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.
A small percentage of buyers end up at far-flung destinations such as Singapore or Paris, though the majority are sent to domestic locations like Las Vegas, Atlanta or Orlando. Participants are typically told their destinations within a few days of filling out the necessary paperwork.
"Orlando probably wouldn't have been in my top 10 pick of places," said Tammy Wales, a Georgia-based travel agent whose mystery vacation led her to the central Florida city. But, "as long as I'm gone, I don't really care. The biggest thing was being able to take a trip and have the element of surprise."
Gas prices are pacing for a record high on Labor Day and have jumped roughly 30% on an annual basis, according to AAA. Airline fares surged more than 25% year over year as of July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the same time, some parts of the travel industry have centered attention on the luxury segment. Airlines ranging from Delta to Southwest have raced to add offerings like expanded first-class cabins and lounges to woo first-class fliers.
But the outlook for value travel may not be as dire as it seems. Industry data provider OAG found that low-cost airlines have gained market share in 2025 compared with prepandemic, though that could take a hit after Spirit Airlines shut down in May.
Despite a recent pickup in luxury hotel production, the majority of new rooms are still in relatively affordable tiers, said Jay Morrow, head of hospitality advisory at Walker & Dunlop.
Groupon's mystery package isn't the only value-centric travel product receiving attention as prices rise.
