Survey Finds 20 Percent of Americans Can’t Afford Summer Travel

Inflation is making travel hard on a large portion of Americans, according to a new study from financial services provider Empower. The study found nearly 90 percent of Americans say inflation impacted their summer travel plans, with 20 percent saying they can’t afford summer travel, and more than 40 percent saying they won’t travel this summer at all due to rising costs.

Of those Empower survey respondents who do plan to travel this summer, nearly a third said they would need to dip into savings to fund their travel. In contrast, specifically Gen Z respondents largely said they planned to fund their summer trips via cutting back in areas such as subscription services and beauty services. Both Gen Z and millennial respondents indicated they would take on extra work in order to save money for vacations.

When travelers do hit the road this summer (nearly a fifth of Empower survey respondents were planning to take a summer road trip), many plan to cap their spending at $500 for transportation, food and activities combined. However, 33 percent said they would splurge on their accommodations, which Empower defined as spending more than $1,000 per trip on lodging alone.