TravelAI relaunches Sonder.com as AI-powered boutique guide
TravelAI has acquired the Sonder brand, including the SONDER trademark across more than 50 countries and over 70 domain names, notably Sonder.com, from the bankruptcy estates of Sonder’s Canadian entities, following court-supervised proceedings under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
The deal covers only the brand’s intellectual property, not the original company’s properties, leases, inventory, or staff, and TravelAI is unaffiliated with Sonder Holdings Inc. (OTC: SONDQ), the entity that wound down operations after Marriott International ended its partnership with the original Sonder in November 2025. The original Sonder, founded in Montreal in 2014 and later Nasdaq-listed, was known for design-led apartment-style and boutique hotel stays; the relaunched Sonder.com will instead function as a curated guide, not a hotel operator, showcasing a selected pool of apartment-style, boutique, and urban accommodations from TravelAI’s distribution partners in major cities worldwide. The relaunch adds Sonder to TravelAI’s existing portfolio of revived travel brands (Casai, Smartours, OwnerDirect) and ties into the company’s broader “memory infrastructure” strategy, centered on Traveler.md, a traveller-owned preference and history platform launched in public beta in June 2026, which TravelAI says will increasingly personalize the Sonder experience going forward.
AI receptionist cuts hotel response times from hours to minutes
Hotel Atlantis, a 64-room property near Brno, Czech Republic, has deployed BE-A, the AI front-office operating system from Flae Robotics, to manage guest communication across email and WhatsApp, cutting response times from hours to minutes, particularly at night when staff capacity is limited, by sorting, labeling, and routing incoming messages so reception staff can focus on on-property guests and non-standard situations; the hotel reports BE-A now independently handles roughly a quarter of common enquiries and saves time preparing and sorting many others, with an internal 0–3 scale assessment translating to around 75%-plus scores for both staff relief and recommendation willingness.
Flae Robotics CEO Filip Linek said the goal is to support hotel teams rather than replace human interaction, and Hotel Atlantis’s next steps include extending automation into reservations and modifications, followed by a voice/phone layer; more broadly, Flae Robotics is expanding internationally into Germany, Austria, and the UK, building on its Czech rollouts, and is now preparing to enter the US hotel market.
Atlas adds Volaris, expanding Latin American reach
Atlas, an API for flight retailing and fulfilment infrastructure based in Singapore, announced on July 29 the go-live of Volaris, including Volaris Mexico, Volaris Costa Rica, and Volaris El Salvador, on its platform, giving Atlas-connected Travel Sellers single-API access to one of Latin America’s largest ultra-low-cost airline networks, which spans Mexico, the United States, Central America, and beyond; the move strengthens Atlas’s position as a platform for low-cost carrier (LCC) retailing and infrastructure, allowing Travel Sellers to connect once rather than building individual airline integrations.
Atlas COO Clive Ashmore Butler said the partnership furthers the company’s strategy of consolidating leading low-cost carriers onto a single modern retailing and fulfilment platform, while Volaris’s Director of Market Development and Cargo, Jorge García, said the integration expands Volaris’s visibility to Travel Sellers globally as the airline grows its network across the Americas; the announcement follows a series of other LCC partnerships that have continued to build out Atlas’s coverage in the region.
Bank of America relaunches Travel Center, powered by Agoda’s Rocket Travel
Bank of America has launched an enhanced Travel Center, a digital platform within its Mobile Banking app and Online Banking, powered by Rocket Travel by Agoda – the strategic partnerships arm of Agoda, a Booking Holdings company. The redesigned platform offers improved search and filtering tools, expanded booking options such as mixing departure and return flights, more detailed hotel listings with images and reviews, and flexible payment options that let clients combine credit card rewards with credit or debit card payment.
The launch comes as a Bank of America report found 77% of Americans are travelling this summer, with growing interest in international trips; access varies by card type, with Premium Rewards, Premium Rewards Elite, Travel Rewards, Customised Cash Rewards, Unlimited Cash Rewards, and BankAmericard Rewards cardholders each having different levels of access through the Mobile Banking app, Online Banking, or the Erica virtual assistant, and eligible BofA Rewards members can also use loyalty benefits like Deals and Lifestyle Benefits to enhance bookings; Bank of America and Rocket Travel by Agoda executives framed the update as part of a broader effort to deliver more flexible, value-driven travel experiences for clients.
Travelsoft’s Orchestra acquires Afidium, boosting French travel tech offering
Travelsoft announced that its French entity Orchestra has acquired Afidium, a French software company founded in 2005 by David Faveur and Patrick Rajaud that serves tourism professionals with solutions spanning air fare optimization, PNR quality control, travel quotes, multi-source booking across accommodations and other services, operational search, customer communication, and air inventory management; the deal pairs Orchestra’s distribution and booking platform with Afidium’s expertise in automation, interoperability, and PNR management, giving Orchestra clients access to additional air optimisation and automation tools while Afidium clients gain greater scale within the broader Travelsoft ecosystem.
Faveur and Rajaud will continue leading Afidium to ensure continuity and preserve client relationships, with teams remaining focused on existing customers while drawing on Orchestra and Travelsoft’s resources; Travelsoft Founder and CEO Christian Sabbagh called Afidium “a natural fit” that will accelerate innovation, while Faveur and Rajaud said joining Travelsoft allows them to scale while maintaining quality and responsiveness, with both companies planning to progressively develop shared product synergies and innovation roadmaps.
