- Potential partners: Travel to the US remains expensive.
- Spontaneous travel, increased use of AI.
- Travel spending is stable and budgets are recovering.
U.S. travelers are more concerned about a recession, but travel activity remains above year-ago levels, according to Future Partners. More and more travelers are taking spontaneous trips and using AI and social media to research and plan their trips.
According to Future Partners’ State of the American Traveler in September 2026 report, 46.6% of U.S. travelers expect a recession within the next six months, up from 43.8% in August. However, 57.5% of people took an overnight leisure trip in the past month, up from 50.8% a year ago.
Financial confidence declined for the second consecutive month. The percentage of travelers who feel their household finances are better than a year ago decreased to 32.8% from 34.0% in August, but 52.3% said they are being careful about spending due to concerns about economic recession, up from 50.6% in August and 46.4% a year ago.
Despite the budget recovery, spending indicators remained flat. The average annual travel budget increased to $5,697 from $5,340 in August, but was lower than $6,184 in the same month last year. Travelers with incomes of $200,000 or more had a budget of $14,068, while those with incomes of less than $49,000 had a budget of $2,164.
Despite financial concerns, 57.3% consider travel a worthwhile investment during a recession, up from 55.9% a year ago. About 32.0% expect travel spending to increase in the next 12 months, while 18.2% expect travel spending to decrease.
My travel plans have also increased. Travelers expected to take an average of 3.8 trips over the next 12 months, up from 3.6 in August, but the proportion with no plans to travel fell from 16.2% to 14.6%. Among people with incomes below $49,000, 22.9% had no plans to travel, compared to 7.3% of those with incomes above $200,000.
Spontaneous travel has reached a research high. About 25.2% said they take spontaneous leisure trips often or very often, up from 17.6% a year ago. Generation Z was the most popular group at 43.6%, followed by travelers who earned over $200,000 at 36.8%, and parents with school-age children at 36.6%.
The use of AI in travel planning increased to 31.9% from 22.6% a year ago. In a separate sample, 55.1 percent have used an AI tool or chatbot for travel planning, of which 39.1 percent used ChatGPT and 30.3 percent used Google Gemini.
The use of social media for travel research has also increased. YouTube topped the list with 35.9 percent, followed by Facebook at 33.8 percent, Instagram at 27.3 percent, and TikTok at 20.6 percent. Still, 65% were more confident getting local travel advice from a human than from an AI tool.
The main barrier to additional travel remained cost. About 36.4% said travel was too expensive, and 31% cited gas prices, up from 16.8% a year ago. The use of “buy now, pay later” travel rose to 16.8% from 15.4% in August.
Business travelers face different pressures while on the road.
A recent report from Hyatt Hotels Corporation found that approximately 90% of people consider their hotel room to be their only place of rest while traveling for business.