• by Chuck Martin , February 1, 2018

American Express has purchased a personal travel assistant app that uses artificial intelligence to personalize the online travel discovery and booking experience.

The app, from Mezi, helps consumers plan and book trips and allows travelers to message their requests for flights, hotel or restaurant reservations, according to American Express.

“Mezi’s AI-powered experience opens up new ways for us to connect with and serve our card members and creates opportunities for us to build more meaningful relationships with them,” stated Phil Norman, vice president of American Express Digital Labs. “With messaging emerging as channel of choice for many, and the demand for unique experiences increasing, we believe the combination of Mezi’s capabilities with our global network of expert travel counselors creates a differentiated, high-touch service experience for our card members.”

In 2016, American Express Ventures, the strategic investment arm of AmEx, made an investment in Mezi, which also concluded a successful pilot with American Express card members. Those enrolled in the AskAmex pilot will continue to run through the first half of this year.

Mezi will operate as a subsidiary of American Express.

Mezi was the winner of the 2017 MediaPost Appy Award in the Travel/Tourism category.