FCM Turns Sam Into AI Booking Layer as Hotels Fight for Visibility

FCM Travel will roll out a rebuilt version of Sam, its AI assistant, in June 2026 across more than 90 countries.

Sam first launched in 2016 as a chatbot, but the new version is much broader. FCM now describes it as an AI ecosystem that supports travelers, travel managers, travel arrangers, and consultants across the managed travel process.

The assistant can answer trip questions, explain company policy, search for travel options, support booking and rebooking, and move urgent cases to FCM consultants.

Hotel search could become more selective

AI assistants are starting to decide what business travelers see first. In a traditional search, travelers can browse many hotels. In an AI-led search, the system can narrow the list before the traveler compares options.

Business Travel News Europe reported that Sam will follow spending limits, approval workflows, and supplier preferences set by travel managers. It also said out-of-policy hotels will not be shown. This could reduce visibility for hotels that are available in the market but not approved inside a company’s travel program.

Corporate travel is becoming more controlled

Companies use managed travel programs to control costs, track employees during trips, and push bookings through approved suppliers. Sam supports this by applying policy during the booking conversation, instead of relying on travelers to read long policy documents.

Hotels may need to become easier for AI to recommend

For hotel suppliers, the key question is not only whether travelers know the brand. It is whether the hotel is approved, available, policy-compliant, and easy for the AI system to select.

This could help hotels that already work closely with corporate travel programs. It could also make it harder for non-preferred properties to reach business travelers, especially if AI assistants keep pushing users toward approved hotels and rates.

Recently, Navan’s AI chat booking tools have pointed to the same shift in corporate travel. The update shows how business travel platforms are moving toward conversational booking, where employees can describe a trip and the system returns options that align with company policy.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash