AARP Hearing Center
Travel remains a priority for adults 50-plus, according to the “AARP 2025 Travel Trends survey.” For 2025, 70 percent of travelers 50 and older say they plan to travel, while in 2024, 65 percent of respondents planned to travel, the survey found. The survey of 2,970 people was conducted online Nov. 8–Dec. 2, 2024, before the recent air tragedies.
“The significant increase in the percentage of people who are traveling” is the biggest change this year, according to Lona Choi-Allum, senior consumer insights manager at AARP. In addition, “the number of trips taken, which was 3.9 [in 2024], has surpassed the number of trips that people anticipated taking at 3.6” for the first time since data were first tracked in 2020.
One reason for the increased desire to travel is that there is less “fear of financial unknown due to inflation,” Choi-Allum says. In the AARP survey, 20 percent cited financial uncertainty as a barrier to travel for 2025, which is down from 27 percent in 2023. Cost continues to be the top hindrance to travel as the expected travel spend remains steady at $6,847 for 2025 – nearly $200 more than in 2024.
The survey also found that 17 percent of travelers 50-plus will need accommodations for a disability or health condition. Of the respondents citing accommodation needs, 75 percent say they require mobility assistance.
“We definitely see the incidence of people having issues with mobility as they age,” Choi-Allum says. For 50- to 59-year-olds, 62 percent cite mobility as an issue for which they need accommodations. For 60- to 69-year-olds, it’s 74 percent, and for those 70 and older, it’s 89 percent. The older respondents “are more likely to want to travel by personal vehicle as opposed to a plane,” says Choi-Allum. The survey found that 50 percent of travelers 70-plus would travel by personal vehicle, while 42 percent would travel by plane.
