Summer Vacation 2025: What Families Are Really Spending, Where We're Going, And How To Make The Dollars Work Harder
Summer Vacation 2025: A rundown on what families are spending on their summer vacation, the top destinations, and tips on the best places to save and splurge.
It's already July and we're now fully into the last-minute summer vacation scramble! To help, we've sifted through the latest surveys and spending trackers released in the past few weeks to see what Canadian and US households expect to pay for summer vacations this year, where those trips will take us, and how this year’s plans differ from 2024. Let’s get into it.
How many of us are going on vacation?
Deloitte’s new Right-sized American Summer report says that, despite a decline in financial well-being, 53% of Americans intend to take a vacation, up five points from last year.
This is a little higher than Bankrate's survey, which found that 46% expect to travel (38% domestically, 15% internationally, with some overlap) and 7% will settle for a staycation. Almost one in three Americans still plans to borrow to pay for the break, but that share has slipped from 36% last summer to 29% now.
North of the border, a new Leger survey finds 55 percent of Canadians aiming for a summer trip, up from 47 percent a year ago.
Budgets in context
United States
Squaremouth, the travel-insurance marketplace, pegs the fully-priced international summer trip at over $10,000, up 38 % year-over-year. That headline number is skewed by bigger itineraries but it shows how rapidly costs can stack up when flights, hotels, rental cars, and insurance are included.
The Deloitte survey pegs the average household budget for the longest summer trip at $3,471, essentially flat from 2024. Travellers are squeezing the same dollars into more frequent, shorter getaways: an average of 3.1 trips in 2025 versus 2.3 trips last year. The rise in trips is attributed to quick getaways of three nights or fewer.
Budgets by Household Income
| Household Income | 2024 Full Summer Travel Budget | 2025 Full Summer Travel Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Under $100k | $3,023 | $3,356 |
| $100k-$200k | $5,163 | $5,219 |
| Over $200k | $7,811 | $7,598 |
| Overall | $4,090 | $4,606 |
Source: 2025 Deloitte summer travel survey
Canada
Unfortunately, there's not the same level of data available for Canadians' summer travel plans. StatsCan’s most recent travel survey (released May 30) shows Canadians spent $440 on an average domestic overnight trip in Q4 2024. That’s the latest hard benchmark, and RBC’s card-spending tracker says travel outlays grew another 4.7 percent in May 2025, implying this summer’s typical overnight could land closer to $460 per day.
Where we're going
Americans are still leaning international despite a softer dollar: 42% of air travellers intend to fly overseas this summer, and by April nearly two-thirds of those flights were already booked. Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean top the list.
Canadians are redirecting budgets to their backyard. The same Leger poll that showed higher travel intent also highlighted a sharp drop in US vacations. StatsCan backs that up: Canadian returns from the United States were down 20% by air and 26% by car in April versus a year earlier, while trips from overseas countries rose 10 percent.
| Trip Destinations | April 2025 - Yearly Change |
|---|---|
| Canadians returning from US by air | -20% |
| Canadians returning from US by land | -26.2% |
| Canadians returning from elsewhere by air | +10.1% |
Source: Statistics Canada, RBC Economics
Stretching the dollar
- Fly mid-week or late-season. Hopper’s 2025 outlook says leaving on a Tuesday or Wednesday cuts fares by up to 20 percent. Sliding a Europe trip from late June to the last two weeks of August can shave a third off the ticket price.
- Trains can be cheaper. VIA Rail’s summer flash sales and Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass (ten segments for one discounted fare) can undercut equivalent short-haul flights once you add baggage fees.
- Trim, don’t cancel. Deloitte found travellers who need to economise are shortening the trip rather than skipping it, which keeps the vacation on the calendar while cutting hotel costs.
- Stay flexible at the pump. If you do drive, fuel prices are bouncing around due to tariffs and carbon-tax changes. Apps like GasBuddy can save ~10 cents a litre on routes; that adds up over a long road trip.
- Currency conversions. Pre-load a multi-currency card when the loonie or greenback pops. This will always beat airport currency conversion rates. Another alternative is to use a credit card without a foreign transaction fee.
Worth-it splurges this year
- Premium economy on long haul flights. A step up from coach often costs a few hundred dollars or 20,000-plus points and buys real legroom and an extra checked bag,
- One statement night. Booking a single evening at a heritage hotel or splurge restaurant anchors the memory without torching the whole budget.
- Small-group experiences. With more people trimming nights, immersive half-day tours (think kayaking a fjord or pasta-making in Puglia) punch above their price.
The Takeaway
Our wallets may feel lighter, yet neither side of the border is willing to give up the summer vacation. Americans are slicing the previous large summer vacation into several smaller trips. Canadians are funneling the same dollars into trips closer to home. Wherever you land, mid-week flights, rail passes, and a clear plan for one meaningful splurge can keep the experience rich without tipping the budget into the red.
