "to make, modify or service a Ticket, and/or to purchase any service or product" is a prohibited ticketing practice. The cancellation rule says the reservations United will cancel without notice include "reservations made, modified or serviced by AI Agents."
If a ticket is booked or used in violation of the rules, United says it has the right, "without notice to the passenger," to take actions that include invalidating the ticket, canceling any remaining portion of the itinerary, deleting MileagePlus miles, revoking elite status, terminating MileagePlus participation, and taking legal action.
Those remedies sit alongside the FAQ's assurance that agent bookings made before Nov. 11 will not be canceled and should be reviewed.
United says it wants, later, "standardized, secure technology integrations with privacy, security, authorization and accountability protections in place." Until it names a partner, the traveler's AI can still help plan the trip. A person still has to buy the ticket.