Older Americans Are Turning to AI to Plan Trips - and Taking More of Them

They Were Supposed to Pull Back. They Didn’t.

The AARP 2026 Travel Trends survey expected to find a cohort of older adults tightening their travel budgets. Rising costs, air travel disruptions, and economic uncertainty had all nudged expectations downward. Instead, adults age 50 and older took an average of 4.2 trips in 2025 - compared to the 3.6 they had originally planned. Actual travel outpaced expectations for another consecutive year.

Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents said they planned to travel in 2026 as well. And one of the more striking findings in the report was about how they are doing it: the use of AI tools for travel planning among adults 50 and older doubled in a single year, rising from 8 percent to 16 percent.

What AI Is Doing for Travelers Over 50

According to AARP’s research, the most popular use of AI among this group is finding deals. Comparison shopping across airlines, hotels, and travel booking platforms has historically been time-consuming and opaque. AI tools are making that process faster and, for many users, producing better results than manual searching.

But the applications go beyond deal-hunting. AI tools are also being used to build full travel itineraries, suggest activities tailored to personal interests, and identify gaps in trip planning that travelers might otherwise miss - particularly useful for multi-generational trips involving multiple people’s schedules and preferences.

Fox affiliate KTVU reported that travel industry experts described the shift as unexpected given the group’s reputation for technology skepticism. ‘Even with cost pressures, adults 50-plus are finding creative ways to keep exploring,’ said Carey Kyler, senior director of consumer insights at AARP Services. ‘Whether that’s using rewards, shopping for deals, or turning to AI for smarter trip planning.’

Family Is Still the Top Reason They Go

Technology is changing how older Americans travel. What they are traveling for has stayed consistent. The AARP survey found that 57 percent of adults 50-plus who traveled in 2025 said their primary motivation was spending time with family - and one in four trips included three generations traveling together.

That family-centered motivation is one reason the 50-plus travel market has proven more resilient than general leisure travel in a period of economic pressure. A trip to see grandchildren or gather extended family is not easily deferred the way a vacation might be. It occupies a different emotional category in the budget.

The Concerns They Are Managing

Despite the optimism, the survey captured real anxiety about air travel. Concerns about flight cancellations jumped from 24 percent of respondents in 2025 to 36 percent in 2026 - a significant shift, driven in part by the extended government shutdown last fall, which led to widespread airline delays and disruptions tied to staffing shortages at TSA and among air traffic controllers.

Older travelers described navigating airports, getting through security, and managing boarding as growing sources of stress. For adults managing mobility challenges or medical devices, the physical demands of air travel have become a more prominent consideration in destination planning.

Still Going - Smarter

The headline from AARP’s 2026 findings is not that older Americans are traveling despite challenges. It is that they are traveling through them - adapting their tools, their timelines, and their strategies to keep doing something they clearly value deeply.

Eighty-six percent of respondents said travel is a top discretionary spending priority. More than half of their 2026 trips were already booked or planned by the end of 2025. The desire to travel is, as one AARP researcher put it, ‘incredibly resilient.’

The generation that built the modern American road trip is not done. They have just added a new tool to the planning process.

References: New AARP Report: Older Americans Plan More Travel in 2026 as They Embrace AI | AARP Travel Trends Survey 2026 | Older Americans Using AI to Save on Summer Travel, AARP Study Finds