It can help you compare. It should not spend your money.
By Elizabeth Ndungu | Founder, Ndungu Consulting | Tech Coach for Adults 50+
AARP’s 2026 Travel Trends survey found that nearly two thirds of adults 50 and older, 64 percent, expect to travel this year despite ongoing cost concerns. Alongside that demand, the share of older travelers using AI tools to hunt for deals has doubled in a year, from 8 percent to 16 percent.
That is not a small shift. It means the people using these tools are not tech enthusiasts chasing novelty. They are retirees comparing flight prices before a trip to see their grandchildren.
I wanted to know whether it actually works, so I tested it the way you would.
What AI Can Do When You Are Shopping
Ask it to compare prices across a few options you already found, summarize reviews so you do not have to read two hundred of them, or flag questions worth asking before you commit to a purchase or subscription.
It is genuinely useful as a research assistant. It reads faster than you do and organizes what it finds.
Where It Gets It Wrong
AI tools do not have live access to every store’s current prices unless the tool is specifically built for that. Ask for “the best price right now” and you may get a confident answer built on outdated or incomplete information.
It also cannot verify that a seller is legitimate. If you ask it to summarize an unfamiliar retailer’s return policy and the summary sounds fine, that is not the same as the retailer actually honoring it. A fake store can have good photos, correct grammar, fabricated reviews, and a checkout page that looks entirely normal.
How to Use It Well
Use AI to narrow down options and generate questions, then verify prices and seller legitimacy yourself, on the retailer’s actual website or through a source you already trust.
Treat its answer as a starting point for your own search, never the final word on where your money goes.
A Common Pattern
Someone planning their first trip in a while, nervous about “the whole AI thing” but curious after a family member mentioned using it, asks an AI tool to compare a few flight and hotel options they already found on their own. The tool suggests checking whether a package deal includes baggage fees, something easy to miss. It also flags that one “deal” received by email looks unusually cheap compared to everything else it found.
Checking that site separately turns up no reviews and no verifiable address. The safer move is to skip it and book through an airline or hotel chain the person already recognizes. The AI tool did not book anything. It helped ask better questions before a decision was made.
Is Using AI to Shop Safe for Adults Over 50?
Using AI as a shopping research tool is safe when you never let it complete a purchase or enter payment details on your behalf.
Here is the one rule to act on: always verify a price or a deal directly on the retailer’s official website before entering any payment information, even if an AI tool or an email says the deal is real.
You Already Know a Bad Deal When You See One
Your decades of shopping, comparing, and occasionally getting burned have given you an instinct for what sounds too good to be true. That instinct still works. AI does not replace it. It just gives you more information to apply it to.
Use the tool for the research. Keep the judgment for yourself.
I write regularly about technology safety and digital literacy for adults over 50. Following me here on Medium is the best way to see the next piece when it comes out.
If you want a boost of confidence before using AI, buy this guide and let it help you learn more and bring you confidence before your first search.
How to Use AI: A Guide for 50+, is available — Click here:
For calm, one-on-one technology help with no pressure, no jargon, and no embarrassment, visit ndunguconsulting.com.
A note on AI accuracy
AI tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can and do make mistakes. They can state incorrect information confidently and without flagging it as uncertain. Always verify anything important, especially in medical, legal, financial, or safety contexts, through a qualified professional or a verified source. These tools are aids for thinking and drafting, not authoritative sources.
About the Author
Elizabeth Ndungu is the founder of Ndungu Consulting, a technology coaching and digital literacy practice that helps adults over 50 build confidence with everyday technology. Computers, phones, AI tools, email, Microsoft Office, online safety, and digital skills in plain English. She provides patient, practical support for people who want to learn without jargon, pressure, or embarrassment.
Sources
AARP, “New AARP Report: Older Americans Plan More Travel in 2026 as They Embrace AI and Deal Hunting,” March 10, 2026: https://www.aarp.org/press/releases/2026-03-10-aarp-travel-trends-2026.html
Federal Trade Commission, “Online Shopping,” Consumer Advice: https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/online-shopping
Tags
Artificial Intelligence · Technology · Travel · Online Shopping · Digital Literacy · Adults Over 50
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