Airline and Hotel Media Networks: what United, Delta, American, Marriott, Hilton and Expedia sell

The phrase "airline retail media network" covers three different things. Some airlines run a full network with their own sales team. Some sell sponsorships and partner offers inside the cabin experience. And some rely on an in-flight platform that sells across many airlines.

Kinective Media is still the reference case. At launch United offered advertisers personalised ads in its app and on seatback screens. Segments are "aggregated and anonymized", advertisers get no personal data, and US customers can opt out (United, 7 June 2024). In June 2025 JetBlue became the first airline to sell through it.

Results are strongest for travel brands. A Cayman Islands tourism campaign was credited with more than 9,000 bookings on United (Skift, 16 March 2026). In 2026 United moved Kinective's sales and operations into its MileagePlus partnerships team and put the focus on seatback screens and Starlink (Adweek, 2026).

The hardware story keeps getting bigger. United now expects 219,000 seatback screens by the end of 2027 and fleetwide Starlink before the end of 2027 (United, 5 November 2026). Starlink lets screens stream live content, such as Spotify accounts and live baseball. For an advertiser, a connected screen can serve fresh creative in flight instead of ads loaded before departure.

Delta says it offers free Wi-Fi at "industry-leading scale" but, on our reading of Delta's own newsroom, has no named media network yet. What it does sell is the cabin itself. Its Wi-Fi is "presented by T-Mobile", and SkyMiles members who log in see Delta Sync, a hub of content and "exclusive partner offers" (Delta News Hub, October 2026). Brands in Delta Sync include T-Mobile, Paramount+, YouTube, Crunchyroll, FOX One, DraftKings, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

The login is the asset. Every connected passenger identifies with a SkyMiles number, which is the data a media network needs. Delta also has scale: more than 165,000 seatback screens across its fleet, with the Delta Sync seatback experience on more than 330 aircraft (Delta, 3 February 2025, updated 23 September 2026). Adweek reported on 28 September 2026 that Delta hired Keri Paison to lead an ads business, and Delta confirmed to Skift on 5 October 2026 that it is building a media network (Adweek, 28 September 2026). Until Delta announces formats, data use and a sales route, buyers should treat Delta inventory as sponsorships sold directly.

We found no American Airlines media network announcement in our sources. American appears instead as a partner of other networks. It was named as a launch partner of Mastercard Commerce Media, which sells card-linked offers (Marketing Dive, 1 October 2025). It is also one of the airlines on which Viasat sells in-flight ads (APEX, March 2025).

That model has a trade-off. The airline earns without building ad technology, but a platform that sells across many airlines usually works on flight context, not loyalty data. Viasat says each engagement represents a "verified, human passenger" on an enabled flight (company claim) (viasatads.com). It does not claim to target by frequent-flyer tier.

Marriott is the hotel network to study because it tried two models. The 2022 version ran on Yahoo's technology and sales team. The 2025 relaunch brought the stack and the sales team in-house, with Bonvoy data at the centre and the in-room TV as a premium screen (Hospitality Net, 12 June 2025). A network that moves from partner-run to owned once the model works is a pattern seen across commerce media.

Hilton is searched for, but we found no media network announcement on Hilton's newsroom up to this update. The Hilton profile is planned and will be updated if that changes.

Online travel agencies report the largest travel ad revenues, and they hold the moment of search. Expedia's EG Advertising earned $206 million in the third quarter of 2026, and advertising and media together were 8% of Expedia's revenue (Expedia 10-Q, Q3 2026). Expedia says EG Advertising earns this on its travel brands "through a variety of digital marketing solutions".

Booking Holdings does not brand a network but earns more. Its advertising and other revenues rose 7.8% to $332 million in the third quarter of 2026. Booking says the growth came from OpenTable and from advertising on Booking.com (Booking 10-Q, Q3 2026).

The comparison with airlines is useful. An airline sees a traveller after the booking, on its app and on board. An agency sees the traveller before the booking, while they compare. That is why agency inventory sells on search intent and airline inventory sells on captive time.

All the networks above say the advertiser does not receive personal data. United describes aggregated, anonymised segments and a US opt-out. Marriott describes its platform as consent-based with opt-out options (Hospitality Net, 12 June 2025). Multi-airline platforms such as Viasat work on flight and destination context.

What advertisers get is a placement, a segment size and a report. Where a brand wants to match its own customers, the usual route is a clean room in which neither side sees the other's records. The consent rules for using Bonvoy, MileagePlus or any other loyalty data this way are set out in Loyalty program data in advertising.

A short scenario shows the trade-off. A tourism board wants travellers who have booked flights to its island. An airline can reach those exact passengers in its app before the trip and on board. A hotel network can reach them only if they also stay with the chain. An agency can reach people still deciding, but not after they book elsewhere.

The only published measurement standard for commerce media is the IAB and MRC retail media guidelines of January 2024 (IAB, January 2024). They were written for retailers but are the reference buyers ask travel networks to follow; they are explained in Retail media measurement standards explained. For non-travel advertisers, travel networks rely on brand lift and modelled conversions, which Marriott lists among its measurement tools.

1. United Airlines, "United Launches Airline Industry's First Media Network" (7 June 2024). https://united.mediaroom.com/2024-06-07-United-Launches-Airline-Industrys-First-Media-Network
2. United Airlines, Spotify on Starlink-enabled seatback screens (5 November 2026). https://united.mediaroom.com/2026-11-05-United-Customers-Can-Now-Stream-Their-Favorite-Music,-Podcasts-and-Videos-from-Their-Spotify-Accounts-on-Starlink-Enabled-Seatback-Screens
3. United Airlines, Starlink on nearly half of daily flights (15 October 2026). https://united.mediaroom.com/2026-10-15-United-Now-Offers-Starlink-Wi-Fi-on-Nearly-Half-its-Daily-Flights,-Launches-New-Starlink-Tracker-Tool-Extends-Starlink-Status-Match-Offer
4. The Drum, "United's big bet: how Kinective Media is turning air travel into a commerce powerhouse" (14 March 2025). https://www.thedrum.com/news/2025/03/14/united-s-big-bet-how-kinective-media-turning-air-travel-commerce-powerhouse
5. Beet.TV, "United's Nunn: In-Flight Commerce Is Taking Off" (12 June 2025). https://www.beet.tv/2025/06/uniteds-nunn-in-flight-commerce-is-taking-off-fueled-by-data-and-connectivity.html
6. Skift, "United and Marriott Pitch Ad Strategies to Target Travelers" (16 March 2026). https://skift.com/2026/03/16/united-and-marriott-pitch-ad-strategies-to-target-travelers-on-plane-and-hotel-screens/
7. Adweek, "United Reorganizes Advertising Business To Prioritize Starlink and Other Tech Investments" (2026). https://www.adweek.com/commerce/united-reorganizes-advertising-business-to-prioritize-starlink-and-other-tech-investments/
8. Delta News Hub, "Delta Sync Wi-Fi and Seatback: Delta's Connected Onboard Experience" (media kit, October 2026). https://news.delta.com/mediakit/delta-sync-wi-fi-and-seatback-deltas-connected-onboard-experience
9. Delta News Hub, "Two years of fast, free Wi-Fi" (3 February 2025, updated 23 September 2026). https://news.delta.com/two-years-fast-free-wi-fi-new-experiences-draftkings-youtube-more-access-coming-year.md
10. Adweek, "Delta Air Lines Follows United in Building an Ads Business" (2026). https://www.adweek.com/?p=1961906