For Jami Hagerman, a hairstylist in Oklahoma City, the recent weekend getaway felt like a blind date. She and her husband spent about $400 on Groupon “mystery vacation” vouchers that covered airfare and accommodations — but not the destination. The couple was sent to New Orleans, where they explored museums, took walking tours, and sampled the city’s famous beignets.
“I feel like the value was great for the trip,” said Hagerman, 29. “It was fun.”
Hagerman is part of a growing wave of budget-conscious travelers finding workarounds as travel costs climb sharply. Airline fares surged more than 25% year over year as of July, and gas prices were on pace for a record high Labor Day, having jumped roughly 30% annually, according to AAA and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. war with Iran has added to price pressures.
Conventional wisdom might suggest affordability-minded vacationers would pull back, but data shows they aren’t letting themselves get left behind.
Lower-income spending hits record
Lower-income consumers — those earning under $36,675 annually — spent more on travel earlier this year than at any point since at least 2019, according to PNC card data analyzed exclusively for CNBC. In July, spending for this group rose 7% from the same month a year earlier.
Groupon has capitalized on that demand, turning what began as a single “mystery vacation” offering for North America into a full portfolio. That portfolio logged roughly 5,500 orders in the second quarter of 2026 — more than five times the level when it had only a flagship product in the first quarter of 2025, according to data shared with CNBC.
The flagship package, priced between $199 and $299 per person depending on the departure airport, is advertised with a 50% discount. Most buyers end up at domestic spots like Las Vegas, Atlanta, or Orlando, though a small percentage land in far-flung places such as Singapore or Paris. Participants typically learn their destination within days of submitting paperwork.
Tammy Wales, a Georgia-based travel agent, said Orlando “probably wouldn’t have been in my top 10 pick of places” — but she loved the surprise element. “As long as I’m gone, I don’t really care,” she said. “The biggest thing was being able to take a trip and have the element of surprise.”
Luxury push hasn’t crowded out value
Some parts of the travel industry have doubled down on premium offerings, with airlines from Delta to Southwest racing to expand first-class cabins and lounges. But the value segment is holding its own.
Industry data provider OAG found that low-cost airlines gained market share in 2025 compared with pre-pandemic levels, though that could take a hit after Spirit Airlines shut down in May. In lodging, most new hotel rooms remain in relatively affordable tiers, according to Jay Morrow, head of hospitality advisory at Walker & Dunlop.
Hostelworld, a booking platform for hostels and low-cost stays, said transactions from U.S. and Canadian consumers increased 10% in the first half of 2026 versus the same period a year earlier. The Ireland-based company also reported that its net average transaction value climbed across regions.
Booking Holdings’ finance chief, Ewout Steenbergen, told analysts in April that average daily rates for the company’s lower-end segment came in flat — an improvement after a streak of negative readings.
Carnival Corp. is seeing stronger demand for its cruises in the remainder of 2026 and beyond compared with prior-year periods. Revenue in a segment that includes on-board spending jumped more than 7% year over year in its fiscal second quarter. CFO David Bernstein told CNBC the company is “somewhat recession-resilient.” About half the U.S. population lives within a five-hour drive of a Carnival departure port, meaning many customers can skip airfare.
Kenny Wilson, a stay-at-home mom in Texas, drives hours to Galveston with her husband and two kids each year. She caps the total cruise cost at $1,000 by taking advantage of deals that let children sail free with paying adults.
“In this economy for the middle class, it’s very, very hard to get vacations in there,” said Wilson, 27. “I’m just so grateful that I figured out a way out that I could still give my kids a beautiful childhood and memories for cheap.”
Relief from refunds and a new normal
Bigger tax refunds under President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” may be helping lower-income consumers keep their wallets open. The U.S. Travel Association estimates these consumers will collectively spend half a billion dollars from their heftier returns on travel this year.
More than one in ten of the nearly 1,400 “credit-challenged” consumers surveyed by Snap Finance in March said they spent at least $300 on vacation or travel expenses in the prior six months — despite just over 40% of that group reporting some degree of financial instability.
There are signs consumers are hunting for deals, though. Expedia said searches using budget filters climbed more than 1,200% compared with a year earlier, and Vrbo reported a 16% year-over-year rise in bookings made within two weeks of travel — a sign of last-minute deal-seeking.
Still, higher costs weigh on sentiment. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey came in 11% lower in August than a year ago, with respondents citing expected fuel price increases.
“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,” said Brian LeBlanc, PNC’s senior economist. “People are still swiping the cards, but that doesn’t mean they’re feeling good about it.”
PNC’s analysis also found higher earners are spending more compared with 2019 than other income groups, adding to evidence of the uneven “K-shaped” recovery.
Tarik Dogru, an associate professor at Florida State University’s hospitality school, argues the post-pandemic “revenge travel” phenomenon is now a new normal. “It’s not a luxury anymore,” he said. “It became a necessity.”
For Hagerman, that rings true. After staying close to home during the pandemic, she avoided upgrading her house to keep rent costs down, using the savings to fund trips to Hawaii and Washington. She’s now considering another Groupon mystery vacation — hoping only that she won’t be sent back to New Orleans for a third time.
“I’m really not that picky,” Hagerman said. “I just feel fortunate that we got to go anywhere.”
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/05/budget-travel-vacation-costs.html
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