How rising prices are altering the way in which Americans journey

NPR’s sequence Cost of Living: The Price We Pay is inspecting what’s driving worth will increase and the way persons are coping after years of cussed inflation. How are greater costs altering the way in which you reside? Fill out this form to share your story with NPR.

What’s the merchandise?

Travel

How has the worth modified since earlier than the pandemic?

Up 20% since August 2019, in response to the U.S. Travel Association and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why has the worth gone up?

The price of gasoline, lodging and recreation have all risen sharply for the reason that pandemic. Airfares climbed extra slowly, however the price of meals and drinks in eating places soared by over 30%. And journey specialists say that is solely a part of the story, as rising prices for housing, groceries and energy depart much less discretionary earnings.

Americans like to journey. But rising prices are making it tougher for many people to roam as a lot as we would like.

Before the pandemic, Ammy Woodbury and her household used to go to Disneyland thrice a 12 months. Now she’s planning one other journey to the Happiest Place on Earth for subsequent summer time, and she or he’s struck by how a lot costs have jumped.

“OK, well, I guess we’re not doing that anymore,” Woodbury mentioned. “We’ll just go once a year, it’ll be fine.”

Woodbury, who lives in Santa Clara, Calif., says it isn’t simply the worth of park tickets which are greater. It’s additionally gasoline, eating places and lodging.

“The hotel rooms are profoundly more expensive than they were before the pandemic,” she mentioned. “And it’s just amazing how fast it’s gone up.”

Loading…

The price of journey is up 20% since 2019, in response to authorities data compiled by the U.S. Travel Association. At the identical time, journey specialists say rising prices throughout the board are leaving much less discretionary earnings in Americans’ pockets.

“Things are a little tighter this year,” mentioned Lorraine Sileo, a senior analyst at Phocuswright, a market analysis firm. “So when you’re looking at your spending, relatively speaking, where does travel fit in when you have other expenses.”

The trade lately is a story of two totally different markets. At the excessive finish, luxurious journey is setting data. But lower- and middle-income vacationers are squeezed, Sileo mentioned. They nonetheless need to journey, however they’re feeling the ache of rising prices.

“We know Americans love to travel. We’ve prioritized experiences, prioritized spending time with family and friends,” Sileo mentioned. “But you’ll think a little differently about it.”

NPR requested in an online survey how rising prices are affecting Americans’ lives. Dozens of individuals instructed us they cannot afford to go anyplace this 12 months, and lots of who’re touring say they’re dialing again.

“With the cost of everything else going up: groceries, power, you name it. The cost of living has just jumped,” mentioned Chris Neagle of Battle Creek, Mich. “I think everybody’s seeing it and everybody’s feeling it.”

Neagle want to go to his son and grandson in Texas, in addition to his sisters, who’re scattered across the nation. But he says the rising prices of just about every part have made that not possible.

Neagle and his spouse are nonetheless planning a trip this fall, however they are not going to Ireland like they initially hoped.

“We are taking a trip to Vermont to go hiking and leaf peeping,” Neagle mentioned. “But we’re driving and the cost was modest compared to going to Ireland, for instance. So we made kind of a value decision there.”

Inflation is forcing a whole lot of vacationers to cut back their plans.

“People are traveling more by car and doing more road trips, as an attempt to save costs in terms of transportation,” mentioned Becky Liu-Lastres, a professor on the Dedman College of Hospitality at Florida State University.

“They will choose nearby destinations, meaning that they are not going overseas. They’re more likely to travel domestically, and they will cut short the length,” Liu-Lastres mentioned.

For some vacationers, staying nearer to residence hasn’t been all unhealthy.

“It’s really forced us to think a little bit more creatively about some of the places that we might go,” mentioned Erin Berryman of Fort Collins, Colo.

Berryman and her husband have been tenting within the Rocky Mountains, she mentioned — not within the large campgrounds in well-known nationwide parks, however in additional secluded spots by the aspect of gravel roads. They’ve discovered one campsite that is so quiet and off the crushed path that Berryman declined to inform us the place it’s.

“I don’t know if I’m going to say, because I don’t want to give it away,” she laughed.

Berryman and her husband love touring overseas, too. But for now, they’re completely satisfied staying of their scenic yard.

Copyright 2025 NPR