Americans Plan on Spending an Average of $1,654 on their Summer Vacation, Visa Survey Shows

Helping consumers to reduce the financial stress of planning a vacation, today Visa USA introduced an online Summer Travel Budgeting Center which features a free, web-based budget calculator called the “Travel Wizard.”

Designed to help travelers stick to a budget while away from home, the “Travel Wizard” provides tips for consumers at all income levels and shows that with a little planning and the right budget, anyone can afford to take a break.

Creating a vacation budget is crucial, with the results of a survey from Visa showing that American cardholders are planning on spending an average of $1,654 on their summer vacation, making it one of the biggest purchases most people are likely to make all year. Interestingly, Visa’s survey of 1,000 cardholders also found that 15 percent of respondents won’t be taking a summer vacation this year.

On the other end of the spectrum, 4 percent of those surveyed said they would be sending over $5,000 on their summer vacation, making them “mega vacationers.”

Visa’s “Travel Wizard” helps consumers decide between necessary and flexible expenses by walking them through the process of preparing a travel budget with an interactive checklist and corresponding travel tips. Users can build budgets for meals, hotels and entertainment expenses and make spending adjustments before traveling.