If you’ve been quietly recalculating your summer travel budget at the kitchen table this year, looking at flight prices and hotel rates and thinking “Wait, when did all of this get THIS expensive?” — pull up a chair, mama. You are in extremely good company.
A new survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of CheapCaribbean Vacations, just confirmed what so many of us are living: 58% of Americans plan to spend LESS on travel this year than they did last year. Budgets are down an average of 23%. And 75% say their travel dollar doesn’t stretch nearly as far thanks to higher prices.
Translation: it’s not just you, your math is not bad, and you are not failing at family vacation planning. The entire country is doing what you’re doing — tightening up, getting smarter, and rethinking what a “good” trip even looks like.
What the Survey Said -In Real Mom Terms
Here’s the lay of the land in 2026:
- 70% of Americans are being more careful with money this year
- 46% are trying to make their budget go further
- 42% are cutting unnecessary spending
- 45% are feeling the impact of rising prices on every purchase
For families who ARE still planning trips, the top reasons they’re scaling back are honestly all the things I hear at school pickup:
- 74% just feel the need to be more careful in 2026
- 38% have life circumstances that made them more budget-conscious
- 37% have to spend more in other areas (cough — groceries, insurance, summer camps, etc.)
We’re not abandoning travel. We’re just done overpaying for it.
The Strategies Real Americans Are Actually Using
This part of the survey is gold. Here are the top ways Americans are stretching their travel dollars in 2026:
- Bringing snacks or groceries instead of eating out for every meal — 34%
- Driving instead of flying when possible — 28%
- Taking fewer trips per year but making them count — 24%
- Taking advantage of free attractions or activities at the destination — 22%
- Looking for travel deals or flash sales — 21%
- Visiting friends or family to save on lodging — 21%
- Choosing budget or mid-range hotels instead of luxury — 20%
- Shortening trip length — 20%
- Traveling during off-peak or shoulder seasons — 20%
- Being flexible with travel dates to find cheaper flights — 20%
A few of these jumped out as VERY Orlando-mom-coded:
“Bringing snacks instead of eating out for every meal.” Hi. This is the entire premise of every road trip we’ve ever taken. Goldfish, a cooler, granola bars, water bottles, the chaos of trying to eat a sandwich while driving across the state. We are the original snack-packers.
“Driving instead of flying.” Living in Central Florida is a road trip cheat code. The beaches are a drive. The springs are a drive. St. Augustine, Tampa, Sarasota, Great Wolf Lodge in Naples, Savannah, Charleston — all a drive. We have an entire peninsula at our fingertips before we ever need to think about airfare.
“Taking advantage of free attractions or activities at the destination.” This is literally what Orlando Mom does for a living. Every guide we publish is built around the “what can we do for free or cheap” question. The free splash pads. The free museum days. The free library programs. The free state parks. The free Friday night downtown stuff. Free or cheap is the love language of this site.
What Travelers Are Cutting
When Americans were asked what they’re trimming first, the answers were refreshing:
- 42% are cutting back on dining out
- 40% are spending less on shopping/souvenirs
- 33% are shortening trip length
- 32% are skipping upgrades like premium seats or fancier rooms
- 30% are scaling back on nightlife or entertainment
- 44% are skipping high-end dining
- 40% are avoiding luxury hotels
- 35% are cutting spa/wellness add-ons
Notice what’s NOT on the chopping block? The trip itself. The time with the people. The actual experience.
Dana Studebaker, VP of Marketing at CheapCaribbean Vacations, put it perfectly: “Rising costs are forcing Americans to rethink their travel budgets, but they’re not giving up vacations altogether. Instead, they’re becoming more intentional about how they spend, prioritizing value and meaningful experiences and finding creative ways to make their money go further.”
Intentional. Meaningful. Creative. That’s exactly the energy I want for every Central Florida family this summer.
The Stat That Stopped Me Cold
Here’s the one I want every overworked, over-stretched, over-budget Orlando mom to read twice:
66% of Americans agree that the best parts of a vacation are FREE.
Top experiences named?
- Relaxation (59%)
- Time with loved ones (52%)
- Enjoying nature (42%)
Read that again. The best parts of vacation — the parts our brains actually hold onto for the next 30 years — are the things you don’t pay for. The afternoon at the beach. The slow morning. The walk after dinner. The cousins running around the yard. The board game that turned into a four-hour laugh fest.
This is the part I’ve been preaching for years on Orlando Mom: we don’t need to spend a fortune to make a memory. We just need time, presence, and a tiny bit of planning.
How to Make Summer 2026 Work on a Smaller Summer Travel Budget
If you’re recalibrating this year, here’s where I’d send you to start:
Start with our Ultimate Guide to Summer. It’s the master roadmap — every category of family fun we have for Central Florida lives there.
From there, dig into our budget-friendly guides: our free and cheap summer activities for Orlando families, our splash pad and pool roundups, our springs day-trip guides (Wekiwa, Blue Spring, Rainbow Springs, Crystal River — pick a Saturday and go), our state park and beach day-trip lists, our rainy day activities for the inevitable 3 p.m. Florida thunderstorm, and our local museum and library program roundups.
A few of my personal favorite cheap mom-hacks for “we still want a summer adventure” energy:
- Pack the cooler. Snacks, drinks, lunch. Saves you $40 minimum, every single time.
- Pick one “splurge” and let the rest be free. One nice dinner. Or one paid attraction. Then build the rest of the trip around free stuff.
- Drive don’t fly when it makes sense. Within 4 hours of Orlando is enough adventure for a long weekend.
- Off-peak is your friend. Tuesday-to-Thursday trips at non-peak destinations are dramatically cheaper than weekend ones.
- Stay with people you love. Visiting family/friends doubles as both lodging AND quality time. Win-win.
A Final Word From One Orlando Mom to Another
Listen. The 58% of Americans that have a smaller summer travel budget this year are not “losing.” They are winning at the actual long game. Because the families that come home from a low-key staycation laughing and rested are no less lucky than the ones that flew across an ocean. They’re often more rested, actually, and they aren’t opening a credit card statement in August that ruins the rest of their year.
You don’t need a luxury trip. You don’t need a viral vacation. You don’t need to justify your summer to anybody on the internet.
You need a few good days, good people, good planning and a good (local) summer travel budget.
Research methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans with internet access; the survey was commissioned by CheapCaribbean Vacations and conducted online between March 26–30, 2026.
