| Date: | May 19-20, Dublin |
| Location: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Delegates: | 400+ |
Click for Venue Information
Venue for Mega Event 2026:
Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport
Northwood Park, Santry Demesne, Dublin, D09 KN66, Ireland
Phone: +35318628888
Mega Event 2026
Mega Event 2026: Looking Back at the A-Commerce Revolution
While 2025 was defined by the ubiquity of AI, Mega Event 2026 served as the definitive industry destination to separate hype from reality as the focus shifted to how Agentic AI (a-commerce) is actively revolutionizing the airline and travel sectors.
The conference delivered practical, practitioner-led insights and networking opportunities designed for leaders in loyalty, ancillaries, and co-brand card programs looking to leverage these rapid advancements.
Key Highlights & Intersections:
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Twin Track Advantages: Running alongside the Airline & Travel Payment Summit (ATPS), the co-located tracks allowed delegates to explore how a-commerce accelerates the intersection of payments, fraud, and loyalty.
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Actionable Strategies: Attendees moved beyond the hype to evaluate real-world use cases, from combatting AI-driven account takeover fraud to deploying technology that expands the purchasing power of loyalty currencies.
Find out more information below or review the FAQs for a full recap of the hot topics and discussions covered.
What is the included ATPS and why it is Interesting to Ancillary and Loyalty
About ATPS
The Airline & Travel Patments Summit (ATPS) is the premiere conference on travel payments and fraud. Learn how loyalty programs, ancillaries and Co-Brands interact with the payments side and how vulnerabilites can be dealt with. The hot topics to be covered and the conference agenda will be published shortly.
Dublin Conferences Sponsors
Mega Event 2026 Hot Topics
- A-commerce: What it is, What it isn’t and What It Means for Loyalty
- Hyper-personalisation: We’ve talked about it for years, but can a-commerce really make it a reality?
- Dynamic Rewards and Instant Gratification: How to deliver both profitably
- The Rise of the Super Apps: Can your loyalty program be the centre of your customers’ travel experience?
- Why Payments Matter to Loyalty Professionals: It’s more than just points into flights or hotel rewards
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Trust & Loyalty Security: Balancing the online customer experience to stop fraud with minimal friction for real customers
- Who is Buying Ancillaries: With a-commerce taking hold will it be emotional customers or rational AI agents?
- Getting the Basics Right: How best retailing practice can maximise your seats & bags revenues
- Next Generation Co-Brands: From debit to wallets, how best to generate revenues
- Offer and Order Management: With a-commerce coming does NDC, ONE Order and other initiatives have a future?
- Beyond Seats and Bags: Are there other opportunities in ancillaries for airlines?
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Redefining Retailing Ancillaries: Is a-commerce going to upend the established search, look, book and pay world?
Are we missing a topic/area that you think needs addressed for the 2026 event? Please drop an email by clicking on the hyperlink to Michael Smith, the Conference Chairman, or to speakers@AiConnects.us
Agenda
Day 1
19th May 2026
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Registration, Networking and Coffee
2:00pm – 2:15pm
2:15pm – 3:00pm
The Top Three Lessons about Agentic AI/A-commerce to do when you get back to the office
– Kevin O’Shaughnessy, CEO, CityHook
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Is AI going to eat travel distribution and the implications for loyalty, ancillaries & payments
– Mark Lenahan, Consultant Director, Lenahan Consulting
3:30pm – 4:10pm
Coffee Break & Networking Sponsored by Discover
4:10pm – 5:00pm
The Famous Airline Information Lions’ Den | Product Pitching Competition
Back by popular demand the Lions’ Den new products and services pitching contest returns to Mega and ATPS 2026. The session is for innovative start-ups (or brand new products from established players) who pitch for 5 minutes each. Then take 5 minutes of questions from our experienced judges. Judges will choose which they believe is the best product, while the audience will choose the most entertaining pitch.
Ringmaster
– Sinead Finn, Director, Affinity
Lions (Judges)
– Rob Burgess, Editor, Head for Points
– Peter Van Dorn, Head of North America, PayRewards
– Ann Cederhall, Consultant, Leapshift
– Lee Hayhurst, Editorial Director, Aviation Business News
– Antastasia Levashova, Co-founder, Global Loyalty Organisation
Pitchers
Mace
Airportr
Stampix
Maxa
5:00pm – 7:00pm
Welcome Reception
Day 2
20 May 2026
8:30am – 9:00am
Welcome Coffee
09:00am – 09:30am
Conference Chairman
– Steve Arsenault, Senior Advisor Loyalty Partnerships, HeyMax
Busting the Airline Business Myths in Ancillaries and Loyalty
– Jay Sorensen, President, IdeasWorksCompany
9:30am – 10:00am
10:00am – 10:30am
Points, partners & profit
– Bob Daly, former Managing Director Global Cobrand, United Airlines
– Charles Christianson, Chief Revenue Officer, cxLoyalty
10:30am – 11:10am
Coffee Break & Networking
11.10am – 11:40am
A-commerce: Defining the Shift from Human Choice to Agentic Action
– David B Wang, Head of Loyalty Partnerships, HeyMax
11:40am – 12:00pm
12:00pm – 12:30pm
How people pay: How to drive your loyalty & ancillary conversion rates up
– Prashant Khandelwal, Product Manager- III, Juspay
12:30pm – 2:00pm
Lunch
2:00pm – 2:30pm
2:30pm – 3:00pm
New sources of Ancillary Revenue: Beyond seats and bags what are the opportunities?
– Sinead Finn, Director, Affinity in conversation with
– Ultan O’Brien, Chief Revenue Officer, Airportr
– Frank Astheimer, Head of Business Development EMEA, Points
– Phil Gunter, Co-founder and CCO, Loyalty Status Co
3:00pm – 3:40pm
How is Loyalty and Ancillaries going to be impacted by AgenticAI: Will it be Emotional Humans or Rational AI Agents and what are the implications for “loyalty”?
Moderator
– Michael Smith, Board Advisor, Ai Connects
Panellists
– Jay Sorensen, President, IdeasWorksCompany
– Iain Webster, Owner, idflyer
– Iñaki Úriz, CEO, Caravelo
3:40pm – 4:20pm
Coffee Break & Networking
4:20pm – 5:00pm
Closing Panel: Conference Roundup and Key Lessons
– Michael Smith, Board Advisor, Ai Connects
– Steve Arsenault, Senior Advisor Loyalty Partnerships, HeyMax
– Laurie Gablehouse, Founder & CEO, Pay Fly Stay
– Javier Domaica, Director EMEA Network Sales, UATP
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Networking Reception Sponsored by Discover
Venue
The venue for this event is the conference centre at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport in Santry Park in Dublin.
Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport
Northwood Park, Santry Demesne, Dublin, D09 KN66, Ireland
Phone: +35318628888
Sponsorship Options
Sponsorship Options
-
- –
- Contact Chris Staab for Sponsorship
- Office at + 507 6126 5204
or sponsor@aiconnects.us - (Office hours 9am – 5pm US time)
- –
Lead Sponsor – Largest Branding Exposure!
Contact us for details
Track Chair Person – Includes 1 registration, moderating a track, and 4 passes for “merchant” clients.
$2,999 USD
Logo on Conference Site – Event website logo placement in list of sponsors with hyperlink and on the event app
$1,799 USD or $4,299 with 3 Attendees
Signage at Conference – for 2 vertical signs/displays in conference rooms
$1,499 USD
Video Interview – Onsite video interview of your participants sent to our database and promoted via Social Media
$2,999 USD
Coffee Break, Lunch or Breakfast Sponsorship – Coffee stations will bear place-cards with your logo & great exposure on the agenda. Includes 1 attendee
$3,999 USD
Attending Companies
Companies that have registered for the Dublin event 2026:
Note: Companies will be added as they register
Accelya
actuary.aero
Advantage Travel Partnership
Aegean Airlines
Aer Lingus
Affinnity
Air Europa
Airlines Reporting Corporation
AirPortr
Apex Aviation
APEXX Global
ARC
Aviation Business News
Avis Budget Group International
Best Western Hotels
Big Bus Tours
Booking.com
Caravelo
carTrawler
Celestyal Cruises
Cellpoint Digital
Chase Travel
Checkout.com
CITYHOOK
CMSPI
Continuum Commerce
Cruisebound
Darwinium
Datadome
Delta Air Lines
Discover
dLocal
Elavon
Envisso
EPICS by PROMO.DEV
Etraveli Group
Eurotunnel
Evervault
Expedia Group
Fexco
Flare
Flex Pay
Global Loyalty Organisation
Global Payments
Grain Finance
Hahn Air Lines
Hands In
HeyMax
Hilton
Hyatt Hotels
ID Dataweb
IdeaWorksCompany
Jet2
JusPay
Kenya Airways
KLM
KM Malta Airlines
Kobie
Lastminute.com
Lenahan Consulting
LeShuttle
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Loveholidays
Loyalty Status co
Lufthansa Systems
Mace Group
Marriott Bonvoy
Mastercard
Maxa Group
Munster Airports
Nuitée
Pay Fly Stay
Pay.com
PayRewards
PaySpace Magazine
PCI Booking
PCI Proxy by Planet
Pipl
Planitas
Plusgrade
POINTS
Protect Group
Retailaer
Riverty
Ryanair
Sabre
Sherpa
Shift4 Payments
Signifyd
Signifyd.com
Smartnumbers
Srilankan Airlines
Stampix
Testlio
TMU Management
Travel and tour world
Travel FraudGuard
Tribe Payments
True&Fare
TrueLayer
Trust My Group
UATP
United Airlines
Up in the Air
Uzbekistan Airways
Vela
Virgin Atlantic
Visa Acceptance Solutions
Vueling Airlines
Wavebreakr
Weavr
WEX
World2Fly
Worldline
Worldpay x Global Payments
FAQ
Where will the conference take place?
Will there be Hotel Discounts?
Who is this Event For?
Can participants also attend ATPS Event Sessions
More Information
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