RICHMOND, Va., May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid economic pressures and budget constraints, Americans’ confidence that they will take a summer vacation is at an all-time high, according to Allianz Partners USA’s annual Vacation Confidence Index*. This year, six in ten (63%) Americans are confident they will take a summer vacation.  

Record highs in confidence are matched by record highs in vacation spend with Americans projected to spend $226.6 billion on summer vacations this year. The travel insurance and assistance provider found this year’s anticipated spend is up 2.26% from 2024 - signaling a form of vacation resilience where Americans are prioritizing time away.

This year’s spending record continues a six-year climb, with annual estimates more than doubling since 2019’s $101.7 billion – indicating a post-pandemic shift in travel behavior. The upward trend in average anticipated spending per household remains robust. In 2025, this amount is expected to reach $2,867, marking a modest rise from $2,843 in 2024. 

“Despite increased pressure on wallets and ongoing travel cost inflation, we are still seeing Americans prioritize vacations this year,” says Emily Hartman, General Manager at Allianz Partners USA. “The ongoing increase in spending signals that Americans view travel as a primary goal when setting up budgets and financial plans. As travelers plan their next vacation, one item that’s important not to forget is travel insurance. After months, maybe even years of planning, it makes sense to have a safety net to protect your investment.”

2025 Key Trends

The 2025 Vacation Confidence Index highlighted the following emerging behaviors from U.S. travelers:

• Gen Z and Millennials are leading summer travel: Younger Americans (under the age of 35) are 70% confident they will take a summer vacation this year. These younger groups are also significantly more likely to have vacationed in the last 3 months, especially those aged 18-34 (29%), as are those with kids living at home (31%).

• “Micro-cations” are back: Americans are moving away from longer trips and increasingly likely to take one- or two-night trips (31%, +3). As a result, the average number of nights per trip is decreasing, heading back towards 4 nights.

• Travelers are splurging on their shorter trips: Travelers are looking to make the most of their “micro-cations” as the amount spent on one- and two-night trips has grown significantly this year. The average spend on a one-night trip jumped from $594 in 2024 to $700 in 2025. Based on average spend analysis, one-night splurges are the costliest while the best value is found at the 1-week mark.

• “Bleisure” is trending: Significantly more Americans are adding leisure time to a business trip or life event (or vice versa) compared to last year (33%, +9). During leisure travel, more Americans are investing in luxury travel experiences (31%, +4), with Gen Z and Millennials most likely to invest in luxury experiences.

• Affordability plays key role in budget decisions: Even as spending reaches all-time highs, an increasing number of Americans who lack the confidence to take a vacation say its due to financial constraints. Nearly 70% stating their lack of confidence is because they don’t want to or can’t afford the expense, a significant increase from 62% in 2024.

• Ticketed events continue to drive travel: As we have seen with major concert series, like Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Americans are traveling both domestically and internationally to attend events (29%). Over half (63%) of travelers are expected to attend at least one ticketed concert or event this year, and the proportion of individuals attending three or more concerts, festivals or events has risen by five points this year.

Vacation Resiliency

Despite half of Americans (51%) saying they can’t afford a vacation, 4 in 10 are confident they will take one anyway – a continuation of the “justi-vacation” trend the Vacation Confidence Index identified last year. (“Justi-vacation” is when someone takes a vacation despite not being able to afford the expenses that come with traveling.)

“Since the start of the Vacation Confidence Index, we’ve seen Americans place a greater emphasis on vacations,” says Daniel Durazo, Director of External Communications at Allianz Partners USA. “This year we saw that at an all-time high with 75% of Americans considering annual vacations important to them regardless of their ability to take vacations. This consistent prioritization is an indication of the ways Americans want to live and learn – we don’t expect it to shift anytime soon.”

The Vacation Confidence Index has been conducted each summer since 2009 by national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Allianz Partners USA. A vacation is defined as a leisure trip of at least one week to a place that is 100 miles or more from home.

Allianz Partners offers travel insurance through most major U.S. airlines, leading travel agents, online travel agencies, hotel companies, cruise lines and directly to consumers. For more information on Allianz Partners and available travel policies, please visit http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/.  

* *Methodology: These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Allianz Partners. For this survey, a sample of 2,005 Americans aged 18+ was interviewed from April 14 to 15, 2025 via the Ipsos Online Omnibus. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the results are accurate to within +/- 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had all American adults been polled. Quota sampling and weighting were employed in order to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Credibility intervals are wider among subsets of the population.