Otto —

We've been watching the AI travel space heat up, and Otto caught our attention for doing something most competitors haven't figured out yet: actually making business travel feel less like a chore. This isn't another chatbot that spits out flight options. It's more like having a seasoned travel coordinator who knows your preferences and company policies by heart.

What Makes Otto Different

The magic happens in Otto's conversational approach. You can literally text it "I need to get to Chicago next Tuesday for that client meeting" and it handles the rest. It books flights, finds hotels that fit your company's travel policy, and even throws in car rentals if needed.

What impressed us most? Otto learns. After a few trips, it starts picking up on your preferences without you having to spell them out every time. Window seat, specific hotel chains, preferred departure times. It's like having an assistant who actually pays attention.

The Expedia Veterans Behind It

Otto's founding team brings serious travel industry credibility. CEO Michael Gulmann and CTO CD Wang both come from Expedia Group, where they learned the travel booking business inside and out. That experience shows in how smoothly Otto handles complex itineraries and policy constraints.

Having Madrona Ventures lead their $6 million funding round (with backing from former CEOs of Expedia, Orbitz, and Concur) tells us the travel industry veterans see real potential here.

Who This Actually Works For

Otto shines brightest for small to medium businesses and frequent business travelers who don't have dedicated travel departments. If you're spending hours each month wrestling with corporate booking tools or trying to remember which hotels your company approves, Otto makes sense.

The nine-month closed beta with hundreds of users and over 100 completed bookings before public launch suggests they've worked out most of the kinks. Plus, having human backup support when the AI hits its limits shows they understand that travel rarely goes perfectly to plan.