🛫 Why Your Summer Holiday Flights Are Getting More Expensive and How AI Bots Are Behind It
✈️ Have you noticed your summer holiday flights are unusually expensive this year?
You’re not alone and it might not be just high demand, inflation, or fuel costs to blame.
A hidden digital culprit is quietly inflating ticket prices: AI-powered bots.
In recent months, airlines have reported a significant rise in bot-driven attacks and it’s changing how flight prices are calculated and displayed online. These bots aren’t new, but recent advances in AI have made them faster, more scalable, and more disruptive than ever before.
🤖 How Are AI Bots Inflating Flight Prices?
According to security experts and bot monitoring reports, here’s how it works:
Fake Bookings (Seat Spinning): Bots reserve flight seats in large volumes without purchasing them, causing airline systems to believe demand is high. This triggers price hikes.
Scalping and Hoarding: Bots may even buy tickets en masse to resell at inflated prices via third-party platforms.
System Slowdowns: Bots bombard airline websites, APIs, and notification systems (like SMS alerts), causing slowdowns and disrupting services for genuine customers.
The goal? Manipulate supply and demand so you end up paying more.
⚠️ Why It’s Worse Now
This kind of bot activity has existed for years, but it’s now supercharged by AI.
Thanks to generative AI tools and low-code bot platforms, even low-skilled attackers can launch complex bot campaigns. They use VPNs and fake browser profiles to avoid detection, making traditional defences like CAPTCHA increasingly ineffective.
The result: airline ticketing systems are overwhelmed, pricing algorithms get confused, and we all feel it when booking our next holiday.
💸 Who Is Most Affected?
Families booking last-minute flights
Budget travellers using comparison sites
People browsing on mobile or at peak times
Even the device or browser you use can affect the prices you’re shown a tactic some airlines and travel platforms have been known to use.
🧠 What Can You Do?
Use incognito/private browsing mode when searching for flights.
Compare prices across multiple websites.
Clear your cookies regularly to avoid personalised pricing.
Track prices early and watch for fluctuations.
Be cautious of third-party booking links - they might be part of a scam.
🌍 Final Thoughts
As someone who works in cyber security, I find it both fascinating and concerning how something as routine as booking a holiday can now be influenced by invisible AI-driven systems.
It’s a reminder that digital threats are no longer just about data breaches - they’re affecting our wallets too.
Let’s stay informed, help each other out, and share this knowledge. Your awareness could save you and someone else hundreds of pounds this summer.
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