From ‘mystery vacations’ to hostels, budget travelers get thrifty as prices rise

On a recent weekend, Jami Hagerman embarked on the budget- vacation equivalent of a blind date.

The hairstylist and her husband spent about $400 on Groupon "mystery vacation" vouchers that promised accommodations and airfare for the pair — but no say in the destination. The Oklahoma City residents were sent to New Orleans , where they visited museums, took walking tours and ate the city's famous beignet desert.

"I feel like the value was great for the trip," said Hagerman, 29. "It was fun."

Hagerman isn't the only one balancing an inclination to see the world with the pinch of higher prices.

Travel costs are surging amid the U.S. war with Iran and many companies in the industry are homing in on premium offerings to fetch higher prices and margins. Conventional wisdom might suggest that affordability-minded vacationers in the U.S would buckle in this environment, but data shows that they aren't allowing themselves to get left behind.

Lower-income clients, or those with annual earnings under $36,675, spent more monthly on travel earlier this year than at any point since at least 2019, according to PNC card data analyzed exclusively for CNBC. Spending in July for this cohort rose 7% from the same month a year ago.

Groupon expanded what started as an initial "mystery vacation" offering for North America to a full portfolio. That portfolio recorded around 5,500 orders in the second quarter of 2026, a more than five-fold increase compared with when it had only a flagship product in the first quarter of 2025, according to data shared with CNBC by Groupon.

Groupon advertises the flagship package — which ranges from $199 to $299 in per-person price, depending on the departing airport — as having a 50% discount.