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- More than half of Americans cut back on their spending last year to travel.
- Many people prioritize travel as a non-negotiable part of their budget, just like rent and groceries.
- To save money on travel, people are cutting back on things like eating out, social events, and streaming services.
In order to take their dream trip, many Americans are making significant financial sacrifices.
They refuse to give up travel as a means of rest and recharge, choosing to cut other parts of their budget to go there.
In the new USA TODAY Workforce Survey, presented by SurveyMonkey and conducted from January 8 to 20, 51% of 3,156 American respondents ages 18 and older said they cut back on spending for travel in the past 12 months.
Among those who intentionally budget for vacation, 20% said they had made a significant cut in their budget, and 31% said they had made a moderately large cut.
Angela Tran, a public relations director in New York, treats travel as a non-negotiable part of her budget, just like rent, car insurance, utilities and groceries. “Travel is a top priority for me, and having enough paid time off is very important to me,” Tran told USA TODAY.
In recent years, she has taken at least two long trips “for fun and to avoid burnout from work,” she said.
To help pay for the trip, Tran cut back on eating out for dinner, said no to events with friends, and cut back on her streaming subscriptions.
Find out how travelers are cutting back on spending to help pay for their travels.
Travel successfully on a budget
Tran calls herself a cost-conscious traveler and is willing to deal with long layovers to get cheaper airfares. Like Tran, many Americans find that travel costs play a big role in vacation planning.
According to KAYAK’s new 2026 Future Report, travel cost is the number one factor determining how often Gen Z and Millennial travelers travel, with 70% of 2,029 U.S. respondents surveyed saying travel cost will shape their travel plans in 2026.
These young travelers aren’t giving up. They’re getting creative. More than a third of them are interested in using installment plans to help pay for their trip. Young people are also increasingly using price trackers to tell them when is the best time to book flights or car rentals, with the latter increasing by 60% compared to last year.
Vacation remains a top priority
For many Americans, the sacrifice is worth it. According to the USA TODAY Workforce Survey, traveling is the primary use of paid time off, with 55% of U.S. workers saying they want or plan to use their vacation time.
These days, many people are struggling not only with cash but also with vacations. Americans are famous for having the fewest vacation days in the world, and the fact that they take the fewest vacation days of 11 developed countries may also play a role. In 2024, Americans took an average of 11 days off, while French workers took about a month.
Intrepid Travel’s new short vacation trips are designed to help travelers with unused vacation days get more out of their paid time off by building immersive adventures into long weekends or short vacations.
“Did you know that computers sometimes need a reboot? Our brains are much the same,” Becky Spellman, a psychologist who partnered with Expedia on the travel platform’s 2024 Vacation Deprivation Report, previously told USA TODAY in a statement. “Over time, work stress builds up to unsustainable levels, causing the brain to become less functional and less efficient.”
