Pet owners are reshaping their travel planning priorities in 2026, with concerns about their animals’ health and care weighing as heavily as logistics like flights and hotels, according to new survey data from travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip.
The national survey found that nearly a third of pet-owning travelers (32%) worry most about a pet emergency occurring while they’re away, edging out concerns about pet care availability (31.58%). The findings underscore a growing pain point for travel agents whose clients have four-legged family members at home.
Notably, 65% of respondents said they do not travel with their pets, meaning the majority are navigating boarding arrangements, pet sitters, and the anxiety of being unreachable in a crisis — all while trying to enjoy a vacation.
For those who do bring their pets along, road trips are by far the most popular option (34.14%), followed by short trips (24.5%). Only 6.2% of pet-traveling respondents said they take their animals on flights, reflecting the well-documented friction around airline pet policies.
Crowded airports and weather ranked as lower concerns, at 8% and 5.7% respectively, suggesting that logistical hassles are secondary to the deeper fear of something going wrong with a pet in the owner’s absence.
The survey also points to an insurance gap agents may want to address with clients. Travel insurance policies that include pet-related benefits — covering trip cancellation or interruption due to a pet’s illness or death, unexpected veterinary emergencies, and additional kennel fees — remain an underutilized tool for this segment of travelers.
For agents, the data offers a clear opening: pet-owning clients represent a market that responds strongly to flexibility and contingency planning, and may be more receptive to travel protection conversations than the average traveler.
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