New AAA study shows increased travel interest as result of fear of missing out

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Do you ever decide to do something as a result of FOMO (fear of missing out)?

65% of Gen Z and 58% of Millennial respondents of a new AAA and Bread Financial study say they have traveled in the past 12 months and/or plan to travel in the next 12 months for in-person events that are more than 50 miles from home like live concerts, sporting events, comedy shows and book readings, with over a third of respondents saying their plans are rooted in their FOMO beliefs.

Kevin Fairbanks-Bloom, Western and Central New York AAA's senior travel advisor uses Taylor Swift's tour opening in Europe as a prime example of artists influencing travel and spending habits of the young generation.

"People are spending $500 to $5,000 for a ticket," says Bloom. "And that's not even going into the 'I'm getting a special box seat' or anything like that. It's just to go to the event. And we've also seen that people are even willing to go to a foreign country to get the tickets, because it's cheaper than buying the tickets for the event here in the US. So that's also been pretty amazing, seeing that factor into what's been happening."

Bloom also notes the same goes for sporting events. AAA say a huge interest in people travelling to London last year to see the Buffalo Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

According to the survey, FOMO plays a substantial role in influencing live event ticket purchases, with 34% of all travelers admitting it played a role in their decision. 54% of Gen Zers most often feel compelled to make event travel purchases based on FOMO, 83% of Baby Boomers say they resist such pressures.

Additionally, younger generations (Gen Z - 44%, Millennials - 43%) emerge as the demographics most pressured into spending money on events they didn’t want to attend, which may result in some breaking into the savings or even taking on a little debt.

"Some people are honest, they say, 'I really want to do this. And so I borrowed money, I'm putting it on my credit card,' or they actually went and took a temporary part-time job to make sure they got the spending money, and they are not cheating themselves on this trip. Sometimes it comes down to finding an accommodation that will fit the budget. And we know that it might not be near the venue. But, you know, we're young, we can get around, we can figure out how to use public transportation. So each situation can be unique, but if they really want to do the event, they're finding a way to make it work as long as of course they're keeping their rent paid, and they're keeping food on the table."

Despite a Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco report that shows Americans estimating overall pandemic excess savings remaining in the U.S. economy has turned negative and suggesting that American households fully spent their pandemic-era savings as of March 2024, people are still finding ways to save and take their annual holiday.

Has travel expenditures contributed to the rather rapid deterioration of those COVID funds? Short answer - not the funds for those who couldn't afford it.

According to U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics, the largest percentage of respondents reported either spent or expected to spend their stimulus payment on food (66%), followed by utilities and telecommunications (50%), and household supplies and personal care (47%).

Bloom mentions that there has been a significant amount of international travel in 2023 compared to 2019 and in 2024, international travel is expected to increase.

"That right off the bat says people were spending that money that they had saved up. And this year, we've also seen the numbers are going as good if not better than what they were for 2023. That means people also are saying, you know, 'Okay, I'm back to my normal mode and I'm not afraid to travel. I'm going to be doing my normal trips.' And we're seeing big ticket trips. I've had three requests in the last six weeks for honeymoons in Japan. The last time I had three bookings for Japan was pre-COVID. So, you know, again, we're seeing people are traveling back around the world again. And for special occasions or special events. They're willing to spend the money for anything."