Aug 15, 2026
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Add us on GoogleWith the cost of travel soaring — along with the cost of living — it’s tempting to roll the dice on a $200 mystery vacation.
But while you might be lucky enough to find yourself on a plane heading to Bali or Rome, there’s a higher chance you’ll end up somewhere like Denver or Salt Lake City for the weekend.
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“Mystery vacations” aren’t new, but Groupon is taking it to the masses by offering dirt-cheap mystery vacation packages with blind flight-and-hotel packages that range from $199 to $299.
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It works on a lottery system: A few buyers will get those coveted exotic trips, but most will find themselves headed to a U.S. city for the weekend.
Tammy Wales, a travel agent from Ringgold, Georgia, bought a domestic Groupon package for a trip with her daughter and ended up in Orlando — where they’ve been many times.
“I’m not a theme-park person at all,” Wales told The Wall Street Journal. So, they skipped the theme parks to take a scenic boat tour and do some shopping instead. Wales also said she was disappointed with the resort they were assigned, though “it wasn’t the worst place.”
Like Wales, thousands of Americans are rolling the dice on mystery vacations, especially as travel gets more pricey.
The rising cost of travel
Travel prices were 7.1% higher in July than the same time last year, with airfares rising every month in 2026, according to the U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Price Index. Airfares alone were a whopping 25.5% higher in July 2026 compared to July 2025. But travel prices were up across the board, with food and beverage prices 3.4% higher than a year ago and entertainment prices up 1.0%.
The cost of air travel has skyrocketed amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel war on Iran, which has resulted in a global shortage of jet fuel. It also doesn’t help that Spirit Airlines — an ultra-low-fare carrier — abruptly shut down operations in May, reducing competition in the market.
Despite this, Americans still want to travel, though about a quarter (24%) of respondents in PwC’s “U.S. Consumer Poll on Summer Spending” said they were planning to spend less on travel than they did last summer.
While respondents cite “the high cost of everyday expenses and a focus on saving money and paying down debt” as reasons why, they’re still taking vacations — but they’re taking shorter trips (45%) and traveling closer to home (42%). Another 18% are delaying or skipping vacations altogether.
To make the most of their tighter budgets, the PwC survey found that “Gen Z respondents are more likely to trade down on accommodations, while millennials are more likely to book early to lock in discounts.”
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Meanwhile, others are choosing to take a leap in the dark with a mystery vacation.
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How Groupon’s mystery vacations work
Groupon — best known for discounts on local services, like pedicures and restaurant meals — has entered the mystery-vacation market, partnering with U.K.-based online travel agency Mystery Vacations to coordinate the details.
You pay $199 to $299 per person for a voucher, depending on the departure airport, with a minimum of two vouchers required. If you’re traveling solo, there’s an additional $150 surcharge. The deal covers roundtrip airfare and accommodations (rated three stars or higher) for a trip ranging from two to seven nights.
According to Groupon, an algorithm “randomly selects your vacation destination based on your preferred travel dates and departure airport from a pool of 2,000 vouchers, with trips drawn from Gold, Silver or Bronze tiers.”
Your preferred travel dates are just that: preferred. There’s no guarantee you’ll depart on the exact date of your choosing. Your mystery vacation destination is revealed within 72 hours.
“There are no refunds if someone dislikes their options,” Gaurav Jaura, Director of Mystery Vacations, told The Wall Street Journal. However, they can request an alternative, though that could come at an additional cost.
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Gold-tier trips include seven nights in “premium” destinations like Europe or Asia, while silver-tier trips are four-night getaways in destinations it describes as “tropical and bucket-list escapes” like Iceland, Hawaii and Los Cabos.
Bronze-tier trips include two nights in major U.S. cities, like San Francisco, Chicago or Salt Lake City.
Out of every 2,000 vouchers, six trips are gold-tier and 12 are silver-tier, which means that 1,982 vouchers — that’s more than 99% — are bronze-tier (and could explain why reviews on TikTok and Reddit are mixed).
A few things to consider before taking a mystery vacation
Mystery trips aren’t a new concept — and they’re not all dirt-cheap.
For example, Pack Up + Go specializes in surprise three-day domestic trips (plane, train or road trip) based on traveler preferences, starting from $500 for road trips and $1,000 for plane trips per person.
On the other end of the spectrum, Blind Experiences offers curated surprise travel experiences (each day is revealed in a sealed envelope) — and you pick the price tag, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
And those are just a few options out there.
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Even with Groupon’s budget option, you’ll have to cover other travel expenses, such as food, entertainment and local transportation. Plus, if your flight is a basic economy fare, you may have to pay more to check a bag or choose a seat. So, if you’re on a tight budget, you’ll also want to consider these additional costs.
But, it’s not always just about the money.
A Booking.com study from 2023 found that more than half (52%) of travelers “want to surrender themselves to the element of surprise, explore the unknown and venture into uncharted territory on vacation.”
Maybe that’s because, in a time when everything seemingly has to be planned and booked so far in advance, there’s perhaps something exciting about going all in on an unknown adventure.
“Travelers today are looking for something beyond the traditional itinerary,” Aron Backström, Vice President of Loyalty and Product for Scandinavian Airlines, told Thrillist, about its annual Destination Unknown trips for EuroBonus members. “They want to rediscover the excitement of the unknown and break free from the routine of overly planned travel.”
At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of keeping expectations in check. You quite literally never know what you’re going to get.
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Vawn Himmelsbach is a veteran journalist who covers tech, business, finance and travel. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, CBC News, Yahoo Finance, MSN, CAA Magazine, Travelweek, Explore Magazine and Consumer Reports.
