Americans Waste More Than $200 billion Annually By Failing To Use All Their Vacation Time

In Texas and across the South millions of students are returning to school this week, to be joined in the next couple of weeks by their counterparts in the Midwest and both the East and West Coasts.

Thus, the summer family vacation season fast is coming to an end. Yet, sadly – maddeningly, even – tens of millions of Americans did not take full advantage of their available vacation time this summer. They’re also a sure bet not to use all of what’s left of their vacation time between now the time the band plays the first notes of Auld Lang Syne at midnight on Jan. 1, 2020.

Indeed, American workers left a staggering 768 million vacation days – an estimed $213.2 billion worth of vacation – plus an incalculably huge and important amount of body- and sole-refreshing time away from the grind on the table in 2017. That’s according to a new report from the U.S. Travel Association. Though some employers allow their workers to carry over at least some of their unused vacation days, many do not. As a result, a big chunk of that $213.2 billion worth of unused vacation in 2017 – an estimated $65.5 billion of it – was lost forever, as are similar amounts each year when the clock strikes Midnight on New Year’s morning.

In 2018 things arguably got a bit worse, with American workers leaving 9% more vacation time unused than in 2017. Workers in this country took 17.4 days of vacation, on average, in 2018. That’s a slight improvement over the 17.2 days of vacation we took, on average, in 2017. But because more Americans were employed in 2018 than in 2017, and because the average number of vacation days earned ticked up a bit in 2018 the total number of vacation days foregone last year rose by that 9% amount.

Though the number of vacation days used each year has inched higher every year since bottoming out at just under 16 days, on average, in 2014, that recent, modest trend remains far behind what used to be this nation’s vacation usage trend in the last quarter of the 20^th Century. From 1976 through 2000, American workers took, on average, 20.3 days of annual vacation. In 1981 the trend peaked at 21.3 days of vacation, on average, for working Americans.

If that peak figure were to translated to today’s much larger workforce it would result in an additional 447 million vacation days being taken annually. That’s about 1.3 additional vacation days a year for every man, woman and child in the United States, and more than 3 additional vacation days taken a year by every employed adult and their families.

And if every working American who qualifies for paid vacation days took all their time off and used most of that time to take vacation trips U.S. Travel calculated that it would mean an additional $151.5 billion in travel spending by Americans. It also would trigger the creation of an additional two million jobs in this country.

Of course, U.S. Travel has a stake in the game. The association exists to promote travel and tourism to and within the United States and represents travel industry companies ranging from hotels and airlines to rental car companies, restaurants, travel agencies and hundreds of other companies that provide a wide range of services to travelers and/or travel service providers.

The association noted that, as always, the biggest factor in people choosing not to use their vacation days to travel is cost, or at least the perceived high cost of travel.

“When I see how many vacation days went unused, I don’t just see a number—I see 768 million missed opportunities to recharge, experience something new and connect with family and friends,” said Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “However, it’s an unfortunate truth that cost is the top barrier to travel. Despite the financial challenges of traveling, there are affordable alternatives to explore America—whether it’s a drive up the coast or a day trip to a neighboring town.”

Other factors figure into workers’ decisions not to use their full vacation time allotments. Some workers fear falling behind while they’re away and being snowed under upon their return. Others fear – accurately or not – being regarded as a less-than-dedicated employee for taking all their vacation time for personal pleasure. Still others just don’t make taking their allotted time off in order to do something fun and reviving much of a priority in their lives.

U.S. Travel reported that workers who actively engage in vacation time planning take, on average, about 12 paid days off to travel each year, while those who make no such plans take only five days off a year to travel. Worse, the Association says that 23% of workers who are not such vacation “planners” have not taken any trips at all in the last two years, compared with just 4% of workers who are vacation planners.

“Year after year, the evidence shows that Americans who plan for their vacations at the start of the year take more time off to travel and are healthier in many aspects of life,” Dow said.

U.S. Travel’s research data further shows that vacation “planners” not only take more of their allotted vacation time but that they also get more out of that time by planning more impactful vacations than “non-planner” typically experience. Almost half – 46% of American households fit into that “non-planners” category and, as a result typically miss out on cheaper fares, hotel discounts, and money-saving deals on entry to a wide range of attractions. They also often miss out on being able to fully experience or even getting into many of America’s most popular vacation attractions that can be overflowing with visitors or even closed to those who don’t plan far enough ahead to get day-and-time-specific reservations.

Employment experts and industrial psychologists have argued for years that workers who don’t get away with family or friends, or even alone, for quality vacation time become less creative, less pleasant and less effective employees in the long run because they miss out on the physically, emotionally and socially rejuvenating effects of vacationing.