Summer travel is unaffordable. There's no end in sight. | Your Turn

Beating the scorching heat wave hitting millions of Americans may be top of mind for many travelers this summer as vacation season peaks. But according to our readers, beating inflation and the burn of airfare costs and gas prices will make any overheated travel closer to home this summer.

Less than half of Americans say they're planning on taking a summer vacation – largely due to sky-high travel costs. So we asked you, our readers, to weigh in on whether our increasingly worrying economy has you nixing or changing those memory-making plans.

Find some of the responses you gave us below. For more opportunities to weigh in, email usatoday.com/forum, leave us a voicemail at (202) 655-3923 or drop us a note at forum@usatoday.com

You only get the vacations you work for – and deserve

Any vacation – even a short, unspectacular one ‒ is important to just be able to get away for a while.

What obligation do companies or the government have to lower prices? Airlines should be free and able to charge what the public will bear. After all, this is a capitalistic society, and cheap airfares are not an inherent right.

I've cut back on entertainment, but haven't made any travel cuts.

The economy needs help, but not governmental help. People need to understand that nobody is owed anything. You only get what you work for and deserve.

- Scott Piepenburg, Pennsylvania

Travel is mostly unaffordable. I don't see an end in sight.

Vacation time is important ‒ it's a nice break from everyday life, and families get to make wonderful memories. But with gas, airline tickets, lodging and food prices high, it's just not affordable to take a long vacation, or one where families travel far away from home.

I won't be taking a long vacation this year. I might drive an hour or more away from my home and might spend one night, but that is the extent of what I can afford this year.

I have changed my plans and no longer travel more than 200 miles from home. I can't afford the gas for longer trips, and lodging is high, especially in a tourist area in the summer. I try to find things to do that are local to me and free. Maybe one day, when prices are more reasonable, I will travel, but I don't see that happening until maybe next year.

I grocery shop sales only, and use my local store coupons. I plan my errands carefully, and no longer go back and forth across town to pick up items I need. I order more from Amazon and don't pay for shipping, and that helps. I cut back on my water and electricity usage where I can, and dropped cable television. I only have one streaming service, and I use Libby to read books for free online or go to my local library. I no longer go out to eat as I used to; I might go out maybe twice a month. I meal plan and cook at home.

The economy is struggling, and I don't see interest rates dropping anytime soon. People who are on fixed incomes or retired, with no ability to work a second job, are really stressed. Some have no families to lean on or to help them. Young families can't save enough money to buy a home, with the housing market out of control at the moment. A lot of young people are still living at home because they can't afford an apartment.

The U.S. economy is horrible, and I don't see any help coming from the government.

- Debi Shepard, North Carolina

If only Trump's administration were frugal like we have to be

Vacations are a way to relax and reset. Vacations allow us to think only about the moment, not our worries. Spending time with family while at the beach, hiking or at an amusement park are a wonderful time.

I have not changed plans, as we go to a nearby beach every year. I am not planning to fly anywhere. What is really sad is how expensive Disneyland has become. It is a shame that average families have to spend so much money in order to have their children experience this park. Families shouldn't have to take out loans to visit Disney.

High prices have affected my spending, sure. I just don't buy a lot of unnecessary extras. I have several maintenance issues I have to spend money on, and I am trying to search for the best deals.

The U.S. economy is awful. Prices are too high in every way: groceries, insurance, electricity and other service bills, and gas. All the while, this president is spending our taxpayer money on vanity projects like the ballroom, an arch, etc.

The government cuts services that help the average American, yet wastes money on nonessential projects for the president. The Republican lawmakers are afraid to act on this waste. It really is shameful.

- Joy Harris, California

Travel memories are precious. Too many can't afford to make them.

When I was a kid in the summer of 1969, my dad took our family to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I remember the fun and excitement with my first plane rides, including a jet and a propeller plane, to sailing, the beach, seeing an old fort, Christiansted and Frederiksted and going to the easternmost point of the United States.

I remember little details like a couple stranded because there was a Pan Am airline strike, and how shopping carts were left on the side of the roads all over the island. Also, an improvising lounge singer in a restaurant sang to my father, "You look like Nixon's brother," and to me, "Someday you'll be the president!" (Well, I did become the president of a staff organization at work.)

Some affordability tips I've picked up? Stay in a hotel or B&B with a free breakfast and load up on it as the biggest meal of the day. Have snacks for lunch and get takeout for dinner at least some of the time. Many hotel rooms have a fridge and microwave. Or stay in a rental where you can make your own meals.

I didn't have firm travel plans months ago. But I'm definitely not going to fly anywhere and rent a car. I'll travel within a few hours by car, and even with that, I'm more conscious about driving places and cutting back.

It stinks for lower- and lower-middle-income people with food, gas, housing and health care all going up way more than the inflation rate. I guess the rich are doing OK.

- Rich Campbell, Pennsylvania

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Summer travel is unaffordable. There's no end in sight. | Your Turn

Reporting by Opinion Forum, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 4:31 AM.