American Express Reveals How Each Generation Is Traveling This Summer

Summer travel is just getting started for Americans, according to the Amex Trendex, a trend index that tracks how consumers, small businesses, and merchants are feeling about spending, saving and traveling, among other things.

American Express' research found that four in 10 U.S. consumers have already traveled this summer and nearly one-third of Americans have spent more on travel than usual (35 percent). However, a majority of people (60 percent) still plan to take at least one more vacation in August, with 47 percent planning to travel more than usual before the start of the new school year.

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Millennials (57 percent) and Gen Xers (52 percent) are more likely to travel with family this summer, the index shows, while most Babyboomers plan to travel with significant others (52 percent) and many Gen Zers are looking to travel with their friends (28 percent). Family reunions (22 percent), friend trips (18 percent), birthdays (8 percent) and anniversaries (8 percent) are the top experiences that Americans plan to travel for this summer.

When it comes to fall travel, more than six in 10 consumers (63 percent) indicated that they want to be more intentional with their paid time off and plan to schedule time off for a vacation rather than taking days off with no plan to maximize their time.

Travelers are also booking with confidence despite the ongoing pandemic. According to American Express, U.S. consumer bookings in May 2021 were at 95 percent of pre-pandemic May 2019 levels and June 2021 bookings followed similarly encouraging trends.

Florida, California, Texas, New York and Illinois were the top flight destinations based on American Express booking data while the top rental car destinations for U.S. cardmembers were Orlando, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami, Dallas and Boston. Regardless of the destination, travelers are booking close to their travel date, with approximately two-thirds of hotel bookings (66 percent) for travel within the next 60 days.

Internationally, Europe (33 percent) and the Caribbean (21 percent) are the places travelers are looking forward to visiting the most, followed by Asia (6 percent) and South and Central America (4 percent).