[Survey] More Renters Are Traveling for the Holidays, But Staying Close to Home

A year ago, many Americans decided the holidays were finally the time to hop in the car, get on a plane or open the front door and see family and friends again, many for the first time in a year. While travel was significantly down, the holiday season of 2020 saw greatly increased travel over the previous few months.

Just a couple of months later, vaccines began to roll out. The nation looked forward to a next Thanksgiving, a next Christmas, a next Hanukkah, free of the pandemic. We expected to hug and kiss our relatives and confidants with impunity.

But that’s not quite where we are. The country is in a holding pattern. Many are ready to hit the road free of restrictions. Others are still keeping themselves safe at home. But most are somewhere in the middle, looking forward to seeing loved ones for the holidays but also trepidation for doing it safely.

So, where is America in our readiness for holiday travel? We polled a cross-section of renters coast to coast to find out what their holiday plans were. We asked if they were traveling, hosting or skipping the winter holidays, where they plan on going, how they plan on getting there, what they plan to spend and much more. We crunched the numbers, compared them to the previous pandemic and pre-pandemic years. Below is a snapshot of where we are as we prepare for a holiday season that will be here before we know it.

Americans are more interested in seeing family and friends for the holidays again

The holidays are back, baby. Sort of. To no surprise, many more people are getting together this year for the holidays than they did last year. But in-person holidays with friends and family haven’t gotten back to pre-pandemic levels thanks to lingering variants and plateauing vaccine numbers.

In-person gathering way up, but not close to back to normal

Prior to 2020, in a “normal” year, 85 percent of responders reported gathering for Christmas and/or Hanukkah. Slightly fewer, 78 percent, did so for Thanksgiving. In total, nearly 9 in 10 people gathered for the holidays before the pandemic.

But then came 2020 and the winter holidays landed smack in the middle of the second wave and before vaccines. Many places were still closed, people were working remotely and stay-at-home was the norm. The percentage of responders gathering in person for Christmas and Hanukkah with family plummeted to 55 percent. And under half did so for Thanksgiving.

Fast forward to 2021, and plans are normalizing — a bit. Those indicating they’re planning on coming together in person for Christmas and/or Hanukkah leaped to 80 percent, and 73 percent for Turkey Day. And for those forecasting attending at least one or more of the three winter holidays in person, that figure skyrockets to 80 percent. That’s a full 20 percentage point increase from 2020 and down only five points from normal years.

More are eschewing Zoom holidays this year

What’s more noticeable is that the overwhelming number of Americans are ditching Zoom entirely this holiday season.

More than 16 percent of responders reported gathering virtually for any or all of the three holidays in 2020, either exclusively or hybrid live and virtual. That’s most likely up from near single-digits in normal years. But for 2021, nearly 95 percent of those polled who plan on gathering are doing so in-person.

Not everyone is ready to gather around the holiday dinner table

In 2020, many didn’t feel like celebrating or wanted to keep things small. Over a quarter didn’t gather with anyone out of their household at all. That’s a huge jump from 9 percent in prior years.

As for 2021? Just 14 percent report still having no plans to celebrate with others out of the house at all. That’s almost half of last year’s figure, but nearly twice a normal year. Small holidays with just the family already at home are just fine for another year for some.

Why are some still hesitant to gather or remain content to celebrate with immediate household members? Nearly half of that 14 percent report that pandemic fears remain their No. 1 reason for staying home and socially distant. Considering everything in the world at the moment, that’s still a surprisingly small figure. But not all hesitancy is safety-related.

As many have noticed, everyday prices for everything from gas to food to entertainment are at concerning levels. Nearly 30 percent of those not gathering simply feel the cost of gathering this year was too high. Another 18 percent don’t want to deal with the hassle, most likely exacerbated by pandemic conditions.

One consequence of normalized remote office is the ability (or expectation) of being able to work from anywhere. That can be good or bad during the holidays, depending on your perspective. Ten percent of those not gathering report work as the reason to not do so.

People may be gathering, but traveling less to do so

People are excited to get back to celebrating the holidays with family and friends. But the nation isn’t quite ready to get completely back to normal. The study shows that while most people are planning on gathering for the holidays, they aren’t traveling en masse to do so. Regathering hesitancy would seem to be the primary reason.

Overall, people are keeping closer to home, spending less to travel, staying less time and sticking to road trips.

People who are celebrating are staying close to home

Over a quarter of all responders indicated that while they’re gathering with family and friends for at least one of the three holidays, they’re doing the hosting. One in four have invited others to their home rather than traveling.

Additionally, 44 percent are traveling locally, within 50 miles from home, gathering with the same family and friends they most likely see regularly. For New Yorkers, for example, that would be like trekking only to Trenton, Bridgeport or central Suffolk County.

Another near 10 percent are only roaming between 50 and 100 miles. That’s still quite local. If you’re in Downtown L.A., for example, that’s just visiting distance out to Palm Springs or Santa Barbara. All told, a whopping 80 percent who will spend the holidays with others are either staying home or traveling a short distance.

Most are traveling by car and staying less than a day

With so few people traveling a significant distance from home, an overwhelming number are doing so by car. For those leaving home, more than 80 percent are getting behind the wheel. And this is despite significant rises in gas prices in the last few weeks. This lines up with those only traveling a short distance.

In fact, at the time of this publication, gas currently averages around $3.40 a gallon, up more than a dollar from a year ago. About 39 percent of responders indicated that they were planning on spending less than $50 on holiday travel. That budget will buy you almost 15 gallons of gas, which (based on an average of 30 m.p.g.) will get you 450 miles roundtrip, a distance the survey indicates people are apt to travel. Put another way, that 44 percent indicating they’re planning on traveling under 50 miles would only be spending $11.33 round trip on gas.

Not only are people keeping close to home, but they’re also staying away for short amounts of time, as well. Almost half of all renters are staying wherever they’re going for under a day. Just 10 percent are staying at least a full day. And only 3 in 10 plan on traveling for more than a three-day weekend.

Like most things, hotel room rates are way up this holiday season, as well. Advance hotel prices at Thanksgiving, for example, are averaging $436 per night this year. That’s a jump of 68 percent over the last pre-pandemic Turkey Day of 2019. This could be another reason why more renters are staying closer to home or traveling for fewer days.

Americans are also cautiously getting back to air travel

Holiday air travel had been rising yearly pre-pandemic. But in 2020, it dropped 77 percent. For this holiday season, 10 percent of responders indicated that they were going to fly to their destination. Despite lingering pandemic fears, higher fares and increased numbers of unruly passengers, expect planes to be back to close to packed this year.

Another indicator of hesitancy to return to the skies is an unwillingness to spend money on air travel. Domestic airfare is expected to average around $300 round trip for Thanksgiving and $390 for Christmas. However, over 80 percent of responders indicated they expect to spend less than $300 on holiday travel this year. In fact, nearly half of those plan on spending less than $50.

Just 14 percent of those surveyed say they’ll travel over 250 miles and just 8 percent over 500. That backs up the data for air travel preference. In the U.S., the average airline passenger trip length is 495 miles.

Renters are once again feeling the holiday spirit

For the most part, poll responders across all demographics seem to have the same plans for the holidays. Three-quarters of those with the lowest income plan on gathering with family and friends this Christmas or Hanukkah. About the same percentage of the highest incomes have the same plan. And those who intend to be with people out of their households for Thanksgiving are within percentage points among those with the highest and the lowest rent.

That similarity is repeated across modes of transportation, spending budget and other metrics. Whatever the situation, it seems the same number of people are ready to hit the road or open the door and celebrate the holidays in person.

Survey methodology

The information presented in this survey comes from a Rent. survey conducted in October 2021.

A total of nearly 1,500 people participated in the survey. The largest group of survey-takers (33.0 percent) was 45-60 years old. The smallest group (18.2 percent) was over 60. Another 27.0 percent were in the 18-29 age bracket, while 21.8 percent were aged 30-44. Roughly 1 percent did not provide an age.

Our respondents were almost evenly split male and half female. Slightly more than half (52.4 percent) were female and 47.6 percent were male. Roughly 1 percent did not provide a gender.

The majority (57.9 percent) of respondents earn less than $50,000 a year. Those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 make up 25.3 percent of responses, and 9.3 percent earn more than $100,000 annually. More than 7 percent of respondents preferred not to answer.

Survey results are subject to response biases because they are self-reported.

Fair use statement

This survey records holiday travel plans for renters during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. All graphics and content are available for non-commercial reuse. Please link to this page and credit the survey in all citations.