SAN FRANCISCO — Visa USA has rolled out a tool that the card brand said will make it easier for cardholders to budget their summer vacation expenses.
The brand's tool is called the Summer Travel Budgeting Center and 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, Visa said.
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.
Recommended For You
But the survey of 1,000 cardholders also found that 15% of respondents won't be taking a summer vacation this year while 4% of those surveyed said they would be spending over $5,000 on their summer vacation, prompting Visa to label them "mega-vacationers."
The budget tool 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.
For example, the calculator will automatically estimate the cost of fuel for drivers based on trip mileage or prompt flyers to factor in the cost of food at the airport. With the "Travel Wizard" estimations, travelers can modify excessive transportation, lodging, and meal expenses to plan a more cost-effective vacation, Visa added.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
