Gondola Award Travel Search

Gondola — Travel MCP Server & Claude Code Plugin

The travel MCP that shows cash and award rates side by side. Search hotels, flights, and rental cars across every major hotel chain and loyalty program — with cents-per-point valuations, loyalty balance tracking, rate alerts, and direct booking — right from your AI client.

Built for points and miles: unlike award-flight-only tools, Gondola covers hotels, flights, and cars, and puts the cash price and the award (points) price in one view so you can see exactly when a redemption beats cash.

Works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, and any MCP-compatible client. Learn more at gondola.ai/mcp.

• Endpoint: https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp (Streamable HTTP)
• Auth: search & discovery work anonymously — no account, no API key. Personal tools (loyalty balances, trips, saved profiles) use standard MCP OAuth 2.1 with Dynamic Client Registration — your client signs you in on first use, no key to copy.
• Tools: 31 across hotels, flights, rental cars, events, loyalty, and analytics.

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Quick Install

Claude Code plugin (recommended)

Inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add gondola-ai/gondola-mcp
/plugin install gondola

This adds the Gondola MCP server plus slash commands (/hotel-points, /award-flights, /worth-it, /optimize-points). On first use of a personal tool, your client opens gondola.ai to sign you in via OAuth — takes a few seconds, no API key.

Or add the MCP server directly (any client)

Search tools work anonymously; personal tools trigger an OAuth login on first call. No client needs an mcp-remote bridge — every client below supports remote Streamable HTTP natively.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http gondola https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp

Codex CLI

codex mcp add gondola --url https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp

Or in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.gondola]
url = "https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp"

Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in a project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gondola": { "url": "https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

Windsurf — ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (note: serverUrl, not url):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gondola": { "serverUrl": "https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code (Copilot / Agent mode)

code --add-mcp '{"name":"gondola","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp"}'

Or .vscode/mcp.json (note: top-level key is servers):

{
  "servers": {
    "gondola": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

Gemini CLI — install as an extension (bundles the server plus usage context):

gemini extensions install https://github.com/gondola-ai/gondola-mcp

Or wire it up by hand in ~/.gemini/settings.json (note: httpUrl, not url):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gondola": { "httpUrl": "https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

Claude Desktop — Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → name gondola, URL https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp. Leave the OAuth client fields and headers blank (DCR handles it).

ChatGPT — Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode, then Add custom connector → URL https://mcp.gondola.ai/mcp, auth = OAuth. (Anonymous search works pre-login; personal tools require the OAuth sign-in.)

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What you can do

Ask naturally, or use the slash commands the plugin installs.

Compare cash vs. points for hotels

"Find hotels in Tokyo for March 3–7 and show cash vs points with cents-per-point"
"Is it worth using Bonvoy points for the Ritz in Maui that week, or pay cash?"
"Cheapest 5-night Hyatt stay in Lisbon on points in May"

/hotel-points Tokyo 2026-03-03 2026-03-07
/worth-it Ritz-Carlton Maui, 4 nights in March, Bonvoy

Search award + cash flights together

"Business class SFO to Tokyo in November — award and cash side by side"
"Cheapest way to fly JFK→LHR in points under 60k?"

/award-flights SFO HND 2026-11-10 business

Make your points work harder

"Where are my points worth the most right now?"
"I have 180k Amex points and 90k Bonvoy — best redemption for a beach trip in March?"

/optimize-points a beach trip in March

Signed-in users also get loyalty balances, upcoming/past trips, free-night certificates, saved traveler profiles, and rate alerts.

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MCP tools (31)

Search & discovery tools are anonymous. Tools marked 🔒 use your account and require the one-time OAuth sign-in.

Booking is handled through Gondola's checkout: get_booking_link and get_vehicle_booking_link hand your client a direct link. Tools that charge a saved card from a tool call are not part of the self-serve surface — see Partner booking tools below.

Hotels

Tool	What it does
search_hotels	Find hotels with cash and award (points) rates.
compare_rates	Cash vs points side by side, with cents-per-point value.
get_hotel_details	Full detail for one property.
get_multi_night_rates	Per-night rate breakdown across a stay.
get_similar_hotels	Comparable properties to one you like.
get_hotel_stats	Rate/availability stats for a hotel.
get_hotel_reviews	Guest reviews.
predict_price	Price prediction for a stay.
get_suggested_searches	Suggested searches / inspiration.
get_booking_link	Direct booking link.

Flights

Tool	What it does
search_flights	Cash-priced flight search with booking links.

Events

Tool	What it does
search_events	Live events with venue, date, and listed-price detail.

Rental cars

Tool	What it does
search_vehicles	Search rental cars.
get_vehicle_details	Detail for one vehicle/offer.
credit_card_coverage	Check credit-card rental insurance coverage.
get_vehicle_booking_coverage	Coverage on a specific booking.
get_vehicle_booking_link	Direct booking link.
get_vehicle_booking 🔒	Retrieve a car booking.

Loyalty & analytics

Tool	What it does
get_loyalty_accounts 🔒	Your loyalty point balances.
optimize_loyalty_portfolio 🔒	Where your points are worth the most.
get_free_night_credits 🔒	Free-night certificates you hold.
diagnose_rates	Explain why a rate is what it is.

Trips, alerts & profile

Tool	What it does
get_upcoming_trips 🔒	Your upcoming trips.
get_past_trips 🔒	Your past trips.
get_booking 🔒	Retrieve a specific booking.
get_rate_alerts 🔒	Your rate alerts.
create_rate_alert 🔒	Create a rate alert.
delete_rate_alert 🔒	Delete a rate alert.
get_travel_profiles 🔒	Saved traveler profiles.
update_traveler_profile 🔒	Update a traveler profile.
get_traveler_context 🔒	Your traveler context/preferences.

Partner booking tools

Four tools place charges against a saved payment method or enumerate the cards that can be charged. They require the mcp:book scope, which is granted only to onboarded booking partners — a client that registers dynamically has it narrowed away at consent, so these tools are neither listed nor callable on a normal connection.

Tool	What it does
book_hotel	Book a hotel room against a saved payment method.
book_vehicle	Book a rental car against a saved payment method.
cancel_vehicle_booking	Cancel a car booking.
get_payment_methods	List saved payment methods available for booking.

Interested in partner access? Email support@gondola.ai.

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Why Gondola

• Cash and award, together. Every search shows the cash price beside the points price with a cents-per-point value — the "is this redemption worth it?" question, answered inline.
• Every major chain + program, not a single airline or a single OTA.
• Straight to checkout. Hotels and cars hand off a direct booking link, so you finish on Gondola rather than retyping the search somewhere else.
• No API key. Anonymous search out of the box; OAuth only when you reach for your own data.

Links

• Docs & tool reference: https://gondola.ai/mcp
• Website: https://www.gondola.ai
• Server id (Official MCP Registry): ai.gondola/gondola
• Also listed on PulseMCP and Glama.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.