OVER half of Americans would rather take a vacation this holiday season than have a traditional family get-together, according to new research.
A recent survey polled 2,000 nationally representative Americans to see how this year’s holiday season will shape up and found 59 percent are eager to take a trip rather than celebrate at home.
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Many are actively planning their trips – 73 percent of those planning to travel for the holidays will have started making arrangements by October, and for good reason.
Nearly three quarters of people who plan to travel for holidays in the coming year will spend more than they have ever before.
Conducted by OnePoll forAffirm, the survey found that 54 percent of all respondents plan to spend more on experiences (like traveling or attending and hosting parties) over physical gifts.
According to the survey, Americans are more likely to gift a memorable experience (e.g. tickets to concerts or sporting events) than they are to purchase physical gifts. The most desired gift Americans will receive in 2019 is a vacation.
“Although many Americans are eager to celebrate the holidays this year with a special getaway, over 60 percent of respondents agree that a spike in cost is holding them back from traveling in the way they’d like,” Silvija Martincevic (Chief Commercial Officer at Affirm) said.
“Planning ahead of time can help consumers to better navigate and budget their holiday spending, especially as nearly half of respondents say that they plan to spend more this holiday season in order to make it memorable.”
Americans also plan memorable experiences by giving gifts electronics (29%), clothing (25%), and vacations (26%) to their loved one.
How much are Americans planning to spend? This year, the average American respondent plans to spend just over $400 for their spouse and $300 per person in their immediate families.
Because of the high cost of holiday shopping, 61% of respondents don’t wait until Cyber Monday and Black Friday to shop. In fact, one in five started their shopping in September with nearly a quarter (23 percent) stating it’s because they want to better budget.
More than half of Americans (54%) said they have anxiety about holiday shopping. 52 percent also agreed that they feel pressured by the cost of holiday shopping. Seven in 10 Americans go over their budgets due to increased spending.
When it comes to the biggest holiday stressors, staying within budget is Americans’ top concern this year (41 percent) – followed by incurring long-term debt (31 percent), shipping costs (28 percent), and being charged late or hidden fees (26 percent).
To help ease the pressures, 72 percent plan to rely heavily on online shopping to avoid crowds as 57 percent anticipate that this year’s holiday shopping season will be busier than a typical year.
“In addition to getting a head start on their holiday shopping, we’re encouraged to see consumers take advantage of flexible payment solutions to help them spend responsibly this year,” Martincevic agreed.
“In fact, over half of Americans are interested in using a pay-over-time solution for their holiday shopping – and nearly 70 percent believe that it helps them to budget better.”
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