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Despite soaring gas prices, Americans’ appetite for travel seems insatiable, with Memorial Day weekend travel showing few signs of any major slowdown.
While prices are about 27% higher year-over-year for summer travel, according to our partners at Points Path, there have been few signs of consumers giving up on summer trips — at least thus far.
However, new polling from TPG and YouGov suggests that the traveling public could soon reach a breaking point.
Some 32% of those who plan to travel this summer say they will reconsider travel if prices keep rising.
Related: The best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare
Still, 71% say they plan to travel about the same or more than last summer — a little shocking considering prices have jumped so substantially due to rising fuel costs.
Here’s what else our latest survey found.
Summer travel plans
Of the Americans surveyed, 48% said they were planning to travel this summer either within or outside the U.S. for work or pleasure (or both). Most of that travel is within the U.S., with just 14% saying they would travel outside the country for business or personal reasons.
As previously mentioned, most people are traveling the same or more this summer than they did in 2025: 25% said they will travel more, and 46% said they will travel about the same. Only 19% said they planned to travel less.
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We wanted to know why those who are traveling less made that decision.
As reasons for cutting back on travel, 30% cited higher airfare prices, and 39% said economic insecurity. Only 3% specifically mentioned the potential of jet fuel shortages, and 4% cited safety.
We also followed up with those who are traveling more or about the same to see if they are cutting back and, if so, why.
Responses showed 26% of people saying they plan to change their mode of travel (such as driving instead of flying). Meanwhile, 28% said they are choosing a cheaper destination or reducing the length of their trips, and 26% said they were cutting back on activities. Interestingly, 38% said they weren’t making any changes to spend less.
In fact, 68% of those with summer travel plans said they were spending the same amount or even more money on travel this summer. That’s pretty remarkable considering the increase in costs. But 24% did say they would spend less this summer.
Finally, we asked about the possibility of prices continuing to go higher. While we’ve seen a few signs of big cutbacks in travel this summer, the data suggest Americans with summer travel plans may make some changes if prices continue to rise.
In the event that airfare and gasoline prices continue to rise, 32% said they would consider canceling their plans. Another 33% said they wouldn’t cancel, but they would modify their plans. And 28% said they wouldn’t consider canceling plans even if prices continue to rise.
Bottom line
Despite dramatically higher prices for travel this summer, Americans seem quite resilient and willing to pay — at least for now.
At TPG, we have seen few signs of drops in demand, though that could change if prices continue to rise. For now, though, the new TPG and YouGov polls find most Americans are planning to travel just as much or even more than they did in previous years.
Still, there are some red flags in the data, including the idea that some 32% of Americans with travel plans say they would reconsider their summer trips if prices continue to rise.
Related reading:
The Points Guy commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,344 U.S. adults, of whom 1,126 reported having summer travel plans. Fieldwork was undertaken between 19th and 21st May 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+). The survey was carried out online and meets rigorous quality standards. It gathered a nonprobability-based sample and employed demographic quotas and weights to better align the survey sample with the broader U.S. population.
