A related story today.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/travel-plans-costs-impact-cbff9fbe?mod=hp_lead_pos11
Rising Costs Take Their Toll on Less-Affluent Americans’ Travel Plans
International travel remains strong, but some are scrimping on U.S. vacations
By
Allison Pohle and
Alison Sider
Feb. 28, 2025 - 9:00 am EST
Some families are getting priced out of spring break.
Rising costs for leisure travel are weighing on a growing share of would-be vacationers to delay spring and summer bookings. Consumer sentiment has
started to slide, weighed down by tariff threats, persistent inflation and layoffs in the public and private sectors.
People signaling plans to go on vacation dropped to the lowest level since 2021, according to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index released this week.
The share of Americans citing personal financial reasons and the overall costs as reasons they aren’t traveling hit 12-month highs, according to market-research firm Future Partners, which polled 4,000 travelers in January.
This doesn’t mean people are scrapping trips altogether. Wealthy Americans continue to
spend big on far-flung international travel. The Future Partners survey found that travel will be a high budget priority for more than half of respondents in the next three months.
Airlines
have been charging higher fares in recent months. Last year, carriers flooded some routes with added seat capacity and then had to offer deep discounts to fill them. Now they have pulled back some flights, and the more restrained supply has bolstered prices.
The average round-trip airline ticket during the spring-break period from mid-March to mid-April is $820 for domestic cities, up 7% from last year, and $1,440 for international destinations, up 2% from last year, according to
AAA booking data.
Julie Drake typically travels with her husband and children over spring break. This year, they will stay home. The 40-year-old nursing consultant from Rockford, Ill., hoped to make use of a discount for a
Disney cruise, and started looking into options last year. But airfare for four averaged about $3,000, for flights from Chicago to San Diego or Miami.
Drake considered driving to Milwaukee, or even to Detroit, to fly from there, but the cost savings didn’t add up. The cost for four round-trip flights and cruise tickets on their spring break dates would total $10,000, she said. Her family gives priority to travel and making memories together, but can’t justify the trip with current prices.
“With all of the uncertainty in our country right now, I have a fear of spending a large amount of money when we don’t know what the future holds,” she said.
Airlines say they aren’t worried about waning demand.
“There is nothing that discourages us about either the short-term trajectory or the full-year trajectory,” said United Airlines Chief Financial Officer Mike Leskinen. The strong U.S. dollar has bolstered appetite for international travel, both for business and leisure customers. But domestic leisure demand, often the most price-sensitive customer segment, isn’t as sparkling.
Families have gotten creative about cross-country travel to make the numbers work.
Emma O’Sullivan, an attorney at a nonprofit in New Mexico, took her family of four, including two small children, on a
two-week Amtrak trip across the country last summer. They took the train from Albuquerque, N.M., to Chicago, then on to Buffalo, N.Y., and Boston to visit family. The three train segments for four coach passengers cost under $1,000, which she said was less than driving and staying in hotels along the route.
This summer, they will likely stick closer to home, either visiting family in Los Angeles or taking a short trip to the Grand Canyon.
To O’Sullivan, it is worth the time spent mapping out how they can “do this in a way that’s affordable and comfortable and still be connected to our loved ones,” she said.
Financial stress may be having a bigger chilling effect on lower income consumers, some analysts said.
Mark Fioravanti, chief executive of Ryman Hospitality Properties, called out price sensitivity in the company’s earnings call last week. Attendance for the company’s Christmas programming was up compared with last year, but those consumers were more price-sensitive than the company expected, which led to a decline in overnight stays compared with 2023, he said. The company owns the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Ten
Philip Bradford, a 35-year-old urban planner, typically travels to two new countries each year, but doesn’t have any trips booked right now.
Bradford recently moved to Washington, D.C., from the West Coast, but lost his job after self-funding the move. His priority for this year is paying off debt and, ideally, saving up to buy a house. Still, Bradford hopes to fit in an international trip this year, potentially to Thailand.
“I love travel; it’s my main hobby, but there are things that are a little bit more important right now,” he said.
Write to Allison Pohle at
allison.pohle@wsj.com and Alison Sider at
alison.sider@wsj.com
. Same reason Sorcery In The Sky and the Aladdin parade were added. Cheap, tacky experiences that people cling to for nostalgia. Just like Pocahontas and Her Forrest Friends.
