Summer 2025 travel trends: Top cities, dates to save
An April 28 to May 1 survey of 2,000 U.S. adults commissioned by members-only home-swapping community Kindred found that 90% were "actively looking" for ways to save on summer travel.
USA TODAY reviewed various industry reports to glean the biggest trends among expected travelers this summer.
Here's what to consider as you plan your trip.
Top summer destinations
There are no surprises among the most popular destinations this summer, which include a mix of international and domestic cities.
Skyscanner's Smarter Summer Report includes Tokyo, London, New York, Rome and Los Angeles in the top five.
Kayak's Summer Travel Check-In also has Tokyo, London and Rome in its top five, but included Paris and Orlando instead of New York and Los Angeles.
Kayak also notes international flights are 11% cheaper to Asia, down 8% to Europe, and 5% lower to Africa this summer, compared to last summer.
However, according to Airbnb's summer travel trends, nearly 40% of Americans will or are likely to stick to domestic destinations to save money, instead of going abroad. Airbnb adds that nearly 30% of Americans with kids 18 or younger living at home are planning staycations instead of going elsewhere or will "very likely" do so.
What are the cheapest periods to travel?
Skyscanner found Wednesdays are generally the cheapest day to travel and the cheapest week to travel is Aug, 25 through 31.
Travelers who wait to fly in August may find better deals than for June and July, according to Kayak, however it says those planning trips around summer holidays will find the cheapest outbound flights on Tuesday, July 1 ahead of Independence Day and Saturday, Aug. 30 ahead of Labor Day.
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Should I drive or fly to my destination?
To save money, some travelers are skipping flights and hitting the road.
Of more than 2,800 U.S. travelers surveyed for Deloitte's 2025 Summer Travel Survey, 22% said they plan to drive instead of fly this summer due to airfares.
Without specifying cost other reasons, Airbnb's data shows 43% of Americans plan to drive instead of fly this summer.
Where do people stay when traveling?
Deloitte reports 80% of travelers plan to stay in hotels and 25% plan to stay in private rentals at least once this summer, both up from last year, but nearly 25% plan to stay with friends or family to save money.
Kindred found an even higher number, over 40%, of its surveyed respondents choosing to stay with friends or family and 12% opting for home stays, which have historically been more popular abroad than in the U.S.
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To many, it is an idyllic postcard destination with its Fairy Pools, rugged mountains and picturesque fishing villages. After all, its dramatic landscapes even feature as a filming location in the Game of Thrones. But for young people actually living on the Isle of Skye, it is more than just a beauty spot. It is their home. It is where they grew up, went to school, found work, and had hopes of buying their own homes. But heartbroken locals have told MailOnline how youngsters are increasingly being priced out of Skye as AirBnB landlords who have 'never stepped foot on the island' snap up all the homes. And a frustrating loophole in how mortgages are approved in Scotland means AirBnB businessmen - often from 'down South' - can easily outbid young couples and families who spend years saving up for a deposit. 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Ryan Scott is a 17-year-old fisherman who had goals of buying a two-bed home on Skye in the coming years, but now admits it is highly unlikely. He told MailOnline: 'People that don't live on Skye buy houses and convert them into AirBnBs. 'I remember there was a nice three-bed house that went up for sale that went for £500k. '£500k for a house in Dunveggan, it's ridiculous. It was a joke. 'I want to buy a house, we were looking at two-beds and discussing it but it's just too hard right now. It's so difficult because of AirBnBs. 'They're just buying it all up and pushing prices up. 'I think its mainly people from down South, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London. A lot of the English. 'I guess if you live in the city and have a good job, it's so easy to buy up here. 'I don't blame them, if we were in the same position we probably would too. 'But it's obviously not nice for the people who live here.' Last year, data showed that house prices on Scottish islands had shot up by 30 per cent over five years from 2018 to 2023, with reports it was sparked by a rise in cash buyers in the market. In 2020, community leaders wrote an open letter warning of how rising property prices on Skye were preventing locals from buying a home, comparing the situation to an 'economic clearance'. The situation, locals say, has been exacerbated by a common trend on the island of AirBnB buyers from outside of Skye offering up to 50 per cent over the asking price of a home. Councillor John Finlayson said up to 60 per cent of homes lay empty during the winter period as they have all become second homes and holiday lets In one case, a family told of how they were outbid on a property that was advertised as on sale for £110,000 after the successful buyer offered £150,000 - £40,000, or 36 per cent, more than the house value. In Scotland means buyers are only able to get a loan based on the value of the home - which is determined in a 'home report' - and not the purchase price. This means that any amount above the home value has to be footed by the buyer themselves - something which is easily done by developers and landlords, locals say, but is pushing young people out. A couple could spend years saving up for a 10 per cent deposit to purchase a £100k home, but to compete with a buyer offering £40k above the asking price, they would need to cough-up an additional £40k cash upfront. A local on Skye, Ms Macluod, told of how the rise of AirBnBs is making it near impossible to buy and destroying the community. Her own daughter was priced off the island. She said: 'It's definitely a problem, there's no doubt about that. 'My daughter got married and wanted to buy here with her husband but she couldn't afford to. 'There are so many people buying up properties and using them as AirBnBs. 'I understand why but there's a shortage of homes so don't take up every home that's available. 'A woman told me an entire street where she lives is now completely AirBnBs bar two houses. 'You lose the sense of community you know, there are just people coming and going all the time.' Describing her daughter's situation she said: 'It's the cheaper, smaller homes that are bought up really quickly for AirBnBs. 'They are snapped up quick which is worse because those are the homes first time buyers are going for. 'At one point after Covid, houses were going for 20 per cent over asking. It was really extortionate. 'My daughter and her husband wanted to buy a house locally but they couldn't. 'They saw a house they liked and I think they put an offer down. The house was going for £110k, but they were outbid and it sold for £150k. 'That's almost 50 per cent above the asking price. 'It just means the asking price becomes meaningless. 'It's a mix of both local businessmen and folks across from us in England. 'They can buy so easily. The comparison is that for what you would get a shed for in London you would get a three-bed up here. 'I'm not sure exactly how common it is but I wouldn't be surprised as it is profitable. 'There are no cheaper homes on the market, all the two or three beds are snapped up.' Speaking to MailOnline, her daughter, who had to move 90 miles off the island to a village closer to Inverness, said: 'There's a housing crisis and also not a whole load of work aside from tourism. 'I had been working off the island and was wanting to move home after marrying my husband. 'A house was coming onto the market for £110k and we thought that was somewhat doable and we had enough for a deposit so we put an offer in. 'But we were outbid by £40k. 'That is crazy money. This was three of four years ago now. We ended up buying off the island but I keep an eye on the market as I'd like to move home long-term. 'It's hard because you're bidding against people with more disposable income. 'When it's over the asking price, we can't get that on the mortgage, you just have to pay that. 'I do have an issue with people who don't live on Skye buying AirBnBs because they're not contributing to Skye's economy. 'I don't think it's fair.' Scottish government analysis in 2019 revealed AirBnB listings on Skye account for 18.6 per cent (1,083) of all dwellings on the island - the highest rate of any Scottish ward. There were an estimated 5,813 homes on Skye at the time of this research. Comparatively, only 1.2 per cent of dwellings across Scotland were found to be AirBnBs. The percentage is thought to have risen further in the last few years. A search for on the AirBnB website for a week in June returns more than 1,000 available results. According to the Short Term Lets licensing public register, there are several thousands of licences approved for short-term lets, ranging from entire houses to pods and converted sheds. Skye councillor John Finlayson suggested a drive around the Scottish isle during the winter months would reveal more than half of homes lay empty with 'not a single light on'. He said: 'If you drive around Skye around Christmas time, in November and December, about 60 per cent of the houses will be unaccompanied. 'You can drive through some roads and there'll be hardly any lights on in the houses. 'Increasingly, we have people buying properties without even seeing them and turning them into AirBnBs. 'And then we have some people who aren't even from off the island, they live here, and they are buying up particularly ex-council houses that go up for sale. 'You have developers buying them and pushing ordinary people out of the market. 'The authority do charge 200 per cent council tax on second homes but that makes no difference to people using it as AirBnBs. There is a distinction between people using it as second homes and AirBnBs. 'There are also increasingly more pods, and people turning sheds into short-term lets too. 'The thing is AirBnBs do support the economy, but the issue is the number of people who buy who don't live here. They see it online and buy it without ever stepping foot on Skye.' He joked: 'Rich folk from London have no problem buying up here. 'You get a lot of people from down south but then it's not exclusively them, it's people all around the UK. 'Take a walk around and count the number of houses that have those lockboxes outside them. They're all holiday lets. 'You have people putting a chalise right in the garden and turning the shed into a bedroom. 'That's not what the housing community is about, is it? A lot of them are ex-council houses.' SNP councillor Drew Millar echoed his concerns, stating that there was a huge problem of AirBnB buyers offering tens of thousands above the asking price. He said: 'Houses coming up on sale are being snapped up at much more than what they're valued at and then converted into AirBnBs. 'We're short of housing here and normal people can't afford a mortgage anymore. 'The AirBnBs are pricing young people out of the market. 'It's heartbreaking. 'People are bidding £20-30k over the asking price, and they are usually for AirBnBs. 'A lot of these people have never stepped foot on the island. They can now look online and buy without ever stepping foot. 'There are parts of the Highlands deemed as a test area for controlling these things. And the feeling here in Skye is that we should have one of these. 'There are 200 social homes being built over the next few years, but that's just affordable rent. 'For those wanting to buy there's nothing. 'We need some sort of controls in place to control the number of short-term lets, which should make it more difficult for people to stroll in and purchase property. 'Across the whole of the Highlands young people are being priced out. 'My real issue is with people who don't live on Skye. They buy up property then employ people to manage it. Therefore, any profit is not going back into the community. 'And then housing is springing up in price. People are chasing, there is demand, and it so it hikes up the prices. 'It means we're also losing some of the community spirit. 'When neighbours see a house up for sale they worry it's going to become an AirBnB, with cars arriving all the time, people just coming and going. 'The current legislation is horrible. I resigned from the housing committee because we weren't rejecting any licences. 'The way the law is set up there is virtually no way to stop someone getting a licence for a short-term let. 'I was so frustrated that I decided I was not doing it anymore. We were basically rubber-stamping every application.' The picturesque island is a top tourist spot and during and post-Covid experienced a big rise in house prices Robert Macaskill, who runs Relish Cafe which sits in the ultra-touristy Wentworth Street in Portree, told of how he has had to scale back his business due to not being able to take on enough staff. He said that while he has many applications come in to relocate to the island, there are not enough private rentals on the island to find a place to live. He said: 'I'm looking to downsize but I can't. Any small homes that come onto the market are snapped up immediately. 'And even a two-bed semi here is so expensive, it's about £180-200k now. 'You get a lot of people from away, off the island, that buy up. 'And there is just a lack of housing. If I were to employ for a position, I get so many applications come through. 'But I know the situation. There are no private rentals, I saw on recently that was £900/m for a two-bed. 'It means that we've had to go from being open seven days a week to six days now. 'And on a day like today we've had to close the upstairs seating area. 'We've probably turned away around 200 people because of that today. We just don't have enough staff for it. 'I reckon about 50 per cent of homes on the island are probably AirBnB, it's probably a lot more than we think. 'I guess it does generate tourism and work so it a double-edged sword.' Meanwhile, Adrian Rudak, who moved to Skye 20 years ago and lives in affordable housing said: 'Even private rentals are difficult here because landlords prefer to rent short-term to tourists. 'The problem is the infrastructure is not growing in line with the tourism, there's not even houses and there's only one Co-op. 'I've lived on Skye for 20 years and I remember back when for six months a year it would be quiet and the other six it would be 'season'. 'Now it's season most of the time bar the three months in the winter. 'I don't even think about buying property here to be honest, I'm in social housing. 'There are loads, loads, loads of AirBnBs here. 'I do understand why they do it but there are no houses for young people even to rent.' Across from Portree, in Dunveggan, which is slightly less of a tourist hotspot, staff at a cafe told of the issues with hospitality due to the shortage in rentals. Sergio Pina, 49, spoke to MailOnline at The Blas Inn. He said: 'We've definitely seen an increase of English people buying houses and property here. 'They build it up, make it into an AirBnB, and then move back home. 'Elderly people tend to say. But people in their 30s or 40s, they don't stay. They sometimes come up for a few weeks, or just never show up at all. 'It is very very expensive up here, if it weren't for my partner I would have struggled to find housing here, 'The prices aren't that different to London, which is crazy. 'In the down season, most properties here lay empty. 'Most businesses in the hospitality sector here need to provide housing because it's so hard to get anything. 'We are only open for eight months a year and we accommodate some of the staff in caravans. There is just no housing.' Ewan Robinson, who is working at The Blas Inn as a summer job before returning to university in Ayr, is staying in a caravan. He said: 'In London you can sell your bedsit and buy a castle up here. So of course you can understand why people do it. 'People buy up here, come here for a couple of weeks, and then short-term let it. 'It happens a lot. 'The majority of people, particularly the elderly, are from southern England, not even posh or from affluent areas, just when you've equity it's a choice people make. 'You can probably sell a garage down there and get a house for that price here. 'But a lot of them actually move here which is different.' He added: 'I'm staying in a caravan on Croft Land. Without that I wouldn't have even been able to think about coming up here to work.
