Despite soaring airfares and fuel costs, budget-conscious Americans are refusing to abandon their travel plans in 2026.
Jami Hagerman, a 29-year-old hairstylist from Oklahoma City, recently spent around $400 on Groupon mystery vacation vouchers, receiving a surprise trip to New Orleans for her and her husband.
The couple visited museums, took walking tours, and sampled the city’s famous beignets, with Hagerman describing the experience as excellent value for money.
“I feel like the value was great for the trip,” said Hagerman. “It was fun.”
Groupon expanded its mystery vacation offering from a single flagship product into a full portfolio, recording around 5,500 orders in the second quarter of 2026, a more than five-fold increase compared with the first quarter of 2025.
The flagship package ranges from $199 to $299 per person depending on the departing airport, and Groupon advertises it as offering a 50% discount on the usual cost of travel.
Most participants are sent to domestic destinations such as Las Vegas, Atlanta, or Orlando, though a small percentage find themselves heading to far-flung locations like Singapore or Paris.
Georgia-based travel agent Tammy Wales was sent to Orlando through the mystery vacation scheme and said the element of surprise was more important to her than the destination itself.
“Orlando probably wouldn’t have been in my top 10 pick of places,” Wales said. “But as long as I’m gone, I don’t really care. The biggest thing was being able to take a trip and have the element of surprise.”
The appeal of budget travel is growing sharply against a backdrop of significant price pressures across the wider travel industry.
Gas prices have jumped roughly 30% on an annual basis and are on pace for a record high on Labor Day, according to AAA, while airline fares surged more than 25% year over year as of July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Despite those pressures, lower-income consumers with annual earnings under $36,675 spent more monthly on travel earlier this year than at any point since at least 2019, according to PNC card data analyzed exclusively for CNBC.
Spending in July for that cohort rose 7% from the same month a year ago, suggesting budget travelers are actively finding workarounds rather than staying home.
Hostelworld, an Ireland-based booking platform for hostels and low-cost stays, reported that transactions from US and Canadian consumers increased 10% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year prior.
At Carnival Corp. (CCL), demand for cruises in the remainder of 2026 and beyond is running stronger than the equivalent prior-year comparison periods, with revenue in a segment including on-board spending jumping more than 7% year over year in its fiscal second quarter.
“We’re somewhat recession-resilient,” said David Bernstein, Carnival’s finance chief. “We do very well in good times and bad.”
Texas-based stay-at-home mom Kenny Wilson drives with her husband and two children each year to a cruise port in Galveston, capping the total cost at $1,000 by using deals that allow children to sail free with paying adults.
“In this economy for the middle class, it’s very, very hard to get vacations in there,” the 27-year-old said. “I’m just so grateful that I figured out a way that I could still give my kids a beautiful childhood and memories for cheap.”
Expedia reported in June that searches using budget filters have climbed more than 1,200% compared with 12 months ago, while Vrbo noted a 16% year-over-year rise in users booking stays within two weeks, signalling a surge in last-minute deal hunting.
Brian LeBlanc, PNC’s senior economist, cautioned that even when consumers keep spending, high prices can weigh on their confidence, with the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey coming in 11% lower in August than a year ago.
“They’re going on Expedia, they’re putting in the airline, they’re seeing the eye-popping number, and they’re feeling bad about it, but they’re still paying for it,” LeBlanc said. “People are still swiping the cards, but that doesn’t mean they’re feeling good about it.”
Tarik Dogru, an associate professor at Florida State University’s hospitality school, argued that the persistent urge to travel across income groups reflects a fundamental shift in consumer priorities since the pandemic lifted.
Travel is “not a luxury anymore,” Dogru said. “It became a necessity.”