Google AI Overviews get India flight facts wrong: what to double-check before you travel
By Diya Verma (Diya Verma flies from Tier-2 Indian cities and chases every possible fare hack — reposition flights, hidden-city ticketing, mileage runs and OTA bundle tricks. She has booked 200+ international trips out of Lucknow, Indore and Jaipur.) · Published · 9 min read
HappyFares published a study in 2025 testing 50 India-specific flight queries on Google AI Overviews. Roughly 30% of responses contained a meaningful error — wrong baggage allowance, outdated visa rules, or an incorrect airline policy. As someone who has been burned by acting on overconfident AI summaries before, I found this entirely believable. Here is a breakdown of the error patterns and what you should actually check instead.
TL;DR — the problem in plain terms
Google AI Overviews — the AI-generated summary boxes that appear above search results — have been giving incorrect answers on India-specific flight queries at a meaningful error rate. A 2025 study by HappyFares tested 50 common queries and found around 30% returned incorrect or misleading information. The errors concentrated in three areas: IndiGo baggage allowances (where policy changes frequently), visa and documentation rules (which vary by nationality and update regularly), and airline-specific policies that AI models have not been retrained on. The fix is not to stop using AI — it is to know which facts to verify on the official source, especially before spending money or packing your bags based on what an AI told you.
What HappyFares actually found — the categories of errors
The study was not peer-reviewed academic research, but it is the most systematic India-specific test of AI Overview accuracy I have seen published. The broad findings, paraphrased from their reporting:
- Baggage policy errors (~the largest category): IndiGo's baggage allowance structure — specifically how much is included in base fares vs what must be added on, and the fee for adding check-in baggage at booking vs at the airport — was misquoted in a significant proportion of relevant queries. IndiGo has updated its baggage policy multiple times, and AI models trained on older web data simply reflect the old rules. The AI Overviews also conflated IndiGo and Air India baggage rules in some responses.
- Visa and documentation rules: Visa-on-arrival eligibility for Indian passport holders, e-visa processing times, and documentation requirements for specific countries were cited incorrectly or with out-of-date information. Visa rules change without notice — a country that gave 30-day e-visa approval in 2023 may have changed fees, processing times, or eligibility criteria by 2025–2026.
- Fare and refund policy questions: Questions about what 'free cancellation' means on IndiGo or what the refund policy is for an Akasa sale fare produced varying accuracy. Airline refund policies are fare-class-specific and have changed significantly since COVID — AI models do not always reflect current fare conditions.
What the study also found: when the query was very specific and recently published information existed (e.g., 'Air India direct Delhi to San Francisco route'), the AI Overviews were more accurate. The errors concentrated on detail-level, policy-specific questions where the 'correct' answer changes regularly.
Why IndiGo baggage policy is the biggest AI pitfall for Indian travellers
IndiGo's baggage structure is genuinely confusing, and it changes more often than travellers realise. Here is the current framework — verify on IndiGo.com for the latest, because this is precisely the kind of detail that AI gets wrong:
- IndiGo base fares (on most domestic routes) include zero check-in baggage in the cheapest fare bucket. Hand baggage of 7 kg is included.
- Check-in baggage must be added at booking (cheapest), at web check-in (more expensive), or at the airport counter (most expensive — often significantly so). The price difference between 'added at booking' and 'paid at the airport' for a 15 kg bag can be several hundred rupees.
- IndiGo's 'Flexi' and 'Corporate' fare buckets have different allowances — sometimes including check-in baggage. Checking which fare bucket you are in matters.
- On international IndiGo routes, the allowance structure is different from domestic.
When an AI Overview says 'IndiGo allows 15 kg free baggage,' it is wrong for most current base fares. When it says 'IndiGo charges ₹X for extra baggage,' that figure may be out of date within months. I have seen travellers show up at IndiGo check-in counters with a printout of what Google told them the baggage fee was, only to pay a substantially higher airport fee. The AI was not lying — it was trained on older data.
The correct move: always check IndiGo's official baggage page (IndiGo.com/baggage or equivalent) for the current allowance and add-on fee structure before flying. Same principle applies to Air India, Air India Express, and Akasa.
Visa rules: the category where being wrong is highest-stakes
Visa errors in AI Overviews are the most dangerous category for Indian travellers — because acting on wrong visa information can mean being denied boarding, turned back at the border, or worse.
Common error patterns I have personally observed (not from the HappyFares study, from my own searches over the past year):
- Thailand visa-on-arrival vs visa exemption: Thailand's policy for Indian passport holders changed in 2023 and again in 2024 — from 30-day visa-on-arrival (with a fee) to a 60-day exemption (no fee, no stamp required at entry). AI Overviews have cited different versions of this rule depending on when they were queried, and some still show the old VOA process. The current rule as of mid-2026 should be verified on the official Thai embassy or Tourism Authority of Thailand website.
- Malaysia visa-free entry: Malaysia extended its mutual visa exemption for Indian passport holders significantly in 2023. AI Overviews on this topic have ranged from accurate to completely wrong about duration and conditions. Verify on the Malaysia High Commission website.
- Schengen and UK: AI Overviews generally know these require visas, but documentation requirements, bank balance thresholds, and appointment processing times are cited with wildly varying accuracy. For Schengen and UK visas, go directly to the official embassy or VFS Global pages for current requirements.
The general principle: for any visa question that affects whether you can board a plane, never act on an AI Overview or any AI tool as your sole source. Cross-check on the official embassy website, the VFS/TLScontact page, and ideally the IATA Travel Centre (which airlines use). For a starting point on visa research, FlightGPT's visa panel links to current official sources for common India-departing routes.
Why AI Overviews get India-flight facts wrong more than they should
It is worth understanding why this happens, because it affects how you should weight AI-generated information on time-sensitive topics:
- Training data cutoffs: Large language models (the underlying technology) are trained on web data up to a certain date. Policy pages that changed after that date do not exist in the model's knowledge. Google AI Overviews try to mitigate this with real-time retrieval — but the retrieval quality varies by query, and the model still has to synthesise conflicting sources on volatile topics.
- Low-quality web content: India's travel OTA ecosystem generates enormous volumes of blog posts and FAQ pages that quote each other's (often incorrect) policy summaries. When AI Overviews retrieve from these sources, they can amplify the error. The authoritative source — the airline's own policy page — may be less prominent in the web data than the OTA summary article that mis-paraphrases it.
- Policy change velocity: Indian airline policies (baggage, refund, seat) change more often than most comparable international markets. The gap between 'policy as of six months ago' and 'policy today' is large enough to matter.
What to actually check — a quick reference list
Here is my personal checklist of things I always verify on the official source before flying, regardless of what any AI tool told me:
- Baggage allowance and add-on fees: Airline's own baggage page. For IndiGo, check IndiGo.com. For Air India, airindia.com. Do not trust OTA summaries or AI Overviews.
- Visa requirements: Official embassy website of the destination country + the IATA Travel Centre (iatatravelcentre.com). Airlines also use this tool to determine whether to let you board.
- Refund and cancellation policy: Read the fare conditions in your booking confirmation email, not a generic summary. The rules vary by fare class and the exact terms are in the PNR.
- Check-in and documentation requirements: Airline's official check-in guidance for international flights, especially for first-time travellers to a destination or when you have a connecting flight with different carriers.
- Entry requirements beyond visa (health declarations, insurance mandates): These changed frequently during and after COVID and are still in flux for some destinations. IATA Travel Centre is the most up-to-date source airlines use.
For fare searching and comparison, AI tools like FlightGPT are built for fare accuracy — the search results reflect live inventory. But policy information (baggage, visa, entry requirements) is a different beast, and no AI tool should be your sole source for anything that determines whether you get on the plane.
Bottom line
AI Overviews are useful for general orientation — 'what are the top airlines on this route' or 'what is Goa's weather in February' — but they are a liability for time-sensitive policy questions. The 30% error rate on India-flight queries from HappyFares' study is not a reason to panic about AI; it is a calibration nudge. Know which questions need an authoritative source and go there directly. See also our related pieces on testing Google Flights' own AI deals feature and how the Skyscanner + ChatGPT integration compares.
Frequently asked questions
Are Google AI Overviews reliable for India flight information?
For general, stable information (major airlines on a route, approximate flight duration) they are often accurate. For volatile policy details — IndiGo's current baggage fee structure, visa requirements for Indian passport holders, specific refund policies by fare class — they have a meaningful error rate. A 2025 HappyFares study found around 30% of India-specific flight queries returned incorrect or misleading information. Always verify policy details on the airline's official website or the relevant embassy page.
What is IndiGo's current baggage allowance for domestic flights?
IndiGo's domestic base fares typically include 7 kg cabin baggage and zero free check-in baggage — check-in bags must be added for a fee. The fee varies by weight option (15 kg, 20 kg, 25 kg) and is cheapest when added at booking. Airport counter rates are the most expensive. These details are subject to change — always verify on IndiGo.com before your flight, as this is exactly the kind of policy that AI Overviews have gotten wrong.
Is Thailand visa-free for Indian passport holders in 2026?
Thailand extended a visa exemption for Indian passport holders in 2023–2024 that allows a stay of up to 60 days without a visa or visa-on-arrival fee. However, entry conditions (port of entry, proof of funds requirements, return ticket requirements) still apply and can change. Verify the current policy on the official Royal Thai Embassy website or the Tourism Authority of Thailand before booking, as this is a policy area where AI Overviews have given conflicting and outdated information.
Which source should I trust for airline baggage rules?
The airline's own official website (IndiGo.com, airindia.com, akasaair.com, spicejet.com) is the only authoritative source. OTA summary pages, AI Overviews, and travel blog articles all lag behind policy changes. The IATA Travel Centre (iatatravelcentre.com) is the authoritative source for visa and documentation requirements — it is the same database airlines use to determine whether to allow you to board.
Why does Google AI Overview cite the wrong IndiGo baggage policy?
AI language models are trained on web data up to a cutoff date, and IndiGo's baggage policy has changed multiple times in recent years. The model may reflect an older policy version. Additionally, a large volume of OTA and travel blog content repeats older or inaccurate policy summaries, and AI models can retrieve and synthesise those instead of the airline's current official page. This is a training data quality and retrieval problem — not a fundamental flaw in AI, but a real limitation on volatile policy topics.
Should I use AI tools at all for India flight planning?
Yes — for fare search, date flexibility, and route comparison, AI flight search tools are genuinely useful and operate on live inventory data. FlightGPT is built for that purpose. The distinction is between fare search (where live data tools are accurate) and policy/documentation questions (where you must go to official sources). Use AI for 'how much does this flight cost and when is it cheapest' — and official sources for 'what documents do I need and what baggage is allowed.'