A Selective Summer: New data cites 58% of Travelers are Adjusting how they travel

NEW YORK, June 18, 2026 –  Going’s latest Summer Travel Pulse Check uncovers the shift in traveler planning behavior.* This year, the primary mindset for travelers is “selective,” or carefully choosing plans based on real-time political and economic shifts, as opposed to last year’s leading mindset, “ready and open to adventure,” which has fallen to second place in 2026. Budget is driving that caution more than anything else.

• 41% of travelers now describe themselves as "selective," up from 29%, and now ahead of those who are "ready and open" (37%, down from 59%)
• 1 in 4 plans to take fewer trips; 1 in 4 also plans to stay closer to home

• Budget is the #1 barrier to travel this summer for 39% of travelers with less than $150K HHI, yet higher-income earners are unfazed by steeper fares. As expected, the lower the HHI, the more pullback we’re seeing on travel this summer. However, those with a HHI of $75K or less are experiencing the largest pullback, with 41% of travelers saying they will travel less. While airlines are correct that people are still spending, they’re not acknowledging that the story changes vastly depending on whose wallet you’re looking at.
• Under-$150K travelers will spend an average of $391 on domestic flights and $776 on international, below overall averages of $428 and $865.

→ Older travelers have largely settled on their plans, while younger ones are casting a wider net, not because they want to do everything, but because they don't yet know what they can afford to do.

→ Younger travelers are keeping their options open across more destination types—national parks, cities, beaches, staycations, seemingly not out of adventurousness, but because uncertainty is forcing flexibility.

The backyard summer: Travelers are reinvesting in domestic travel

With 25% of travelers shifting to trips closer to home due to cost, a rise in domestic travel doesn’t have to be a compromise.

Key data:

• 19% interested in staycations (up from 15%); 21% staycations for sub-$150k HHI individuals vs. 17% above-$150k HHI individuals
• 49% interested in domestic destinations this summer (up from 41%)
• Going Fourth of July search data also supports this behavior, with the top two most searched international destinations within North America (Canada and Mexico), signaling a desire to travel closer to home during the long weekend.

Cost adaptation is reshaping the domestic travel map. Data from Going’s Summer Travel Outlook highlights the destinations “closest to home” where travelers can still find a deal, even this late in the game.
 

International demand holds despite everything

Geopolitics, costs, uncertainty. And yet 57% of travelers still have international travel in their sights.

Key data:

• 57% interested in international travel (barely moved from 59% in 2025)
• Only 9% cite geopolitical concerns as their top barrier
• 39% have already booked international trips 

Despite higher costs in general, international travel hasn’t completely fallen out. Going has seen some deflation in international fares across the summer months, a trend that may signal that fare relief for trips abroad is in sight and could foster more late-stage interest, especially at the right price. 
 

The summer deal window is closing. Here's what "good" actually looks like

Travelers are waiting for a deal that may not come. Going has benchmarks.

Key data:

• 15% cite "no good deal" as top barrier (up from 9% last year); “budget constraints” still the top barrier to travel this summer at 30%
• 57% of respondents have already booked domestic (vs. 49% in 2025)
• 45% have already booked international (vs. 39% in 2025)
• Threshold for average domestic fares across all respondents is $428
• Threshold for average international fares across all respondents is $865

There's a large pool of deal-hunters still in the market, but summer inventory is tightening fast. The biggest piece of advice amid fluctuations on both the domestic and international fronts is that summer fares are historically high. Waiting longer at this point is a recipe for a higher price. 

Points or cash? Most travelers still haven't decided, but time is running out

38% of Going members are using or planning to use points this summer. But are they using them right?

Key data:

• 25% have already booked with points
• 13% are planning to use points but haven't booked—identical across income groups
  • Yet higher earners are 8 points more likely to have already booked with points (30% vs. 22%)
• 21% of all Going members aren't sure whether they'll use points at all this summer

A third of summer travelers are sitting on points with no plan, and the execution isn't evenly distributed. Points beginners and points veterans both want to redeem this summer, but veterans are the only ones actually doing it. The best advice is to use them or lose them, and take advantage of the ShouldIBookthisFlight.com web calculator, which can help ensure travelers are using them wisely.
 

About Going

Going, the travel app for discovering flight deals, has helped members around the world make their travel dreams come true since 2015. We combine sophisticated software and human Flight Experts to discover flight deals and mistake fares up to 90% off and send them to our 2 million members. Unlike fully automated fare alerts services, every deal alert we send to members has passed a rigorous quality evaluation by our team to ensure it's worth members’ hard-earned money and limited travel time.

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*Methodology: Going commissioned an online survey of 3,008 Going members and Instagram followers, conducted May 31–June 3, 2026. Some questions allowed respondents to select more than one answer; percentages for these questions may not sum to 100%. Answer options were randomized where applicable. Some findings were filtered by age and household income.

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