American Travel Sentiment Wave 111

According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, 75% of them believe travel is becoming too expensive, up from 64% a year ago.  But even with rising cost concerns, 81% of travelers report that vacations are one of the things they most look forward to each year, and 55% are willing to cut spending in other areas to fund their trips.

“This data confirms that travel is a top priority for many Americans,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International.  “Seventy-four percent of travelers are telling us that the experiences they get from travel are more important to them than acquiring more material belongings.”

Eighty-four percent of travelers believe that traveling with friends and family brings them closer together, up from 78% a year ago.  Eighty-seven percent of travelers have trips planned in the next six months, down from 93% last October.

The survey, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded September 1-4, 2026, using a national sample randomly drawn from a consumer panel of 1,000 adults, ages 18 and over.  Quotas were used to match Census targets for age, gender, and region to make the survey representative of the U.S. population.