Anywayr wrote this. We make one of the connectors below, so we have tried to be fair and say where the others are better.
The short answer
A travel connector (an MCP server, in the technical name) lets ChatGPT or Claude reach a travel company's own search and booking tools, instead of guessing from the web. They differ most on two things: whether the booking finishes inside the chat, and whether the tool knows about anyone other than you.
- Book a hotel, flight or car in the chat, with points and loyalty rates: Gondola.
- US business travel, booked in the chat on your saved card: Otto.
- Browse a big hotel inventory with reviews, then finish on the company's site: Booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor or trivago.
- Plan a trip for a group, then search, quote and check out hotels and flights: Anywayr.
Side by side
| Connector | Works in | Covers | Where the booking finishes | Sign-in | Group planning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anywayr | Claude (custom connector), ChatGPT (developer mode), Claude Code, VS Code, Codex CLI | Trip plans, hotels, flights, flight deals and price watches | Anywayr checkout page. In Claude, VS Code and Codex you can also allow booking with your saved card in the chat, for fully refundable bookings within a limit you set | Anywayr account | Yes: one saved trip a group can open, vote on and split costs in |
| Gondola | ChatGPT directory, Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code | Hotels, flights, rental cars, live events, points and loyalty, rate alerts | In the chat, or a booking link | Gondola account | Not described |
| Otto | Claude directory; ChatGPT through developer mode per Otto's own guide | Flights, hotels, rental cars for US business travel | In the chat after you confirm, on a saved card | Otto account | Not described |
| Booking.com | Claude; ChatGPT (with rental cars since May 2026) | Hotels, apartments, villas | Booking.com: "All reservations are completed on Booking.com" | None to search | Not described |
| Expedia | Claude directory; ChatGPT | Hotels and flights | The Claude listing does not describe booking. Expedia's ChatGPT page says you "click Book on Expedia" to finish | None in Claude | Not described |
| Tripadvisor | Claude directory | Hotels, reviews, ratings, rates, nearby sights | The listing does not describe booking | None | Not described |
| trivago | Claude (paid plans), ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code | Hotel price comparison and price trends | Deep links to the seller's site | None | Not described |
| Maqami | ChatGPT, Claude, other MCP apps | Hotels and flights | A checkout link on Maqami's site | Optional; member prices with a free login | Not described |
| FlyBest | Claude, ChatGPT | Hotels only, with travel-advisor perks | A one-time payment page, then the confirmation comes back to the chat | Email code | Not described |
| Travolp | Claude, ChatGPT | Itineraries, places, packing lists | No hotel or flight booking | Travolp account | Group chat, shared expenses, who owes whom |
"Not described" means the company's own page or directory listing does not say it; it does not mean the feature is missing.
Checked on 4 Nov 2026. Sources:
- Anywayr, connectors and MCP server reference.
- Gondola, MCP server.
- Claude directory, Otto; Otto, How to connect Otto to Claude.
- Booking.com, Booking.com connector and rental cars in ChatGPT (20 May 2026).
- Claude directory, Expedia; Expedia, Expedia in ChatGPT.
- Claude directory, Tripadvisor.
- trivago, MCP docs.
- Maqami, maqami.co and mcp.maqami.co.
- FlyBest, connector on GitHub.
- Travolp, Use Travolp from Claude and ChatGPT.
What a travel connector changes
On its own, an AI assistant answers from what it learned and, where it can search the web, from pages it reads. It has no direct line to a hotel's room rates or an airline's seats, so a price it gives you is an estimate to check.
With a connector, the assistant calls the company's own tools. It can ask for real availability on your dates, show the price the company is offering right now, and in some cases hold a quote or book. You still decide, and every connector above shows you the price before anything is booked.
Where the others are better
- Booking in the chat for every kind of trip. Gondola books hotels, flights and rental cars inside the conversation, and Otto does the same for US business trips. Anywayr books in the chat only in apps we have verified, only for fully refundable bookings, and only after you turn it on. Everything else finishes on our checkout page.
- Points and loyalty. Gondola shows cash and points prices side by side and tracks loyalty balances. Anywayr does not.
- No account needed. Booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor and trivago let you search without signing in. Anywayr needs an Anywayr account, because it saves your trip and acts as you.
- Being in the directories. Expedia, Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Otto are listed in Claude's connector directory, and Gondola is in ChatGPT's. Anywayr is added as a custom connector in Claude and through developer mode in ChatGPT for now.
- Rental cars and inventory size. Booking.com, Gondola and Otto cover rental cars. Anywayr does not offer them through its connector.
Where Anywayr is better
- More than one traveler. Most connectors plan for the person in the chat. Anywayr saves a real trip with a link the whole group can open, so friends can see the options, vote on stays and track who owes what. Travolp also tracks shared expenses, but it does not search or book hotels and flights.
- Plan, then book, in one place. The same connector plans the trip, searches hotels and flights for its dates and travelers, gets an exact quote that expires, and hands you a checkout page with the final total.
- Clear limits on what the AI can do. You choose on the Anywayr connect screen what the app may do, and you can approve less than it asked for. Saved card booking is off until you tick it, and you set the spending limit on your profile.
- Flight deals. Anywayr can look for low fares from your home airport to anywhere over the next year. In apps Anywayr has approved, it can also watch a route's price for you.
How to choose
- You collect points, or you want every booking finished in the chat: try Gondola.
- You travel for work in the US: try Otto.
- You want to browse a large hotel inventory and reviews: use Booking.com, Expedia, Tripadvisor or trivago, then book on their site.
- You are planning with friends or family: add Anywayr to Claude or ChatGPT. The connectors page lists every app that works.
You can add more than one connector to the same assistant, so you do not have to pick only one. If you are still deciding between a chat assistant and a dedicated planner, read ChatGPT vs a dedicated AI trip planner.
