Summer Travel Survey 2022 — Nearly 81% to Travel, 42% to Travel More than Last Summer, Nearly 51% to Fly on a Plane, 80% to Road Trip

2024 Update – Summer 2024 is around the corner, and we have new data! See our Summer Travel Survey & Trends 2024 article for more information.

November 28, 2022 Update – With summer travel behind us, it is time to move to the 2022 Holiday Travel Season. Start with our Best & Worst Days to Fly for Thanksgiving and Christmas guide.

We conducted this 2022 summer travel survey to gauge the sentiment of summer travel plans. How many Americans are planning to travel this summer? Is their goal to travel domestically or abroad? Will Americans travel more this summer than last? Are they planning to travel on a plane or road trip? Below you can read the results of these survey questions as well as demographic comparisons.

We also recommend checking out our 2022 Fourth of July Travel Survey, and 2022 Labor Day Travel Survey to see how many people will travel during those holidays and how high gas prices are affecting plans. Finally, see our guides on the Best Websites to Book Cheap Hotels, Best Websites to Book Cheap Flights, Best Websites to Book Cheap Rental Cars, and Best Websites to Book Cheap Cruises if you are still planning summer travel.

Do you plan on traveling this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes, one time. — 36.04%
• Yes, more than once. — 44.80%
• No. — 19.16%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — American adults in the East South Central region are most likely to travel this summer. 85.29% of people in this region said they will. The East South Central region contains the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. On the other hand, American adults in the Mountain region are least likely to travel this summer. Only 74.44% of American adults in that region said they will take part in summer travel. The Mountain region contains the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.

Key Takeaway — More than 80% of American adults intend to travel this summer. The 80.84% of people that responded yes equates to more than 208 million American adults according to the latest census. Additionally, the 80.84% is a combination of the 36.04% that said they would travel one time this summer. It also includes the 44.80% that said they would travel more than once. This means nearly 93 million Americans will travel once this summer and 115 million will travel more than once. In our first 2021 Summer Travel Survey, only 173 million American adults said they would travel. That means we are expecting at least 35 million more American travelers for summer 2022.

Where will you travel this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• I won’t travel this summer. — 19.62%
• Domestically only. — 59.95%
• Internationally only. — 6.66%
• Both Domestically and Internationally. — 13.78%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — The younger a person is, the more likely they are to travel internationally this summer. 26.7% of American adults aged 18-29 will travel abroad this summer. On the other hand, a smaller 22.5% of those aged 30-44 will. And, only 18.73% of American adults aged 45-60 will travel internationally in the summer. Lastly, only 14.07% of American adults over age 60 will. The over 60 age group is also the most likely to say they will not travel at all this summer at 26.30%.

Key Takeaway — More than 20% of American adults will travel internationally this summer. Despite concerns from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many Americans intend to leave the country. The 20.44% of American adults who will travel abroad this summer represent nearly 53 million people. Additionally, nearly 60% of Americans will travel within the country only. This 59.95% represents over 154 million more people.

How much traveling will you do this summer compared to last summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• More than Last Summer. — 42.06%
• The Same as Last Summer. — 46.08%
• Less than Last Summer. — 11.86%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Men are more likely than women to say that they will travel more this summer than last. 44.81% of adult American men said they will travel more this summer than last. However, only 39.62% of adult American women said this. Additionally, women are more likely to say they will travel less than last summer at 13.89%. Only 9.39% of men said they will travel less than last summer. The percentage of men and women that said they would travel the same as last summer was nearly identical.

Key Takeaway — More than 42% of American adults will travel more this summer than last summer. The 42.06% represents over 108 million people. This many Americans planning to travel more this summer is a clear indication that we are beginning to move beyond COVID. Many people thought last summer was the year of “Revenge Travel” when only 25% of people in our survey said they would travel more once COVID was over. However, the data suggests summer 2022 will be when more Americans get revenge.

Will you travel on a plane this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes, one time. — 28.10%
• Yes, more than once. — 22.72%
• No. — 49.18%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — American adults aged 18-29 are significantly more likely to say they will fly on a plane more than once this summer. 31.22% of people in this age group said this. However, only 24.69% of Americans in the 30-44 age bracket did. Similarly, only 18.02% in the 45-60 age group and 18.15% in the over 60 age group did. This makes sense as the 18-29 age bracket was also the most likely to say they will travel abroad this summer where a plane would be most needed.

Key Takeaway — More than half of American adults will travel on a plane this summer. The 50.82% that said this account for nearly 131 million Americans. The 50.82% also is broken up into 28.10% that say they intend to fly on a plane once this summer and 22.72% that say they intend to fly on a plane more than once. The 28.10% of one-time flyers represent over 72 million Americans. And, the 22.72% of Americans flying more than once represents nearly 59 million people.

Further Reading: How to Find Cheap Summer Flights

Will you take a road trip this summer? 

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• No. — 20.07%
• Yes, within 100 miles of my home. — 18.70%
• Yes, within 250 miles of my home. — 21.35%
• Yes, within 500 miles of my home. — 21.53%
• Yes, within 1,000 miles of my home. — 11.59%
• Yes, more than 1,000 miles from my home. — 6.75%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — People in the New England region are the least likely to say they will road trip this summer. 24.39% of people in this region said they will not. The New England region contains the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. On the other hand, the people in the East South Central region are the most likely to road trip. Only 14.71% of people in this region said they would not road trip during summer 2022.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 80% of American adults say they will take some sort of road trip this summer. The 79.93% of people represents about 206 million Americans. Of those people, 18.34% of them or 47 million Americans will road trip more than 500 miles from home. Also, 6.75% or 17 million Americans say they will road trip more than 1,000 miles from home. The road trip craze from 2020 and 2021 certainly will not be dying out in 2022.

Survey Methodology

This 2022 Summer Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 1,096 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on March 1. Of those surveyed, 46.71% were male and 53.29% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey was 20.20% in the range 18-29, 29.25% in the range 30-44, 25.87% in the range 45-60, and 24.68% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±3.026%. You can learn more about SurveyMonkey’s sampling method by clicking here.

The questions were chosen and the results were analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.