May. 26 at 7:10 PM
BoA: Summer travel plans appear resilient overall, despite higher oil & gasoline prices, though consumers are adjusting at the margin
77% of Americans are planning to travel this summer, up from 74% last year & 72% in 2024. 30% of respondents say higher gas prices won't change their summer travel plans, but others are looking to take fewer trips or cut back on items like accommodations
However, a "K-shaped" pattern appears to be emerging this travel season
Lower-income households are much more likely to have no travel plans (nearly 40%), and Bank of America card data shows their travel-related spending is down y/y so far in 2026.
By contrast, middle- & higher-income households are seeing stronger travel spending
Despite these higher costs, a projected 45M Americans were expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this Memorial Day weekend, setting a new record. Close to 40M drove, while some 3.7M flew
TSA is gearing up to screen 18.3M passengers in the week ahead. And that’s before the FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11, an event expected to draw some 6M visitors
Airlines Reporting Corp, which settles airline ticket transactions, shows that April travel agency ticket sales topped
$10B [up +15% y/y]. Total passenger trips settled through ARC hit 26.4M
IATA reports that Asia-Pacific carriers posted an +11.5% jump in demand in March, while European carriers grew +7.7% & Latin Americans airlines surged +12.1%. Traffic b/n Europe & Asia alone skyrocketed more than +29% as travelers rerouted around the conflict in Iran
Cruise Lines International Assn: Global cruise passengers hit a historic 37.2M last year & projected to grow +45 to 38.3M passengers this year. Nearly 90% of cruisers say they plan to sail again
BoA: Over a 1/3rd of Americans plan to take a cruise in the next 12 months, w/ Gen Z leading at close to 60%
HotelHub data shows the global average rate per night rose over +7% to
$189, w/ US rates hitting
$226
Travel to US will/would increase if visa restrictions subside, energy costs fall, & geopolitics temperature reduces
$JETS $VIK $NCLH $DAL $HLT