Elemental Cognition and AI transforms oneworld’s round-the-world travel booking with Google Cloud

The oneworld® alliance’s partnership with Elemental Cognition and use of its advanced AI capabilities in the EC AI Platform, powered by Google Cloud, have revolutionised the booking process for oneworld’s popular ‘Round the World’ tickets.

This innovative AI travel agent was designed to streamline the process of booking intricate flight itineraries, addressing complex product rules and fluctuating flight availability. With the help of intuitive state-of-the-art AI technology, the new booking tool guides travellers in crafting elaborate itineraries that often involve multiple airlines, enhancing the global travel experience.

Powered by Google Cloud, the EC AI Platform provides the reliability, accuracy, and transparency necessary for oneworld to simplify the booking journey, significantly enhancing the customer experience. In just six months, oneworld used Elemental Cognition’s platform to successfully develop and deploy this multi-modal AI ticketing agent, which operates globally in real time.

The ‘Round the World’ fares include all oneworld airlines, hundreds of destinations, and millions of flight combinations. Traditional airline booking engines struggle with these complex booking journeys, which can involve up to 16 stages. The smart oneworld AI travel agent, however, reliably overcomes this complexity, significantly enhancing the booking process.

Roger Blackburn, oneworld VP, Europe, said, “Elemental Cognition and Google Cloud have enabled us to create a smart and intuitive tool that has transformed the oneworld round-the-world booking experience. Since its introduction, we’ve witnessed a fivefold increase in conversions. This powerful application improves and simplifies booking, making it more enjoyable for customers to plan their dream holidays, regardless of the complexity of their flight requirements.”

Matt Demmler, Chief Commercial Officer of Elemental Cognition, added, “Customers rely on Elemental Cognition to solve complex problems with AI when precision is paramount. oneworld was an ideal partner because they needed to help customers build complex travel plans that are 100% accurate and optimal based on changing preferences and business constraints.”

Driven by the goal of making customer journeys across its global network as seamless as possible, oneworld continues to embrace digital technology. The booking platform, powered by Elemental Cognition and built on Google Cloud infrastructure, employs a neuro-symbolic AI architecture to solve complex problems with mathematical precision, delivering a game-changing experience. The platform captures all oneworld airlines’ global fare rules, creating a robust AI agent capable of planning a bookable round-the-world travel itinerary.

Blackburn further noted, “Elemental Cognition impressed us with their ability to decode our complexity. They ingested a year’s worth of global airline schedules and our rules, recorded in various formats, to build a customised solution that our customers could engage with in natural language. This approach to solving the problem was unprecedented.”

Building on the success of the AI-based ticketing app, oneworld aims to deliver even greater value to its member airlines, boosting revenue and passenger satisfaction. The partnership with Elemental Cognition and Google Cloud enabling the application of AI is seen as crucial for addressing a broader array of travel industry needs and providing additional travel-related services.

The story of a successful collaboration between Elemental Cognition, Google Cloud enabled technology and oneworld was published earlier this week on Google Cloud’s site.

Carrie Tharp, Vice President, Global Solutions & Industries, Google Cloud, said: “This collaboration showcases the power of AI and cloud technology to solve real-world challenges and enhance customer experiences in the travel industry.”

“Google Cloud’s reliable, scalable infrastructure provides the foundation for Elemental Cognition’s advanced AI capabilities, enabling oneworld to take the stress out of complex travel planning.”

Since its inception, oneworld has been a trailblazer in the aviation industry, consistently raising the bar in customer service and connectivity. Together, oneworld airlines operate over 4.5 million flights, carrying more than 500 million passengers annually, and with 212 million loyalty programmes’ members.

With oneworld celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the primary focus of the alliance is the enhancement of all aspects of the guest travel experience, including deeper, more personalised digital capabilities.