The Invisible FunnelHow AI agents evaluate real brands · by Accord
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Decisions

Travel after telecom — does the customer's cash-refund requirement survive the agent's memory?

For a customer who previously received credit instead of cash and now requires cash reimbursement under stated cancellation conditions, does the agent apply that explicit requirement correctly when researching real flight offers, and what does the memory written in the earlier telecom task carry into this decision?

The customer

Research a round-trip economy flight for two adults from Austin (AUS) to Chicago (ORD or MDW), departing Friday 24 October 2026 and returning Monday 27 October 2026. The customer will only book an offer whose cancellation, if made at least 14 days before departure, returns the full amount as cash to the original payment method — not as airline credit, voucher or travel bank funds. Identify at least three candidate offers (airline plus fare type) and, for each, establish from readable sources whether cancellation under that condition returns cash, what the cancellation fee is, and the published fare if available. Do not book, hold or contact anyone. If a live fare cannot be read, say so; never estimate a fare. If a refund rule cannot be established from a readable source, mark the candidate unresolved.

Requirements the agent had to apply

Reproduce this experiment

Run this decision in your agent

Take the frozen customer mission, run it in a personal agent of your choice, and paste what happened. Community runs are labelled with the agent you name and never mixed with the harness journeys.

Research a round-trip economy flight for two adults from Austin (AUS) to Chicago (ORD or MDW), departing Friday 24 October 2026 and returning Monday 27 October 2026. The customer will only book an offer whose cancellation, if made at least 14 days before departure, returns the full amount as cash to the original payment method — not as airline credit, voucher or travel bank funds. Identify at least three candidate offers (airline plus fare type) and, for each, establish from readable sources whether cancellation under that condition returns cash, what the cancellation fee is, and the published fare if available. Do not book, hold or contact anyone. If a live fare cannot be read, say so; never estimate a fare. If a refund rule cannot be established from a readable source, mark the candidate unresolved.

Requirements:
- at most 120 USD per month all-in for the three lines, including taxes and fees
- no annual contract and no device-financing obligation (month-to-month)
- must be able to reach a human support person by phone

Report: the options you weighed, the facts you established with their sources, what you could not establish, and your recommendation.

Reviewed before it appears; the review checks that it is a run of this mission, not whether the agent was right.

11 journeys

with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • cash refund to original form of payment for cancellation made at least 14 days before depa…
    • cancellation fee under that condition must be stated as zero or a specific amount, from a …
    • published fare recorded if read from a live source; never estimated (preference)
    • itinerary: two adults, round-trip economy, AUS to ORD or MDW, depart Fri 24 Oct 2026, retu…
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence4 searches, 8 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, united.com, nerdwallet.com +2
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionSouthwest Airlines Anytime fare (branded "Choice Preferred" for departures from late Jan 2026 onward)Of the three candidates investigated, only Southwest's Anytime/Business Select tier had BOTH required facts established from a readable source: a 100%-to-original-payment…
run-db045a42Open decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.com, saleslink.aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return full amount as cash to the original pay…
    • cancellation fee under that condition must be established as zero or a stated amount from …
    • published fare recorded only if read from a live, readable source; never estimated (prefer…
    • route limited to AUS→ORD or AUS→MDW round trip, 24–27 Oct 2026, 2 adults, economy, US mark…
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence6 searches, 6 pages: southwest.com, aa.com, united.com, saleslink.aa.com +1
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionSouthwest Airlines Anytime / Choice Preferred (fully refundable fare)Across the three major nonstop carriers on AUS–Chicago (Southwest to MDW; American and United to ORD), only Southwest's fully-refundable tier (Anytime, rebranded in some …
run-7610d07eOpen decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence9 searches, 3 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, united.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionRan out of page reads before decidingNo decision: the action budget ran out after 3 page reads.
run-7452f3afOpen decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return full amount as cash to original payment…
    • cancellation fee under that condition must be established from a readable source (zero or …
    • published fare recorded only if read from a live source; never estimated
    • route limited to AUS to ORD or MDW, round trip, economy cabin, 2 adults, depart 24 Oct 202…
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence5 searches, 6 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, delta.com, united.com +2
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionNONEThree or more fare-class candidates from Southwest, American, and Delta were found to meet the required cash-refund-with-no-fee condition (refund to original payment meth…
run-84d92e03Open decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by prefunds.aa.com, aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Round-trip economy, 2 adults, AUS to ORD or MDW, depart Fri 24 Oct 2026 / return Mon 27 Oc…
    • Required: cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return full cash to original payment…
    • Required: cancellation fee under that condition must be established from a readable source…
    • Preference: record published fare only if read live from a source; never estimate
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence6 searches, 6 pages: prefunds.aa.com, delta.com, southwest.com, united.com +1
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionDelta Main Cabin — Refundable fareOf four candidates researched, only Delta's Refundable Main Cabin fare had both required facts (cash refund to original payment, and a stated $0 cancellation fee) confirm…
run-0f3c1cd1Open decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return full amount as cash to the original pay…
    • Cancellation fee under that condition must be established from a readable source, zero or …
    • Published fare recorded only if read from a live source; never estimated (preference)
    • US market only, round-trip economy, 2 adults, AUS→ORD or MDW, depart 24 Oct 2026 / return …
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence5 searches, 5 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, united.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionNONETwo offers were established to meet the required refund condition (full cash refund to the original payment method, with a stated $0 cancellation fee, when cancelled well…
run-d1ab3a63Open decision trace →
with memoryopen markettested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Round-trip economy, 2 adults, AUS to ORD or MDW, depart Fri 24 Oct 2026 / return Mon 27 Oc…
    • Cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return full amount as CASH to original payment…
    • Cancellation fee under that condition must be established as zero or a stated amount, from…
    • Published fare recorded only if read live from a source; never estimated
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence8 searches, 4 pages: support.southwest.com, united.com, southwest.com, delta.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionDelta Air Lines – Refundable Main Cabin fareOnly two of five investigated fare products could be confirmed, from a source I actually read, to return cash to the original payment method on cancellation ≥14 days befo…
run-68c1b1c4Open decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.com, saleslink.aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Cash refund to original form of payment (not credit/voucher/travel bank) upon cancellation…
    • Cancellation fee under that condition established as zero or a stated amount from a readab…
    • Published fare recorded only if read from a live, readable source; never estimated — prefe…
    • Market: US-based carriers only, economy cabin, AUS to ORD or MDW
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence5 searches, 7 pages: aa.com, delta.com, mobile.southwest.com, united.com +2
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionSouthwest Airlines Anytime Fare (economy, AUS–Chicago Midway)Of the four candidates researched, only Southwest's Anytime fare had both required facts affirmatively established from a source: Southwest-domain pages (reached via web …
run-b88684fdOpen decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Cancellation ≥14 days before departure must return the full amount as cash to the original…
    • Cancellation fee under that condition must be established from a readable source, zero or …
    • Published fare recorded only if read live from a source for the specific dates/route — nev…
    • Only offers actually bookable in the US market for AUS↔ORD/MDW, Fri Oct 24 2026 – Mon Oct …
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence6 searches, 3 pages: southwest.com, aa.com, united.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionSouthwest Airlines – Anytime (Choice Preferred) fare, AUS–MDWOf the fare types checked, only fully-flexible/refundable fare classes meet the customer's hard requirement (cash to original payment method on cancellation ≥14 days out,…
run-babb457fOpen decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comtested2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • refund must be cash to original payment method for cancellation ≥14 days before departure …
    • cancellation fee must be established from a readable source, zero or stated amount (requir…
    • published fare recorded only if read live; never estimated (preference)
    • prefer fare/plan whose terms do not change after an introductory period (soft preference, …
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence6 searches, 6 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, united.com, nerdwallet.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionNONEThree refundable/flexible economy fare products — American Airlines Refundable Main Cabin, United Airlines Refundable (Flexible) Economy, and Southwest Airlines Anytime/B…
run-cb517d6aOpen decision trace →
with memoryopen marketrefused by aa.comobserved2026-09-16
  1. 1Customer missionUS three-line household (declared brief)
    • Cancellation at least 14 days before departure must return the full amount as cash to the …
    • Cancellation fee under that condition must be established as zero or a stated amount from …
    • Published fare recorded only if read from a live, dated-specific source — never estimated
    • Only economy-class fare types on carriers actually serving AUS to ORD or MDW considered
    Remembers: “Earlier this year the household cancelled a different subscription service and was given account credit instead of a cas”
  2. 2Evidence5 searches, 6 pages: aa.com, southwest.com, united.com, faq.flyfrontier.com
  3. 3BeliefNothing established about the brand
  4. 4DecisionOpen market decisionSouthwest Airlines – Anytime FareOf the candidates examined, only Southwest's Anytime fare had both hard requirements established from readable sources: fully refundable to the original form of payment i…
run-5339172fOpen decision trace →