Road trips rev up as summer travelers hunt for cheaper vacations

Consumers aren’t ready to ditch their travel plans despite growing economic gloom. But they are hunting for bargains — and hoping to find them on the open road.

Some 53% of U.S. consumers are planning vacations this season, up from 48% a year ago, Deloitte researchers reported Tuesday. There’s especially strong interest in brief but more frequent trips closer to home, including by car, as travelers take a “more frugal approach” this year, the analysts said.

Chris Narvaez, 45, had planned to visit London and Rome this summer. Airfares to Europe are down 8%, according to travel booking platform Hopper, but the New York City-based human resources director said he’s “hitting the pause button” on overseas travel.

“Between new requirements for visas, the current administration, challenges with air traffic control and near misses at local airports, I don’t feel as comfortable as I would getting on a plane,” he said, referring to updated ID and entry rules along with increased customs stops. Instead, he’ll stick to the East Coast — with jaunts to Woodstock, New York; Washington, D.C.; and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts — piling into the car with friends and his 15-year-old shepherd mix, Eli.

Alexisa Humphrey, owner of Sugar and Spice Travels in Lebanon, Tennessee, said her customers are still venturing out. But like Narvaez, “they are doing shorter, more budget-friendly trips,” she said, citing some of the same travel concerns. “I have had clients cancel flights and drive or book a train instead.”

Highway driving remains far more dangerous than commercial air travel or passenger rail, federal data shows. But recent air traffic control issues at Newark Liberty International Airport have spooked many travelers, Humphrey said. Travel volumes at the busy New Jersey airport are down 20% from this time last year, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Cost is also a factor. While round-trip domestic flights are hitting three-year lows, according to Hopper, driving typically remains much more affordable. Gas is about 40 cents cheaper heading into Memorial Day than a year ago, according to AAA, which expects a record 45.1 million people to travel at least 50 miles from home over the long holiday weekend. That would mark a more than 3% jump since 2024, the highest level in 20 years.

U.S. consumers have been trimming their vacation budgets as price-hike headlines proliferate and economic sentiment tumbles to historic lows. Travelers told Deloitte in March that they were planning to spend an average of $3,987 on their main summertime trips, about 13% more than a year earlier. Just two weeks later, though — as frenzied tariff news rattled stock markets — that estimate shrunk to $3,471, less than 1% more than in 2024.

Latisha Hunt, a real estate agent and Air Force veteran in Biloxi, Mississippi, is one of Humphrey’s clients who recently adjusted her summer plans. She shortened a trip to Panama in early July from seven days to three and will drive 5½ hours to Atlanta’s airport rather than fly out of a smaller one closer to home.

“It’s more affordable and allows me to better manage my overall experience,” said Hunt, 39, who’s also planning car trips in coming months to Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. “I’ll be staying with family and friends along the way, which helps keep costs low and adds a more personal, meaningful touch to each visit.”

Hunt will have plenty of company on the roads. Among drivers surveyed at the pump by gas station video network GSTV this winter, 56% said they planned to drive more on their summer vacations than they did last year; 54% reported choosing driving over flying to save money.

Many summer road trippers are on tighter budgets. Bank of America researchers found driving the top mode of transport for lower- and middle-income vacationers this summer — preferred by at least 64% of each group, compared with less than 55% of high-earners.

The good news is that rental car costs were down about 2.1% in April from the year before, according to federal data, and Hopper expects them to stay roughly flat with 2024 levels throughout the summer. But as major rental car operators have adjusted to slower demand, some — including Avis Budget Group and Hertz — are slashing their fleets, which could reduce vehicle selection.