Reps. Nunn and Miller-Meeks vote to raise costs on Iowa families as summer travel prices soar

Reps. Nunn & Miller-Meeks continually vote for increasing prices, halting Iowa families’ summer vacations, as price spikes across the board.

According to a May 2026 report from the Groundwork Collaborative, the average domestic airfare ticket is now 31% more expensive than in January, costing a family of four an extra $360 on plane tickets for a typical flight. Airfare rose 20.7% from one year ago, the highest one-year increase since 2023. For families choosing to drive instead of fly, a 1,000-mile round trip will now cost an average of $184 in gas, a 51% increase.

Airlines have also cut over 2 million seats and 12,000 flights worldwide over recent weeks, with thousands of flights being cut from summer schedules. These reductions, driven by increased fuel costs, mean fewer options for travelers and less competition to keep prices down.

The travel cost increases are part of broader economic pressures facing Iowa families. The report found that tariffs and related policies have also driven up the cost of staying home this summer, between groceries and the higher costs of keeping a home cool, Iowans are lacking options this summer. 

Between minimizing the pain rising costs are causing Iowans, voting repeatedly in support of tariffs and voting against stopping the war in Iran that is driving up gas prices, Representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks have done nothing to provide much needed relief to Iowans’ budgets. 

Mazie Stilwell, Progress Iowa Executive Director, said that higher costs are pumping the brakes on summer travel.

"Gas and plane tickets are through the roof, and everything costs more,” said Stilwell. Families are making hard decisions about what they can afford, and they have Reps. Nunn and Miller-Meeks to thank. Their votes to protect the tariffs and war in Iran make clear that out-of-control costs are no concern of theirs."