NEW YORK—Americans have largely relegated their travel rewards cards to the back of their wallet since the pandemic started, a new study shows.
Thirty-nine percent of travel rewards cardholders reported using their cash back credit cards more than their travel rewards cards since the onset of COVID-19, according to a NerdWallet study.
And, 34% of travel rewards cardholders said that they used their travel rewards cards more prior to the pandemic than they do now. Nineteen percent are not currently charging any of their purchases to their travel rewards cards at all, reported Travel Pulse in its analysis.
Seven percent of respondents said they’d had a travel rewards card, but canceled it in 2020 or 2021.
Travel Plans
Fifty-six percent of those polled are planning to take their next vacation that will include air travel and/or hotel/resort stays within the current calendar year. Eleven percent were planning to wait until 2022 or after, while 27% of respondents admitted that they weren’t at all certain when they’d start traveling again, the study shows.
The findings come at the same time numerous issuers have been looking to reactivate their travel-related cards in expectation of a surge in travel as some of the travel lockdowns are lifted, as CUToday.info has reported.