Priceline Wedding Travel Report: Save the Date and Start Saving Up

New Priceline Wedding Travel Report Reveals 66% of Singles Would Rather Find a Good Hotel Deal than a Wedding Date/Plus One  

As peak wedding season approaches, Americans are gearing up to celebrate their loved ones both near and far. Priceline, a leader in online travel deals, surveyed 1,000 Americans to better understand top wedding trends. Priceline’s Wedding Travel Report highlights how factors like inflation are impacting wedding travel and consumer sentiment about spending money on wedding travel this year.

2022 is the year people are making up for lost wedding travel. In the next 12 months, 79% of respondents plan to attend a wedding in the U.S. that they have to travel to and 61% plan to attend a wedding-related event¹. As people plan their travel for weddings across the country, cost quickly becomes a top concern: three-fourths (76%) are often surprised by how much wedding-related events cost as a guest.

So Many Weddings, So Little Time

Americans are excited to celebrate the moments that matter after more than two years of postponed occasions. And 2022 seems to be the year that weddings, and travel, are back in full swing. In fact, 57% of respondents plan on attending more weddings or wedding-related events this year than usual, due to so many weddings being postponed over the last two years. And there’s enthusiasm for the upcoming festivities, with 79% of respondents saying wedding-related events are a great excuse to travel. But the expenses of traveling for a wedding or wedding-related event can quickly add up.

Save the Date… and Start Saving Up 

Celebrating a loved one’s big day can come with a high price tag. Consumers spend more than $2,700 on average just to attend a  wedding—that’s roughly equivalent to a full month’s salary based on the median annual wage in the US². Because of these high expenses, 58% of Americans have chosen to not participate in a wedding related party or event that required travel because of the cost.

For guests, budgeting, finding affordable accommodations, and planning the trip are the most stressful parts of attending an out-of-town wedding or wedding-related event. According to 30% of respondents, wedding travel is typically more expensive than a trip they would otherwise take. In fact, many guests feel pressured to tap into their personal savings just to attend.

• • Guests are primarily concerned with finding a reasonably priced hotel (33%). 

• • Finding a good deal on a flight (30%) is of equal concern to having a difficult time budgeting for wedding or wedding-related travel (30%). Budgeting to attend out of town wedding events is especially stressful for younger consumers: Gen Z (39%), compared to Millennials (30%), Gen X (27%) and Boomers (25%).

Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Wedding Travel is Costly, Too

The high costs of attending weddings and wedding-related events can interfere with guests’ personal travel plans: six in ten respondents say that the high costs of attending weddings/wedding-related events has limited their ability to save for a vacation (61%) or a bucket list trip (59%).

• • Eight in ten (81%) say inflation makes finding a travel deal more important than ever, and the same amount (79%) would sign up for a travel rewards program to save and/or earn points on travel

    • • Priceline Hot Tip: Become a Priceline VIP for free and access immediate savings, loyalty perks, and other benefits. Traveling to multiple weddings this year? You can reach VIP Gold status and unlock up to 50% off hotels after five bookings.

  • Fifty-eight percent would rather find a good flight deal or a good travel deal (60%) than find the perfect outfit (42% and 40%, respectively). 

Singles are Chasing Deals… Not Dates
Deals are top-of-mind for all wedding guests, plus one or not. Of singles surveyed, 66% would rather find a good hotel deal and 64% percent would rather find a good flight deal than a date/plus one to accompany them. In fact, 65% of singles plan to attend without a date so that they are not responsible for their travel costs.

• • Priceline Hot Tip: Whether you’re bringing a plus one or flying solo, save up to $625 when you bundle  your hotel and flight bookings using Priceline Packages. 

Vow to Travel
Wedding season is finally back in full swing. However, with inflation and rising prices, it’s proving costlier than ever to watch their loved ones say “I do,” making travel deals more important than ever. Having negotiated amazing travel deals for over 20 years, Priceline saves travelers more than one billion dollars every year (that’s $2,000 per minute!). So travelers never have to miss the moments that matter—weddings, bucket list trips, and everything in between.

• • Priceline Hot Tip: Pay at your own pace with “Buy Now, Pay Later” options through Affirm, which offers monthly or biweekly payments when booking travel on Priceline.

Survey Methodology
Results are based on an online survey conducted between April 1st and April 10th, 2022 among 1,000 Americans, approximately half of whom were married in last 12 months or plan to marry in next 12 months, and approximately half of whom have attended or traveled to a wedding or wedding-related event in the last 12 months or plan to in the next 12 months. The results are balanced as it relates to age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and region in the United States.

¹A wedding-related event refers to a bachelor/bachelorette party, engagement party, rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, group honeymoon (buddymoon), honeymoon, etc. 

² Based on the Social Security Administration “National Average Wage Index” for the 2019 median average US wage receiving semi-monthly payments.