Fox News Poll: Higher prices affecting summer travel plans

Memorial Day weekend, widely considered the official start of summer and vacation season, is right around the corner, yet the latest Fox News national survey finds many are not taking a vacation this year — largely due to finances. 

The poll, released Wednesday, finds a majority of registered voters are planning to stay put this summer. Their reason? Money.  

Of the 55% who are not going away, 73% don’t have enough money to do so, while 15% don’t have the time.  

In 2010, the last time the question was asked, just half of voters who weren’t going away said it was a money issue (51%) while 20% blamed a lack of time. 

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Of course, money also plays a big role among those who are going away (42%). Nearly three-quarters say higher prices are affecting their travel plans, including nearly one-third who say prices matter a great deal. 

In general, the poll also finds that over 8 in 10 (84%) say gas prices are a problem for their family, including 49% who say they are a major problem. Grocery prices are an even-greater concern with 89% saying they are a problem (62% a major problem).  

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For comparison, 8 in 10 also say health care (44% a major problem) and utility costs (44% major) are a problem, while for another three-quarters, housing costs are the issue (47% major problem). Far fewer voters (43%) call student loans problematic (24% major).

There are demographic differences when it comes to summer travel plans.

Over half of college-educated voters (52%), voters under age 30 (51%), and those in households making $50,000 or more annually (51%) are more likely to travel than not this summer. By contrast, at least 6 in 10 women (60%), voters without a college degree (62%), those ages 65 and over (64%), and those in households making less than $50,000 annually (67%) are not planning a vacation.

There are rare similarities among partisans as roughly equal majorities of Democrats (52%), Republicans (56%), and independents (60%) say they’re not traveling this summer.

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Conducted May 10-13 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,126 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (133) and cellphones (700) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (293). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population.