Nerdwallet explains ways to plan your summer travel costs

InvestigateTV - After two years of travel slowdown, 70 percent of Americans said they’re planning a trip in the next 12 months, according to a new study from Nerdwallet.

Leisure travel is starting to get closer to where it was in 2019, meaning people are planning out trips and bigger vacations again.

If this is you and you’re ready to fly or go on cruise, personal finance experts like Sara Rathner at Nerdwallet told us: Don’t go overboard for your first big travel vacation in years and have a budget.

“You still want to be mindful of a realistic vacation budget because the last thing you want to do is go into debt, come home, and deal with that, because I promise any amount of relaxation you got on vacation will be wiped away the minute you start getting those bills,” Rathner explained.

Rathner said you should also pad your travel budget for unexpected costs and emergencies. There’s still a lot of uncertainty in travel at the moment. Flights are getting cancelled more often.

“You have no idea if you might, for example, have to stay longer at your destination because you test positive for COVID before coming home, so you have to pay for extra hotel stay or maybe a visit to the doctor,” Rathner added.

Another idea? You can save up your points or miles for possible travel emergencies. It might be handy if you need to book a last-minute hotel and spend points instead of money. Just read over the terms of conditions of your reward program to understand how and when you can use those points.

Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.