The promise of travel has always been tied to images. From glossy brochures to Instagram reels, we’ve long relied on pictures to tell us what awaits on the other side of a ticket. But in 2025, that trust is fraying.

A new survey from Full Frame Insurance , which polled 1,000 Americans, reveals what many travelers already suspect: the photos luring us to book often hide the truth. Nearly four in ten Americans say they’ve been misled by travel imagery, and one in ten cut trips short when reality failed to match the pictures.

It would be easy to dismiss these stories as mere vacation disappointments. When AI can conjure up hyper-realistic beachscapes that never existed, the stakes are far higher. If we can no longer trust our eyes when planning a trip, what else are we willing to gamble

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