WASHINGTON—Not surprisingly, card debt will be found under plenty of trees this Christmas season. A recent holiday travel study by NerdWallet found many people are turning to plastic to finance their holiday travel plans.
Almost half of Americans (49%) said they'll charge flights and hotels this holiday. Travelers are putting a significant amount of purchases on their cards, the report indicates.
Among those who say they plan to charge their trip, 75% will put roughly $135.8 billion on their cards in total ($1,456 per person).
On average, Americans took more than two months to pay off their 2017 holiday travel costs.
“If the same situation happens in 2018, American travelers will shell out a total of roughly $2.8 billion in interest alone in travel costs. About 5% of Americans said they're still paying for their 2017 holiday travel costs,” said Cheat Sheet in its analysis.