(VitalNews.org) – According to a survey from Bankrate, thirty-six percent of Americans are planning on taking on debt in order to travel this summer. This means that they could take on summer travel expenses ranging from personal loans, borrowing from family and friends, or pay later services.
Twenty-six percent of American travelers say that they’ll be using a credit card to pay for the vacation over multiple billing cycles.
Ted Rossman, a senior credit card industry analyst at Bankrate, said, “The reason that’s worrisome is because the average credit card charges more than 20%, which is close to a record high.”
“I don’t want to tell people they can’t have any fun,” he said. “But this represents a lot of people taking on expensive debt, and this is the kind of thing that can linger.”
Millennials and Gen Z are the main contributors to this survey and the ones who are planning to take on the debt to travel, according to Bankrate’s findings.
Sabrina Romanoff, a psychologist, spoke out about why people might take on this debt to travel. “There are so many compelling reasons why people choose to take on debt to have these vacations,” she said.
“If your kids are dreaming of going to Disney World and there’s no way the family could ever really swing it without going into debt, it could be a memory the family will have forever,” she continued.
She said parents can often rationalize this spending for their children, especially if a trip feels important to the child.
Romanoff said that we’re also more likely to spend more on vacation because we are in this “luxurious mindset,” which is something that setting a budget for specific categories could potentially help.
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