AI Chatbot for After-Hours Rebooking Requests at a Regional Travel Agency

Overview

Built an AI chatbot for a regional travel agency to handle rebooking and itinerary change requests that came in outside business hours, a common occurrence given flight disruptions don't wait for office hours. The chatbot checks the traveler's existing booking, explains available rebooking options and any associated fees, and either confirms a straightforward change or queues an urgent flag for an agent to handle first thing the next business day. This addressed real anxiety for travelers dealing with a disrupted trip who previously had no way to get even basic information until the agency reopened. The chatbot was scoped conservatively, only confirming changes that fit clearly within airline and agency rebooking policy on its own. Travelers dealing with flight disruptions outside business hours had no way to get even basic rebooking information until a regional travel agency reopened, adding real anxiety during an already stressful situation. We built an AI chatbot that checks a traveler's existing booking, explains available rebooking options and fees, and either confirms straightforward changes or queues an urgent flag for an agent — scoped conservatively to only confirm changes clearly within airline and agency policy. We defined exactly which rebooking scenarios were clearly within policy versus needing agent judgment together with the agency's team, keeping the chatbot's autonomous scope deliberately narrow. It was tested against a range of real past disruption scenarios before going live as the after-hours contact point. Travelers now get immediate answers during travel disruptions instead of an overnight wait, directly reducing the anxious follow-up calls the agency used to field the next morning.