- Future Partners: U.S. travel remains high.
- Spontaneous trips, AI usage up.
- Travel spending steady, budgets recovering.
U.S. TRAVELERS ARE more concerned about a recession, but travel activity remains above year-earlier levels, according to Future Partners. More travelers are also taking spontaneous trips and using AI and social media to research and plan travel.
Future Partners' “The State of the American Traveler in September 2026” report found that 46.6 percent of U.S. travelers expected a recession within six months, up from 43.8 percent in August. Yet 57.5 percent had taken an overnight leisure trip in the past month, up from 50.8 percent a year earlier.
Financial confidence fell for a second month. The share of travelers who felt their households were better off than a year ago fell to 32.8 percent from 34.0 percent in August, while 52.3 percent were watching their spending because of recession concerns, up from 50.6 percent in August and 46.4 percent a year earlier.
Spending indicators held steady even as budgets recovered. The average annual travel budget rose to $5,697 from $5,340 in August but remained below $6,184 a year earlier. Travelers earning at least $200,000 budgeted $14,068, compared with $2,164 for those earning under $49,000.
Despite the financial concerns, 57.3 percent viewed travel as a worthwhile investment during a recession, up from 55.9 percent a year earlier. About 32.0 percent expected to increase travel spending over the next 12 months, while 18.2 percent expected to spend less.
Travel plans also increased. Travelers expected to take an average of 3.8 trips over the next 12 months, up from 3.6 in August, while the share with no trips planned fell to 14.6 percent from 16.2 percent. Among those earning under $49,000, 22.9 percent had no trips scheduled, compared with 7.3 percent of those earning at least $200,000.
Spontaneous travel reached a study high. About 25.2 percent said they frequently or very frequently took spontaneous leisure trips, up from 17.6 percent a year earlier. Gen Z led at 43.6 percent, followed by travelers earning at least $200,000 at 36.8 percent and parents of school-aged children at 36.6 percent.
AI use in trip planning rose to 31.9 percent from 22.6 percent a year earlier. In a separate sample, 55.1 percent had used an AI tool or chatbot for travel planning, including 39.1 percent who used ChatGPT and 30.3 percent who used Google Gemini.
Social media use for travel research also increased. YouTube led at 35.9 percent, followed by Facebook at 33.8 percent, Instagram at 27.3 percent and TikTok at 20.6 percent. Still, 65 percent had more confidence in receiving local travel advice from a person than from an AI tool.
Cost remained the main barrier to additional travel. About 36.4 percent said travel was too expensive, while 31 percent cited gas prices, up from 16.8 percent a year earlier. Buy-now-pay-later use for travel rose to 16.8 percent from 15.4 percent in August.
Business travelers face their own pressures on the road.
A recent Hyatt Hotels Corp. report found that about 90 percent consider their hotel room the only place they feel off the clock during a work trip.
