Traveler Spending Habits Set to Increase in 2024

Image: Airline loyalty programs remain a high priority.  (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/Evgen_Prozhyrko)
Image: Airline loyalty programs remain a high priority. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/Evgen_Prozhyrko)
Lacey Pfalz
by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Tue September 26, 2023

Travelers are predicted to spend more on their travel expenses in 2024 than in 2023, according to a recent survey conducted by Squaremouth. 

The leading travel insurance marketplace polled over 4,000 of its customers to learn their travel spending habits, and found almost 90 percent of travelers are spending more than they normally do on travel. This year, Squaremouth users are spending on average 20 percent more on a vacation than last year. 

The average trip cost for the past three years has been trending upwards, mostly in part due to travelers wanting to visit more bucket-list, and generally more expensive, destinations, as well as burgeoning costs of travel, including high airfare prices. 

In 2021, the average trip cost $5,189. This rose to $5,603 in 2022 and made a big jump in 2023, at $6,587. 

Eighty-two percent of travelers expect their travel budget will either stay the same or increase in 2023. Next year may well see another record-breaking year for traveler spending. 

Travelers expect to pay more in 2024 because they’re planning a bucket-list trip (35 percent); recognize that higher costs of airfare and other travel necessities add extra cost (31 percent); expect to travel to more expensive destinations (19 percent); and are planning to take longer, and therefore more expensive, trips in the new year (15 percent). 


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Lacey Pfalz

Lacey Pfalz

Senior Editor, News & Features

Lacey Pfalz is Associate Editor at TravelPulse. She's a passionate advocate of responsible travel and believes the best travel experiences happen outside of a planned itinerary. Lacey currently lives in rural Wisconsin. She can be reached at [email protected].

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