ORLANDO, Fla. – In the next few weeks, schools will let out, Memorial Day weekend will come and go, the frenzied pace of spring will be a memory, and families will ease into summer mode. For a lot of people, this time of year also means realizing – maybe a little late – that summer vacation planning is officially back on the to-do list.
Normally, this is the pivot point of the story where we’d tell you that you’ve waited too long, flights are too expensive or sold out, hotel prices are surging, and your dream vacation is slipping out of reach. Doom and gloom: you waited too long, prices are up, good luck and Godspeed.
Well, we’re not quite there – yet.
You still have time to make plans, get in a week or two of a quality vacation, and enjoy some much needed decompression time. But a summer vacation this year is going to feel a little different, and there’s no doubt it will hit your wallet harder.
The new summer travel reality
This is not a simple story about prices being high – it’s a story about a travel market that is still normalizing in some places, strained in others, and increasingly shaped by timing, flexibility, and fees.
Let’s start with why travel has been so expensive as of late.
Since the pandemic, the travel industry has been hit by a perfect storm of higher fuel costs, labor shortages, inflation, and most of all, overwhelming demand. Airlines cut routes and staffing during COVID, but once travel rebounded, the desire to travel came roaring back faster than the industry could rebuild. According to NerdWallet, travel costs today across four categories – flights, car rentals, hotels, and food – are up 22% compared to April 2019.
- Airfare has become one of the biggest pain points for travelers. Recent consumer price data shows airline ticket prices jumped more than 20% compared to last year, far outpacing overall inflation.
- Rental cars, dining, baggage fees, and even tourist taxes overseas have added to the sticker shock. Analysts say many travelers are still willing to pay more because vacations became a priority after years of pandemic restrictions, giving airlines and hotels more pricing power.
- Hotels are also costing travelers more. Industry data shows average U.S. hotel room rates climbed from about $132 a night in 2019 to more than $160 by 2025, with prices in major tourist cities often topping $200 or even $300 per night. Travelers are increasingly shortening trips, downgrading hotels, or choosing less popular destinations just to stay within budget.
- Tourists are feeling the effects of inflation every time they eat. Restaurants pay more for ingredients, transportation, shipping (especially on seafood), refrigeration, and deliveries.
- Looking for some good news – have you thought about taking a train? Both Amtrak and Brightline have seen a bump in ridership as of late. Interestingly, the railroad industry does not publicly disclose many of its fuel cost figures the way airlines do.
Where did all of these elephants come from?
Speaking of, let’s address the elephant in the room: fuel.
Top of mind is the gas you put in your car, which will make summer road trips more expensive this year. At the end of February, the average cost of a gallon of gas in the U.S. was a hair over $2.98. By May 14, the national average had climbed to more than $4.53 per gallon.
As I pointed out in my story from last week, data calculated by Brown University’s Iran War Energy Cost Tracker estimates Americans have paid more than $20 billion in extra costs for gasoline since the start of the war. An increase in the price for a gallon of diesel fuel over that same time period adds another $17 billion in consumer costs.
Gas prices are up, which means a fill up will cost you more. How much more?
Let’s say you have a 15 gallon tank in your vehicle and you’re doing a drive from Orlando to the north Georgia mountains. In February, a full tank of gas would have cost you $44.70. Today, that tank of fuel is priced at $67.95 – a difference of $23.95. And between the trip up, running around for a week, and the trip back, you may go through three tanks of gas – that’s $71.85 more in gas you’ll be paying because of the U.S./Israeli war with Iran.
But what about that other elephant in the room – aviation fuel.
Fares are up, baggage fees are up, and airlines are cutting schedules – all because jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since the war began on February 28, 2026.
Spirit Airlines, one of America’s leaders in ultra-low cost air travel, went out of business because they couldn’t afford fuel for their aircraft. A lawyer representing Spirit in bankruptcy proceedings told the court the airline spent an additional $100 million in fuel since the beginning of the war. Spirit shut down in the first week of May.
That surge in aviation fuel didn’t just take out Spirit – it has had a domino effect on air travel all around the world. Both Qantas and Air New Zealand announced they were cutting flights this spring and raising ticket prices. Low cost Norwegian airline Norse Atlantic Airways eliminated international service on three routes: Los Angeles and London, Los Angeles and Paris, and Los Angeles and Rome. British Airways has also dropped a number of long-haul routes in recent weeks – and Spanish discount airline Volotea added a €9 per seat fuel charge after customers had already bought their tickets.
Here in the states, Delta raised first checked bag fees from $35 to $45. Southwest Airlines raised its new checked bag fees by $10 in early April ($45 for the first bag and $55 for the second). United Airlines is cutting about 5% of its flights over the next two quarters. At a little over 10,000 flights each day, that works out to roughly 500 flights a day.
Thinking about ditching air travel and instead just taking a cruise? Oh look, another elephant.
You probably haven’t thought about it, but cruise lines are also affected by fuel – enormously – as ships burn tens of thousands of gallons of fuel every day. And how much does this cost – try up to $200,000 a day just on fuel alone for some of the biggest ships in the industry. On a ship like Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, 7 days of fuel could cost well over a million dollars.
When fuel prices spike, cruise lines feel it – immediately. But unlike airlines, companies like Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean don’t always raise the base ticket price dramatically because they compete heavily on headline fares. Instead, they often spread the pain around through smaller charges like higher port fees, higher priced drink packages, increased Wi-Fi costs, higher gratuity charges, and of course, fuel surcharges. And in some cases, those higher fuel surcharges can be added retroactively, after you’ve booked your trip.
More elephants tied back to the rising cost of fuel? Yep – you can look at hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and even ride shares.
The obvious elephants are at the gas pump and the airport gate.
But fuel costs stampede through the entire vacation economy.
More forces working against you
As if the war in the Middle East, the logjam of ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, and the worldwide shortage of crude oil weren’t enough, vacationers are also dealing with a travel market that has fundamentally changed since the pandemic. Unlike five years ago, demand is no longer suppressed.
Airlines, hotels, cruise operators, and even theme parks are all seeing travel patterns return to – and in some cases surpass – pre-pandemic norms. Americans still want vacations, and many families continue prioritizing travel despite inflation and higher costs.
At the same time, the old bargain windows are disappearing.
During the pandemic recovery years, travelers could sometimes find unusually cheap flights, aggressive hotel discounts, and flexible cancellation policies as the travel industry tried to rebuild demand. That window, however, is closing quickly.
Post pandemic, major airlines adjusted some of their prices to match Spirit’s old fares before the ultra-discount airline went out of business. Whether those lower fares survive without Spirit remains to be seen. Meanwhile, travelers are booking later, inventory is tightening faster, and companies are relying more heavily on dynamic pricing systems that constantly adjust costs based on demand.
In other words: the longer you wait, the more likely prices are to move against you.
Families in particular are running into another challenge: summer calendars are becoming more compressed. Between school schedules, sports camps, internships, and year-round academic programs, travel opportunities are being squeezed into narrower windows of time. That creates intense spikes in demand around specific weeks in June and July.
And then there’s the weather.
Extreme heat, hurricane concerns, flooding, wildfire smoke, and other climate-related disruptions are increasingly affecting travel decisions. In some cases, travelers are paying more to avoid risky destinations or to book during shorter “safe” weather windows. Frequent travelers already know that summer storms can create major delays through hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth, Atlanta, and New York’s JFK airport.
All of this means summer travel today is being shaped by far more than inflation alone – it’s being driven by consumer behavior, shrinking flexibility, limited inventory, and increasingly unpredictable conditions.
Who is getting hit the hardest?
Not all travelers are experiencing these rising costs in the same way.
As mentioned, families with school-age children are among the most vulnerable because they often have the least flexibility. Parents booking travel around school schedules are competing for the same flights, the same hotels, and the same vacation weeks as millions of others.
Lower-income households are also facing difficult tradeoffs. Travelers with tighter budgets may not have the ability to shift departure dates, absorb surprise fees, or pay higher upfront booking costs. And again, with the failure of Spirit Airlines, that’s one less choice for budget travel.
Road-trippers who thought they were avoiding expensive airfare are discovering that higher gas prices, rising hotel costs, and increased restaurant prices can quickly erase those savings.
The reality is that “summer travel” is no longer one market. It’s a collection of very different consumer experiences shaped by income, flexibility, timing, and destination.
Making things work for you
So how do you – the traveler – fight back against all of these rising costs? The good news – summer vacations are still possible this year. But getting the best value out of a trip may require more planning and flexibility than you were used to before the pandemic.
Take these points into consideration:
- Travel experts recommend focusing on total trip cost instead of just airfare alone. A cheaper flight can quickly become more expensive once baggage fees, hotel parking, rental cars, resort fees, and transportation costs are added in.
- Being flexible with departure and return days can also make a major difference. Flying midweek instead of weekends, traveling during shoulder periods, or considering alternate airports can sometimes save hundreds of dollars.
- Travelers should also pay close attention to hidden costs that quietly inflate budgets after booking. Hotel resort fees, cruise gratuities, parking charges, Wi-Fi packages, and rental car add-ons can significantly increase the final price of a vacation.
- And in some cases, the better value may not be the “dream” itinerary at all. A shorter trip, a nearby destination, or staying slightly outside a major tourist area may ultimately provide a better overall experience without creating long-term financial stress.
- One final tip for families trying to save money: ever heard of a “Share Fare”? This is an Amtrak thing – small parties of 3-8 passengers can get discounts of up to 60% on train tickets. Share Fares are specifically designed to compete with what you’d spend on the same trip using a car.
Vacations are still possible this summer, but – travelers who wait too long, ignore hidden costs, or expect pre-pandemic prices may find themselves paying much more than expected.