Road trips rev up as summer travelers hunt for cheaper vacations

All but the wealthiest consumers are opting to drive as gas and rental car costs stay lower than last year.

Consumers aren’t ready to ditch their travel plans despite growing economic gloom. But they are hunting for bargains — and hoping to find them on the open road.

Some 53% of U.S. consumers are planning vacations this season, up from 48% a year ago, Deloitte researchers reported Tuesday. There’s especially strong interest in brief but more frequent trips closer to home, including by car, as travelers take a “more frugal approach” this year, the analysts said.

Chris Narvaez, 45, had planned to visit London and Rome this summer. Airfares to Europe are down 8%, according to travel booking platform Hopper, but the New York City-based human resources director said he’s “hitting the pause button” on overseas travel.

Chris Narvaez scrapped European travel plans and is sticking to shorter trips around the East Coast.Courtesy of Chris Narvaez“Between new requirements for visas, the current administration, challenges with air traffic control and near misses at local airports, I don’t feel as comfortable as I would getting on a plane,” he said, referring to updated ID and entry rules along with increased customs stops. Instead, he’ll stick to the East Coast — with jaunts to Woodstock, New York; Washington, D.C.; and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts — piling into the car with friends and his 15-year-old shepherd mix, Eli.

Alexisa Humphrey, owner of Sugar and Spice Travels in Lebanon, Tennessee, said her customers are still venturing out. But like Narvaez, “they are doing shorter, more budget-friendly trips,” she said, citing some of the same travel concerns. “I have had clients cancel flights and drive or book a train instead.”