A new AI-powered conversational booking feature aimed at reducing the time it takes to make travel reservations, has been launched by travel management company FCM.

The tool allows travellers to describe what they need and receive options shaped by their policy, profile, past trips, loyalty status and preferred routes.

The company, which is also the corporate travel arm of Flight Centre Travel Group, explains that conversational booking is made possible by its existing intelligence layer, Sam. Each recommendation is accompanied by its reasoning, showing why it fits policy, matches a traveller’s usual routing, reflects their loyalty programme, or follows how their team travels.

“Conversational booking only works if travellers trust what they’re being shown, and that trust comes from context, not just convenience. That’s the experience we’re building toward – every recommendation explains itself, so travellers can act on it with confidence, and travel managers see adoption follow as a result,” says FCM Travel global head of product Jessica Dunderdale.

Available first in Microsoft Teams and Slack, Model Context Protocol technology will extend booking capabilities to the AI tools travellers use regularly, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. It aims to increase in-programme booking rates and improve data capture, without asking travellers to change behaviour. 

The intelligence that shapes conversational booking also feeds FCM’s reporting and proactive analytics, surfacing spend, compliance, and disruption risk as it emerges. This helps travel managers to translate data into relevant decisions. 

“We didn’t build FCM’s tech ecosystem to replace our consultants’ judgment. We built it to take the routine work off their plate, so they can focus on the moments that actually need a person. Travellers get speed from tech and expertise from our consultants – they shouldn’t have to choose between the two,” concluded FCM Travel chief experience officer John Morhous.