More consumers plan to use credit card rewards for travel compared with last year, and hotels are the most-popular option for rewards redemption among travelers, according to a survey BigResearch conducted for Capital One Financial Corp.
Forty percent of the 1,045 U.S. adults surveyed between May 31 and June 8 said they plan to redeem credit card rewards for summer travel, up from 33% a year earlier.
Among consumers planning to redeem card-rewards points for summer travel, the top redemption option was hotels (55%), followed by air travel (48%) and gasoline (42%), according to the survey.
Some 48% of respondents said higher-than-average gasoline prices would affect their summer-travel plans, though 62% said they would not remain at home for a "staycation" as an alternative to traveling.
"We see people taking a deeper look into their pockets and using card rewards more often as a source of funding their travel," a Capital One spokeswoman said.
Less than half, 43%, of respondents said they had redeemed credit card rewards within the past three months, and 24% said they were "completely satisfied" with their primary credit card-rewards program.
The majority, or 61%, of respondents said "free money" was their top motivation for earning and redeeming credit card rewards.
Twenty-six percent of respondents said the top barriers preventing them from redeeming rewards points for travel were blackout dates (26%) and the inability to book trips at the last minute (24%).
Some 19% of consumers said they are not charged a foreign-transaction fee when using their credit card overseas, and 60% were unsure whether their credit card issuer charges a foreign-transaction fee.
