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Many Americans said they would adjust their travel plans if prices got too high. But many of them took the vacation this summer anyway.
Nearly half, or 47%, of travelers surveyed by travel insurance company Squaremouth said a cost increase of 25% or less would be enough to make them change their plans. Over 6,200 customers responded to the question in the survey fielded between June 4 and July 7 with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
Yet despite rising costs for airfares, hotel stays and gasoline, 55% of U.S. summer travelers made no change to their plans and just 3% canceled trips altogether, Squaremouth found. Small shares of travelers stayed closer to home, chose less expensive destinations or shortened their trips.
“People aren’t dismissing the cost pressures we’ve seen this year; travel has just become something more people budget around rather than give up,” says Jackie Mondelli, Squaremouth’s chief marketing officer. “Instead of skipping a trip entirely, travelers are more likely to adjust the trip to fit their budget,”
Or they adjust their budget to accommodate a trip, even amid rising costs for travel and everyday essentials. When it comes to discretionary spending, data shows that travel often takes priority over regular “fun” spending like going out to eat or nonessential shopping. More than half of the travelers Squaremouth polled in another survey said they were cutting back in other areas, with 19% slashing their retail shopping and 13% cutting back at restaurants. The question garnered 2,023 responses and the findings have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
“Many people think of travel not just as a vacation, but as part of their identity and as an experience that aligns with their values, such as connection, adventure or respite,” says Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, a financial therapist and founder of Mind Money Balance. “When that happens, it becomes a spending-plan adjustment: If travel is non-negotiable, what other areas can I adjust?”
Travel now, save never?
Additionally, around 13% of travelers say they’ve cut back on saving or investing in order to afford their travel plans, Squaremouth finds. That could be troublesome behavior for some individuals who should realistically prioritize building an emergency savings fund or paying down debt over going on vacation. But choosing the trip instead could be due to “temporal discounting,” Bryan-Podvin says, which is the psychological term for prioritizing current comfort over future rewards.
“That is why we hit snooze on our alarm for the new workout class we signed up for: a cozy bed feels better than the extra strength or mobility we may gain in 3-6 months,” she says. “Even if costs were higher [this summer], consumers prioritized the comfort of going on vacation now over the comfort of having saved money to cover everyday expenses like gas and groceries in the fall and winter.”
Some 46% of Americans say they plan to travel this fall, according to a survey by rental car company Hertz. The poll asked 2,001 U.S. adults in August about their fall travel plans with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. That’s even as the war with Iran continues and fuel prices remain elevated. Some travelers look forward to fall trips anyway to avoid summer heat waves, Mondelli says.
The fall, or “shoulder season” as the periods between peak-tourism months are known, has historically been a more affordable time to travel to many destinations compared with the high summer and winter holiday seasons. But higher demand for trips during that time combined with the global conflicts adding price pressures, have eliminated much of those savings.
Domestic flights and lodging prices are 2% and 20% higher on average, respectively, for the top U.S. destinations this fall than in summer, according to travel company Expedia. Travelers can still find some fall savings for international destinations, according to travel app Hopper, but the discounts are generally smaller than in prior years.
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