Nine out of 10 American Parents Have Taken Their Kids Out of School for a Family Vacation -- or Would Consider It

New Omio survey finds cost, crowds and flexible work are doing more to shape family travel than the school calendar

NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For most American families, the school calendar is no longer the final word on when to travel. A new survey from Omio, the multi-modal travel booking platform, finds that 67% of U.S. parents of school-age children have taken their kids out of school for a family vacation and 24% would consider it.

The online survey of 1,000 U.S. parents of children ages 5 to 18, fielded by Atomik Research on behalf of Omio, points to a broader shift: family experiences outweigh the traditional school calendar, with taking kids out of school for a vacation now mainstream behavior among parents. Attitudes toward missed school days differ somewhat by parent role, with 74% of dads saying they have taken their children out of school for trips compared to 62% of moms.

Flexibility, Cost and Convenience Matter More Than the School Calendar

Better flights and hotel availability (22%), saving money outright (19%) and avoiding extreme weather (19%) top the list of reasons parents give for traveling off-calendar, ahead of remote work flexibility (16%) and crowd avoidance (16%). If taking their child out of school for a vacation could save their family any amount of money, 92% of parents say they'd consider it – and for many, it wouldn't take much: 44% said savings under $1,000 would do it.

Parents open to taking their kids out of school for vacations are not overwhelmingly locked into one season – the appeal holds year-round. Fifty-two percent cite Winter (December-February) and Spring (March-June), and 47% indicate Fall as periods they've traveled or would consider traveling outside of defined school breaks.

The Truth, Mostly

Parents aren't uniformly forthcoming with schools about why a child is out. While 45% tell the school outright that it's for a vacation, another 31% give the school something less specific – 18% cite a family or personal reason, 7% say the child was sick, and 7% don't specify anything.

Travel as a Worthwhile Tradeoff with Educational Value

Rather than viewing travel and learning as mutually exclusive, parents are framing vacations as opportunities for enrichment beyond the classroom. Forty-four percent of parents say missing a few days of school is worth it if it creates meaningful family experiences, and 28% say travel can be just as educational as time in the classroom – a view more Millennial parents (30%) hold than Gen X parents (23%).

"This data confirms what we are seeing across our platform: family travel isn't bound by the school year anymore. Parents are booking when it makes sense – for their budget, their schedule, their sanity," said Facundo Viguie Aleman, CMO of Omio. "Omio makes it easy for families to decide when to travel, with one place to compare and book trains, buses, ferries and flights, in dollars and plain English, so they get the best trip for the best price, whenever they choose to go."

Survey Methodology

Omio commissioned Atomik Research, part of 4media group, to survey 1,000 U.S. adults who are parents of at least one child between the ages of 5 and 18. Fieldwork took place between July 30 and Aug. 3, 2026. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.

SOURCE Omio