8 in 10 travelers experienced travel problems this year, survey finds

Approximately 79% of American travelers experienced at least one “travel-related problem” in 2022, according to a summer travel survey. The findings, published Monday by Bankrate, a personal finance company, comes as Americans continue to struggle with increased inflation and high energy and travel prices. 

According to Bankrate, 33% of U.S adults have already traveled for leisure at least once in 2022, with 12% of adults traveling for business. Of this polled group, 79% of travelers said they experienced at least one problem that affected their travel considerations. 

The biggest headache travelers reported were unexpected travel costs: At least 57% of travelers found that the prices were higher than they were accustomed to. Experts linked this increase to the country’s rapidly increasing inflation rate, which has kept spending on flights and car rentals steady even as overall bookings have declined. 

“Bookings were surging past 2019 levels when we got into 2022, and there was a lot of enthusiasm about traveling,” Vivek Pandya, Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst, told CBS MoneyWatch. “Now we’re starting to see bookings falter a little bit relative to 2019, but the spending is still pretty high because of the price increases we’re seeing.”

Other problems travelers experienced during their 2022 trips were long waits, hard-to-find availabilities and poor customer service. At least 14% of traveling Americans lost money due to canceled or disrupted plans. 

During the July 4 holiday weekend, airlines reported thousands of canceled and delayed flights, as airlines struggled to keep up with rising demand. Only 21% of 2022 travelers said they did not experience any travel-related problems in the Bankrate poll, which surveyed 3,378 U.S. adults on June 15-17, 2022.

Experts predict that high inflation and the Consumer Price Index will continue to affect all aspects of travel, including prices for flights, gas and lodging. 

“While many Americans are excited to travel again after being cooped up for the past couple of years due to the pandemic, they’re encountering substantially higher costs and lengthy waits,” said Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman. “The situation may get worse before it gets better as pent-up demand is unleashed this summer.”