---
title: More US Parents Are Taking Their Kids Out of School to Save on Travel
description: Pulling children out for a few off-peak days can shave hundreds off a family trip, but teachers and a wider absence problem complicate the decision.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-29T10:28:20.328Z
updated: 2026-08-29T10:28:20.338Z
canonical: https://richmommagazine.com/article/taking-kids-out-of-school-to-travel-off-peak
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-group-of-teenagers-strolling-in-a-park-carrying-skateboards--5212665.jpg
content_type: Analysis
region: United States
publication: Rich Dad Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

The cheapest week to fly your family somewhere is almost never a week your kids have off. Travel-industry estimates put peak-season accommodation roughly 20% to 40% higher than the same rooms off-peak, and flights climb the same way whenever school is out and every other family is trying to travel. So a growing number of American parents are doing the obvious thing: booking when it is cheap and taking the kids out of school to travel.

Independent data backs up how common this has become. In a University of Southern California study reported by Chalkbeat, [about a third of students named a family vacation or event as a reason they had missed school](https://www.chalkbeat.org/2026/06/30/chronic-absenteeism-crisis-not-just-due-to-pandemic-study-finds/).

A recent survey by the travel-booking company Omio puts the number much higher. Atomik Research polled 1,000 US parents of children aged 5 to 18 in late July and early August, and 67% said they had already taken their kids out of school for a vacation, with another 24% saying they would consider it. That figure sits well above the independent measures, and it comes from a company that sells the trips, so the nine-in-ten headline reads as a marketing marker more than a hard count. The reason parents give is money: in the same survey, 92% said they would consider a term-time trip if it saved anything at all, and nearly half said savings under $1,000 would be enough to decide them.

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