You definitely haven’t seen the headline. The Federal Reserve continues to raise concerns about the health of the economy and continues to see a sharp decline on Wall Street. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines I’ve warned everything Revenue for the first few months of the year was weaker than expected. You’ll also expect an increased fear of flying, as you’ve flagged it Recent surveysyou can’t do the industry.
Traditional wisdom believes that travel is one of the first things to be cut during an economic recession, as it is a discretionary expense. However, the numbers so far do not carry that. Despite all the wisdom received, screening at road security management checkpoints for the first three months of the year does not indicate a sudden decline in passenger traffic. After years of year-over-year growth, screening traffic will essentially flatten this year, but while travel is declining, it’s not a cataclysmic fall that tumultuous may predict.
Similarly, the recent votes commissioned by Harris pollers show no decline of any kind. In fact, many Americans plan their trips more This year, our findings. But can this hold up through economic forecasts of turbulence?
Most Americans plan to travel the same or more than last year
A new Harris poll found that more than three in four Americans (76%) are scheduled to travel in 2025. Over seven in ten people are planning to travel domestically, with 29% planning international travel.
In fact, over a third (35%) of Americans say they plan to travel more than last year than in 2025, while 43% plan about the same trip, with only 8% expecting to travel more than in 2024.
Of course, that can change once we really enter a recession. So, this year, we may ask for another investigation as we go a little further.
Overall, Harris’ polls suggest that men are slightly more likely than women this year. As for age groups, this year there will be less chances of traveling domestically than millennials (ages 29-44), XERS (ages 45-60), and baby boomers (ages 61-79).
Where will you go in 2025?
Especially when it comes to international travel, Harris polls show that General Zels and millennials are more likely to plan international travel in 2025 (39% and 33% vs. 26% and 22%, respectively).
Of those planning international travel this year, over half (53%) say they will do so I’m going to Europe30% say they visit Canada or the Caribbean, and 1 in 4 people say they travel to Asia, South America, or Mexico.
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Shared experiences will become an important trend this year
As we discovered 2025 Travel Trends ReportShared experiences continue to be important drivers for travel. Event trips remain a big trend in 2025, even Megatour, starring Beyoncé. Taylor Swift It ended last year.
Two in five Americans (40%) traveled to events (like concerts and sporting events) in 2024, with 40% planning the same thing this year (though they are clearly not the same person).
However, there are some gender and age gaps in the vote.
- Men are more likely to say they traveled to events in 2024 than women (45% vs. 36%).
- Gen Zers, Millennials and Gen Xers are all more likely to say they traveled to events in 2024 than the baby boomers (47%, 54%, 40% vs. 24%).
- Men are likely to travel to events in 2025 than women (43% vs. 37%).
- Millennials are the most likely generation to travel to events in 2025 (54% vs. 44%, 40%, 23%).
- Gen Zers, Millennials and Gen Xers are all planning to travel to events in 2025 than the baby boomers (44%, 54%, 23% versus 40%).
Related: You need to know: 6 Top Travel Trends of 2025
Another theme I found in the TPG Travels Trends report was that people are spending more on travel than before. This was followed by findings from Harris’ polls. This found that over half of Americans (51%) say they spend more on travel in 2025 than in the past few years. The same gender and generation differences are also shown here:
- Men are more likely to say they spend more on trips in 2025 than women than in the past few years (56% vs. 47%).
- Gen Zers, Millennials and Gen Xers are all more likely to say they will spend more on travel in 2025 than the baby boomers than in the past few years (52%, 59%, 51% vs. 43%).
Why slowing travel bookings is good news for prices
As mentioned earlier, despite our findings, there are some early indications that true demand for flights so far in 2025 is declining. But that’s not necessarily bad news from a passenger’s perspective. In fact, if you’re one of the 35% of Americans planning on traveling more this year, this could work for your benefit.
Recent reports from travel data companies oag Airlines are still adding capacity (more flights) to locations like the US and Europe, and “despite the backdrop of supply chain issues and some economic uncertainty, the total capacity of North American airlines (both domestic and international) has increased by 2% over this summer.”
According to environmentanother aviation data company, seats from the US to Europe this summer are up 3.9% year-on-year.
Another potential benefit for consumers? Airlines pivot Dynamic pricing It’s usually bad news for flyers, but if there’s little demand, you could actually get points and miles redemptions. Cheap. Increased capacity and potentially reduced demand could be recipes to reduce freight rates.
Certainly, we have already seen many contract alerts this summer for under $500 on flights to Europe. Just an example? The contract alert service has just been reported to a Deals with Venice in Italy, On the Delta line for under $500.
If we truly see a decline in demand, such transactions could be plentiful.
Related readings:
Research method: The survey was conducted online in the US by Harris’ polls. Point Guy February 24th to 26th, 2025, of 2,077 adults aged 18 and over. The sampling accuracy of Harris online voting is measured using Bayesian reliable intervals. In this study, sample data are accurate within positive or negative 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.
