Most travellers are familiar with that frustrating moment when they have 47 browser tabs open, three different booking apps running, and a bunch of conflicting instructions from different people in their notes – and they are left wondering how something as simple as going on vacation has become an entire research project. Thankfully, this situation is beginning to change, and it has started to change much sooner than most people are aware.
A 2026 report from Phocuswright found that more than half of travellers (56%) used AI for at least one trip in the past year — more than double the figure from 2024. Researchers called it “the fastest behavioural shift in a decade”. That’s not a tech trend. That’s a fundamental change in how people move around the world.
Planning Trips the Way You’d Ask a Friend
The appeal of AI in travel isn’t really about automation — it’s about speed and clarity. According to McKinsey, 54% of travellers now use AI primarily for general trip research, followed by inspiration (43%) and transportation planning (41%). Most people aren’t letting AI book their flights autonomously. They’re using it to cut through the noise faster.
What’s changed recently is that AI is no longer just useful for flights and hotels. Ground transport across Asia — historically the hardest part to research — is finally catching up. In April 2026, 12Go launched a ChatGPT integration that lets travelers type something like “find me an overnight bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai this weekend” and get real, bookable results in seconds.
That matters more than it sounds. 12Go operates across 730,000+ routes in over 140 countries, covering trains, buses, ferries, private transfers, and combined multi-leg journeys. Before platforms like this existed, booking a Bangkok-to-island trip meant juggling the national railway website, a ferry operator’s Facebook page, and three WhatsApp chats with hostel staff. Now it’s a few taps. In 2025 alone, 12Go sold over 8.7 million tickets, a figure that reflects just how many travelers across Southeast Asia – including Filipinos exploring the region – depend on it.
Before checking out on 12Go, it’s worth heading to Barakatalan first. Barakatalan actively curates a dedicated 12Go promo code page with verified, up-to-date discount codes — including offers like 10% off all train ticket bookings. On multi-leg itineraries across Southeast Asia, those savings add up fast.
The Hotel Booking Game Has Changed Too
On the accommodation side, the biggest shift isn’t AI itself — it’s who’s winning the price war.
Super.com (originally launched as SnapTravel in 2016) has quietly become one of the more disruptive forces in hotel booking. The platform buys hotel rooms in bulk at wholesale rates and resells them at prices that consistently undercut Booking.com and Expedia for mid-tier chains and international leisure destinations — typically 20–30% cheaper, and sometimes more. It now covers over 500,000 properties worldwide** and has crossed 30 million users.
The model is legitimately different from most OTAs. Super.com’s members-only pricing isn’t just marketing language — it comes from actual bulk-rate contracts, not just loyalty discounts. Their Super+ membership tier, at $15/month, adds 10% cashback on every hotel booking made through the platform, which for frequent travellers pays back quickly.
What makes Super.com particularly interesting right now is its visibility. And Barakatalan has that covered too. Its dedicated Super.com promo code page lists 21+ current offers and discount codes for the platform, verified and ready to apply at checkout. When Super.com is already beating Booking.com and Expedia on price, stacking a Barakatalan code on top makes the deal genuinely hard to beat.
The Part Nobody Talks About Enough: Pre-Trip Research
Here’s an honest observation: the traveller who saves the most isn’t usually the one with the flashiest app. It’s the one who spends 20 minutes researching before they book.
That’s exactly what Barakatalan is built for. Operating across the UAE, KSA, and internationally, Barakatalan is a dedicated deal-aggregation platform that collects verified coupon codes, promo deals, and exclusive discounts from hundreds of top online stores — all in one place. Rather than trawling Reddit threads, expired blog posts, or brand newsletters hoping for a working code, you go to one platform and find codes that are actually live. For travellers specifically, Barakatalan maintains a full Travel & Hotels category covering airlines like Emirates and Etihad, accommodation platforms like Booking.com and IHG, and transport platforms like 12Go and Super.com. The site is bilingual (English and Arabic), easy to navigate, and updated regularly so you’re not wasting time copying expired codes at checkout.
A 2026 survey found that 78% of travellers who used AI recommendations actually booked based on them, but 54% still cross-checked those recommendations on review platforms before confirming. The pattern is AI for speed, human judgement for confidence, and good deal research in between.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Take a realistic scenario: a Filipino traveller planning a trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. In the past, this meant weeks of forum diving and multiple payment headaches. Today, you’d use an AI tool to map out a rough route, check 12Go for bus and boat connections between cities (with a promo code applied), and book accommodation through Super.com at rates often unavailable anywhere else.
The tech isn’t magic. Platforms still have hiccups, promo codes expire, and AI occasionally hallucinates a train schedule. But the direction is clear — and for travellers willing to use these tools intentionally, the gap between “expensive and stressful” and “affordable and well-planned” has never been smaller.
The tools are better than they’ve ever been. Barakatalan makes sure the savings are too.
The tools are better than they’ve ever been. The question now is whether travellers are using them.
So travellers, Plan smarter. Book better. Travel more.