Travel mishaps cost average traveler nearly $2,500

From missing flights to booking hotel rooms that didn’t actually exist, the average traveler says their travel misadventures have cost them nearly $2,500 USD, according to new research.

The poll of 2,000 American travelers and 2,000 travelers from the UK and Australia found 73% have experienced some sort of major travel mishap. Their most common troubles: bad weather disrupting a trip (26%), getting sick or injured (16%) and arriving at a hotel to find a specific amenity was not available (14%).

Others have experienced fails like having their phone die or losing internet at a critical moment (14%) and getting lost while traveling (14%) – as well as booking accommodation that was falsely advertised or did not meet the travel group’s needs (13%).

Commissioned by Aven Hospitality (https://www.avenhospitality.com/) and conducted by Talker Research, the study asked respondents to share their absolute worst travel letdowns and unexpected experiences that ruined their trip – and caused them to change their booking behaviors going forward.

One particular traveler recalled: “[I] booked a hotel in Surfers Paradise; it looked wonderful in the images. Said it was close to main areas. It was not close. The room had vomit on the bathroom floor, water-damaged walls, and biscuits behind tables.”

“[My] flight home from a major city got canceled two minutes prior to the final boarding call, due to runway repairs at the airport of my destination,” said another respondent. “[I] had to call my spouse to drive six hours in the middle of the night to come and pick me up.”

And according to another: “I broke my leg on the second day of a 14-day trip.”

Travelers believe their travel issues have wound up costing them nearly $2,500 USD on average. And 85% said they permanently changed their trip planning and booking behaviors afterwards, too.

The average traveler also estimated they’ve lost $1,891 USD purely due to inaccurate or outdated information while booking a hotel or not having their expectations met when arriving at a venue.

And interestingly, the losses reported are significantly different across age groups, with millennials estimating losses almost three times as high as baby boomers ($2,496 vs. $956).

“With so many sites, reviews and recommendations to sort through, travel planning can quickly become overwhelming,” explained Noreen Henry, chief revenue officer at Aven Hospitality. “Travelers are trying to make decisions across transportation, routes, accommodations, amenities, activities and dining — and one inaccurate detail can have a ripple effect on the entire trip. The survey shows that when expectations don’t match reality, the impact can be more than frustrating; it can also be costly.”

The international poll found many travelers run into the same pain points when they book their trips and vacations. Over half (51%) of travelers believe that travel mishaps they’ve experienced are due to a lack of accurate information when planning and booking a trip.

As a result, some are starting to turn to AI to help plan their trips for them. Over two-thirds (67%) said they’ve already used AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.) in their travel searches, and an additional 68% have used AI to compare different trip options. A surprising 59% have even used it to actually book parts of their trip.

Similarly, 75% said they’d trust AI to make hotel recommendations to them that accurately reflect their destination’s perks, rules and property amenities – but only 14% actually trust AI to book their hotel stay autonomously.

Forty-nine percent said they tend to book directly on a hotel’s website (36%) or a hotel’s mobile app (13%), highlighting that consumers still prefer to make the final booking transaction themselves.

But even so, nearly all (99%) of travelers said they plan to use AI in some capacity for travel planning going forward. Seventy-one percent said they’ll use it to make recommendations, while 28% said they’ll use AI for both making recommendations and assisting with bookings.

“Travelers are clearly looking for tools that can make planning and booking easier to navigate,” continued Henry. “AI has the potential to help people compare options, organize details and spot potential issues earlier — but hotels also have a role to play in making sure the information travelers see about their properties, amenities and policies is accurate. When those details are clear and reliable, consumers can make more informed choices and arrive with expectations that match the actual experience.”