NORWALK, Conn. – With travel costs rising and household budgets under pressure, Priceline set out to understand what summer travel looks like for Americans in 2026.
The answer: Americans remain deeply committed to their summer vacations and are cutting back on nearly everything else to make them happen.
Priceline released its inaugural 2026 State of Summer Travel Report, based on a survey conducted by Wakefield Research among 2,500 nationally representative U.S. adults in March. The findings span consumer sentiment, generational behavior, spending patterns and the growing role of artificial intelligence in travel planning.
Forty-four percent of Americans said a summer vacation feels out of reach this year. Yet 73% plan to do whatever it takes to make one happen, and 79% expect to take at least one trip this summer. Americans are also planning longer trips, with the number planning four or more days of summer travel up across every bracket compared with last summer. Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) said it simply would not feel like summer without a vacation.
The affordability pressure behind those numbers is real. Eighty-four percent of Americans said they are paying more and getting less when it comes to travel, and 55% are finding travel less affordable than last year. The spending data points to a K-shaped travel economy: More Americans are planning budget-level trips this summer; fewer are in the middle; and spending at the top is holding steady.
More than one-third have already started cutting everyday expenses to fund a summer trip. Eighty-three percent of adults age 21 and older said they would give up alcohol before giving up vacation, while 45% of all adults would give up dining out.
“What we’re seeing is a traveler who hasn’t pulled back on the aspiration but is being more deliberate about how they get there,” said Brigit Zimmerman, CEO of Priceline. “People are cutting back everywhere else, spending more time researching deals and making trade-offs they later regret.”
For families, the pressure is sharper. Parents are 34% more likely than nonparents to have already cut everyday expenses to fund summer travel, yet 89% still plan to travel this summer. Nearly a quarter (23%) have had to cancel or drastically change vacation plans due to rising costs, compared with 16% of nonparents.
Millennials reflect a particularly striking tension. Thirty-six percent said trips that once felt attainable now feel like a luxury, the highest of any generation. At the same time, 28% plan to spend $5,000 or more on summer travel this year, also the highest of any generation.
Sixty-nine percent of Americans said they have made travel cost-cutting decisions they later regretted – staying with family or friends instead of a hotel (20%), driving instead of flying (20%), taking a shorter trip (19%) and booking a flight with multiple stops instead of nonstop (19%). Yet many reported that they are considering similar trade-offs this summer.
Half of Americans plan to use AI tools to find better travel deals this year, a figure that climbs to 69% among millennials and 62% among Gen Z.
“Parents and millennials are feeling the most financial pressure this summer, yet they’re also planning to spend the most on travel. That’s exactly why they’re the most likely to turn to AI for help planning their trips,” said Christina Bennett, consumer travel trends expert at Priceline. “When the cost of getting it wrong is highest, that’s when people want the most help getting it right.”