High-End Travelers Are Spending More This Holiday Season—but Staying Regional
While holiday travel budgets are climbing, travelers are prioritizing convenience, shorter distances, and flexible plans over far-flung itineraries.
Photo: Yuval Zukerman / Unsplash
Americans are preparing to spend heavily on holiday travel this season, even as many keep itineraries shorter and more strategic. According to NerdWallet’s 2025 holiday spending outlook, travelers are expected to spend roughly $311 billion on flights and hotels, averaging about $2,586 per traveler. That’s nearly $260 more than last year, a sign of continued strength among higher-income travelers who have sustained premium demand through 2024 and into 2025.
Distance is where behavior diverges. A September holiday-travel study from Upgraded Points found that 35% of Americans plan to travel more than 50 miles for Christmas, and about one in 10 expect to travel 500 miles or more. Still, drive-to travel remains dominant, with only about a quarter of respondents planning to fly at least once during the holiday period. Colorado stood out in the survey, with nearly a quarter of residents expecting to take 500-mile-plus trips, reflecting both geographic realities and a willingness to invest in time-intensive travel to reunite with family.
For luxury travel sellers, the spending drivers matter as much as the distance. Nearly three in 10 travelers expect to spend more than $1,000 on transportation and lodging alone, per Upgraded Points. Yet budget consciousness is rising in parallel: one in five travelers say they are skipping at least one trip due to cost, and close to that share are cutting back on gift spending to prioritize travel. There’s also an emotional undercurrent: 44% of respondents say they feel obligated to travel, while 42% say they would prefer to take a vacation rather than visit family.
Booking behavior is tightening. Google’s holiday airfare insights show that the best pricing for Christmas typically appears around 51 days out, and for Thanksgiving around 35 days out. CBS News reporting reinforces the urgency, quoting NerdWallet’s Sally French, who noted that travelers should have Christmas plans “locked in” by early November. Airlines appear confident: Cirium booking data cited by CBS shows Thanksgiving bookings up year-over-year, with carriers adding more than 250,000 seats for the holiday.
There’s also a geographic story in play. Sojern’s October holiday travel report notes rising demand for domestic and regional getaways, alongside softening interest in near-international markets such as Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe. Softer long-haul patterns don’t signal weakness so much as prioritization. With gas prices drifting toward $3 per gallon in much of the country, road trips are seeing renewed appeal at the margins.
The takeaway: Wallets remain open, but premium holiday travelers are weighing convenience, emotional return, and friction reduction as carefully as room category or flight class. The luxury opportunity this season sits in elevated close-to-home escapes, premium service, and booking flexibility that feels like a perk rather than a concession. Experience still wins, but ease and time efficiency are increasingly part of the luxury calculus.
