You can learn a lot about people from their travel habits generally and their attitudes toward summer travel in particular. After all, summer travel can be especially trying, on both our patience and our wallets.
To get a better sense of how U.S. consumers are feeling about their ability to get away heading into the most expensive time of the year, WalletHub conducted a nationally representative online survey. You can find the results in the following infographic.
Full Details Overall
| What do you worry about when traveling? (select all that apply) | |
|---|---|
| Weather | 52% |
| COVID-19 | 52% |
| Money | 46% |
| Delays | 39% |
| Theft | 39% |
| Terrorism | 22% |
| Sleep | 24% |
| Which are you more likely to do? | |
| Skip a vacation | 84% |
| Skip a credit card payment | 16% |
| Do you think about post-vacation credit card bills during your vacation? | |
| No | 53% |
| Yes | 47% |
| How likely are you to apply for a new credit card before a vacation? | |
| Very Unlikely | 52% |
| Not Likely | 33% |
| Likely | 10% |
| Very Likely | 5% |
| Have you ever used credit card rewards to pay for at least part of a vacation? | |
| No | 55% |
| Yes | 45% |
| What would you do for a free summer vacation? (select all that apply) | |
| Stop drinking coffee for a year | 48% |
| Work weekends during the winter | 48% |
| Stop dining out for a year | 44% |
| Stop watching TV for a year | 22% |
| Does travel usually get you into debt? | |
| No | 72% |
| Yes | 28% |
| Which, if any, credit card benefits have you used? (select all that apply) | |
| None | 49% |
| Rental car insurance | 28% |
| Trip delay/cancellation insurance | 18% |
| Travel accident insurance | 17% |
| Price protection | 14% |
| Return protection | 14% |
| Extended warranty | 12% |
| How difficult is it to take advantage of these benefits offered by credit cards? | |
| OK | 55% |
| Hard | 25% |
| Easy | 20% |
| Which type of credit card are you most likely to get? | |
| Cash back credit card | 61% |
| Airline credit card | 12% |
| Gas credit card | 12% |
| General travel card | 11% |
| Hotel credit card | 4% |
| Are you more scared to travel this summer than before COVID? | |
| Yes | 59% |
| No | 41% |
| Do you think you’ll get more bang for your buck by traveling during the pandemic? | |
| Yes | 54% |
| No | 46% |
| Are you more interested in travel credit cards now than before COVID? | |
| No | 77% |
| Yes | 23% |
| Did you miss using travel credit card perks during the pandemic? | |
| No | 66% |
| Yes | 34% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Ask the Experts
- Asli D.A. Tasci
Interim Chair of the Department of Tourism, Events and Attractions; Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Marketing – University of Central Florida, Rosen College of Hospitality Management
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- B. Bynum Boley
Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources – University of Georgia
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- Reneta McCarthy
Senior Lecturer, Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, School of Hotel Administration, SC Johnson College of Business – Cornell University
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- Jeff Dew
Associate Professor, School of Family Life, College of Family, Home and Social Sciences – Brigham Young University
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- Frederick DeMicco
Ph.D., RDN – Executive Director & Professor, School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, W. A. Franke College of Business – Northern Arizona University
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- Stephen Holland
Emeritus Professor, Department of Tourism, College of Health and Human Performance – University of Florida
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