Holiday Travel Costs Climb as Budgets Shift to Trips
Households planning holiday trips face airfares up 22.4% over the past year, even as gift budgets grow modestly.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Spending
Live Poll
Do you plan to spend more on travel or experiences this holiday season?
Visa's 2026 Holiday Spending Shift Survey found U.S. consumers are planning to put more of their holiday budgets toward travel and live events than toward physical gifts. Sixty percent of respondents named travel and 55% named live-event tickets among the gifts they were most excited to give or receive, while 27% prioritized physical items and 15% prioritized experiences in their spending budgets.
Why it matters
The shift matters for household budgets because respondents planned to spend an average of $777 on holiday gifts, up 5.6% from $736 in 2025, and that increase is landing alongside a 22.4% rise in airline fares over the 12 months through September 2026. Families weighing travel and event tickets against traditional gifts are facing higher transportation costs than a year earlier.
Planned holiday gift spending averages $777, up 5.6% from $736 last year, while airline fares rose 22.4% in the 12 months through September 2026. Among high-income households, which were the only group to increase holiday airfare bookings and spending in September, airfare bookings for holiday trips rose 29% and spending rose 38%.
The players
Visa
A major payment network whose credit and debit cards are used across U.S. holiday retail and travel purchases, and whose research arm published the holiday spending survey and forecast.
Morning Consult
A market research firm that fielded the online survey of 1,016 U.S. adults for Visa, with results weighted to approximate the national population.
The details
Visa's survey asked consumers what they were most excited to give or receive, and travel and live-event tickets outpaced physical items by wide margins. Because travel and event purchases carry costs such as airfare, which has risen sharply, shifting the budget toward experiences can mean a larger share of spending goes to categories that are themselves getting more expensive. Visa's separate estimate that holiday-related prices would rise 3.4% means that a 4.5% forecast increase in retail sales would translate into only about 1.1% growth after inflation.
Timeline
Morning Consult fielded the survey from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 2026.
High-income households increased airfare bookings and spending in September 2026.
Visa's holiday forecast covers retail sales in November and December 2026.
Bookings for trips departing between Nov. 1, 2026 and Jan. 15, 2027 were up 29%.
Money Landscape
Airline fares rising 22.4% over the past year is a steep increase that now sits alongside a holiday gift budget that is growing only modestly in nominal terms. The combination indicates that households are reallocating spending toward travel even as the cost of getting there climbs faster than most other holiday purchases.
If your household is weighing a trip against a traditional gift list this season, the airfare increase means travel costs may take a larger share of your budget than in past years. Reviewing your planned gift and travel line items now, and comparing them against a realistic total, can help you decide where to spend, and a qualified financial professional can help you build a plan that fits your situation.
The takeaway
Holiday budgets are shifting toward travel and events, and airfares are rising faster than most holiday prices. Families planning trips should compare total costs early and track airline fare trends before booking.
What happens next
Visa's forecast covers retail sales in November and December 2026, so actual holiday results will become available after that period.
Further reading
For more context on how households are managing rising costs, see the Spending section.
Live Poll
Do you plan to spend more on travel or experiences this holiday season?
