Nearly a third (30 per cent) of Brits have postponed holidays or travel <\/a>this year, the polling conducted by YouGov and commissioned by fintech company SumUp shows. A further one in five (19 per cent) say they cannot afford to travel at all.<\/p>\n The results reveal a growing concern about finances, as continued tension in the Middle East affects economies across the globe. The price of oil has soared amid fighting between Iran<\/a> and the US<\/a>, with a knock-on effect on the cost of energy<\/a>, food and jet fuel.<\/p>\n The source of the uncertainty is disruption to the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran<\/a> and Oman, amid Iranian threats on oil tankers following the US<\/a>\u2019s attack of the country in February. The strait is key waterway for global trade, through which around 20 per cent of the world\u2019s gas and oil is shipped.<\/p>\n Corin Camenisch at SumUp says: \u201cWith people\u2019s finances already squeezed, and now international events conspiring to make travelling much more expensive, it is saddening but not surprising to see one in five people in the UK<\/a> will be unable to travel this year because of costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t just people having to miss out on their summer holidays<\/a> \u2013 as sad as that is \u2013 it\u2019s families and friends missing out on crucial events in the lives of their loved ones. Our networks are more global than they\u2019ve ever been and not being able to be with loved ones on milestones like birthdays and weddings can be heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n Airlines have begun to increase flight cancellations for May as jet fuel prices and fear of shortages rise. There were 296 departures from UK<\/a> airports cancelled this month, date from analytics firm Cirium recently showed, a figure that rises by the day.<\/p>\n EU energy<\/a> commissioner Dan Jorgensen recently told Sky News that many people would be hit by the high price and low availability of aviation fuel, saying: \u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s very likely that many people\u2019s holidays<\/a> will be affected, either because of flight cancellations or very, very expensive tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven if we do everything we can, if the jet fuel is not there, then it\u2019s not there.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump announced that a peace deal agreement with Iran has been \u201clargely negotiated\u201d, with more details expected soon. Tehran has claimed the strait will reopen and that the US Navy will leave the area within a month, prompting the price of oil to drop to the lowest point since April.<\/p>\n This has boosted hopes that the worst economic impacts of the crisis may be averted, and that flights will be able to resume as normal come the summer months.<\/p>\n However, energy costs are set to hit a two-year high in the UK from July following Ofgem\u2019s announcement of its new energy price cap on Wednesday. The regulator increased the figure by 13 per cent, to \u00a31,862.<\/p>\n The figure sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge for a unit of energy, expressed as the yearly energy bill for an average UK household.<\/p>\n Conor O\u2019Shea, coordinator of the Cost of Living Action coalition, said: \u201cThe cost of essentials is eating further and further into household budgets, leaving little or no money for anything else. This crisis is sucking the joy out of life for millions of families, with small treats and presents \u2013 let alone holidays and foreign travel \u2013 a distant dream.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government needs to tackle the causes as well as the symptoms of our broken economy, so families can live comfortably and flourish \u2013 not just scrape by. People being unable to afford even a short break simply should not be the reality in a country as wealthy as the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Figures](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5c6490bb66681211387a6a31354d6aabY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc4NjcxODU3-2.50139557.jpg\")
Figures for the peak summer months show week-on-week schedule reductions are currently limited (Steve Parsons\/PA) (PA Archive)<\/p>\n![\"Sir](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779909011_81_download...jpeg\")
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have announced several measures to tackle the rising cost of living in recent months (AP)<\/p>\n