Car rental company Hertz, which also owns Dollar and Thrifty, is using AI to scan returned vehicles for damage, automatically charging customers for what the system flags, according to The New York Times.

That’s what happened to a couple who rented from Hertz at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the newspaper reported. A human employee cleared the car but the AI saw a dent and billed them $195 — $80 for the damage and $115 in fees.

Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty are also using the AI system at Newark Liberty International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Tampa International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

European rental firm Sixt also has adopted similar practices, according to the Times. But Enterprise Mobility, which owns Enterprise, National and Alamo rental car companies, said it does not. Avis Budget Group, whose brands are Avis, Budget and Payless, has tested AI damage scanning but said the process today is led by humans.

A Sixt spokesperson told PYMNTS that its customers “value transparency — and we take that seriously. That’s why we photograph each vehicle at select locations like airports before and after every rental and make these images available. As advanced technology helps us, decisions are always made by human experts. If potential damage is detected, it is carefully reviewed by our trained staff to ensure fair and customer-oriented outcomes.”

Click-ins, a company that uses AI and its own proprietary system to spot car damage, told PYMNTS that insurers, vehicle auction houses and other companies are using AI to more accurately assess vehicle damage, automate claims processing and avoid disputes.

Other companies offering similar AI-powered vehicle inspections include UVEye, which is Hertz’s partner, CCC Intelligent Solutions, Tractable, Solera and Snapsheet.

Hotels Tap Into Tech

Hotels are moving in a similar direction. Jordan Hollander, co-founder of research platform HotelTechReport.com, told CNBC that many hotels are already experimenting with artificial intelligence, though without automated billing.

Some hotels are using AI-powered sensors to detect air quality issues and impose smoking or vaping fines — but not always accurately, Hollander said. “Like someone using a hairdryer or aerosol spray — and guests get hit with $500 charges without ever lighting up.”

Hollander cautioned that hotels should tread carefully. “There’s a risk of backlash if hotels start billing guests based solely on what an algorithm says. The moment a guest gets a charge and can’t get a straight answer about why or how it was verified, you’re in dangerous territory,” he said.

Read more:

CarMax Expands Deployment of AI-Powered Vehicle Inspection Systems

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman Suggests Hertz-Uber Partnership on Autonomous Vehicles

Wyndham Hotels Touts AI Initiatives Amid Record Room Growth

Delta Air Lines has been working with AI pricing company Fetcherr for months, but the partnership made headlines recently with consumers (and members of the U.S. Senate) questioning the ethics of personalized pricing.

In a late-July letter addressed to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Senators Ruben Gallego (Arizona), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Mark Warner (Virginia) voiced concern about “prices that are tailored to an individual consumer’s willingness to pay,” and that fact that “surveillance pricing” often uses private personal information, from web browsing behavior to social media activity. Delta denies that personal data is used in its Fetcherr-assisted fares.

Our Analysis: Advisors Will Want to Keep Tabs on Pricing Practices, Educate Clients About Them and Possibly Advocate for Fairness and Transparency.

AI-driven pricing is already changing the way air fares are displayed and sold; as of last month, Delta says it used AI to determine 3% of fares, and that it intends to grow that number to 20% by the end of this year.

RELATED: Do Travelers Trust AI for Their Trip Planning? Plus Other Travel Trends From Justfly.com Data

Travel advisors who book air on behalf of clients will want to stay up to date on dynamic pricing processes and keep their clients well informed on how the market is changing. And, if questions around fairness and privacy linger, the travel trade, including the American Society of Travel Advisors, may need to come together to advocate for transparency and pricing practices that better protect consumers and the agents who serve them.

What They Are Saying: AI-Pricing May Lower Incentive to Provide Good Service

“Pricing based on AI algorithms will no doubt increase revenues for Delta,” wrote U.S. senators Gallego, Blumenthal and Warner. “At Delta’s investor event last November, one investor celebrated the ability to set prices that matched every passenger’s ‘personal demand curve.’ However, with respect to the interests of Delta’s passengers, there is a danger that this approach will result in higher fares and diminish incentives to improve service.”

Wednesday, August 6, 2025