Record Memorial Day Travel Despite High Gas Prices — Why ‘Keeping Normal’ Is the Most Expensive Debt Trap

AAA just announced that 45 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend — a new record — despite gas prices sitting at their highest point since summer 2022. The media is framing this as resilience: Americans refuse to let rising costs keep them home. After 30 years of helping people dig out of debt, I see something different. I see the opening act of a debt cycle that will show up in Q3 credit card delinquency numbers.

This isn’t about being against travel. It’s about understanding a pattern that has trapped millions of families before yours.

The Numbers Nobody Is Printing Next to the AAA Headline

Here’s what the “record travel” headline doesn’t tell you:

• 35% of people who charged 2025 summer travel still carry unpaid balances — they haven’t paid off last year’s vacation and they’re about to book another one (NerdWallet 2026 Summer Travel Report)
• 13% plan to use cash advances and 17% plan to use buy-now-pay-later to fund travel — both of which carry higher interest rates and fees than regular credit card purchases
• 74% of 2025 summer travelers who charged vacation costs didn’t pay them off immediately — only 26% cleared the balance with their first statement
• Gas prices are the highest since 2022 — meaning the trip costs more before you add lodging, food, and entertainment

Meanwhile, 65% of Americans say they’ve altered their summer travel plans due to rising prices. But “altered” doesn’t mean “cancelled.” It means they’re doing the same trip on a tighter budget — which usually means more goes on the credit card when the budget runs out mid-trip.

The Real Cost of a Vacation on Credit

I want you to do one piece of math before you book anything. Take your total expected trip cost and multiply by 1.22. That’s what the trip actually costs if you carry the balance for 12 months at the average credit card APR of 21%.

Now ask yourself: would you book the same trip if the airline or hotel quoted you 22% more upfront? Most people wouldn’t. But that’s exactly what happens when the credit card statement arrives.

Why “We Deserve This” Is the Most Dangerous Phrase in Debt

I hear it in almost every intake call. Someone is $30,000 in credit card debt, and somewhere in their story is a vacation, a holiday shopping spree, or a wedding — and the sentence that came before the spending: “We deserved it.”

You probably do deserve a vacation. That’s not the question. The question is whether you deserve the 21% interest rate that comes with it when you can’t pay the balance by the due date.

“Very much of squalor and discomfort will be endured before the last trinket or the last pretense of pecuniary decency is put away. There is no class and no country that has yielded so abjectly before the pressure of physical want as to deny themselves all gratification of this higher or spiritual need.”
— Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)

Veblen wrote that 127 years ago, and it’s never been more true. We will endure financial pain — late fees, minimum payments, collection calls — before we’ll give up the appearance of being able to afford a normal life. A Memorial Day trip isn’t just a vacation. For many families, it’s proof that they’re okay. And cancelling it feels like admitting they’re not.

What I’d Actually Do (and What I Tell My Own Family)

I’m not telling you to stay home. I’m telling you to make the decision with open eyes. Here’s the framework I use:

1. Can you pay cash for the entire trip? If yes — go, enjoy, you’ve earned it. If no, keep reading.
2. Do the 1.22x math. Take total expected cost × 1.22. If you’d still book the trip at that price, it’s your money and your decision. If the real price changes your answer, you have new information.
3. Consider the staycation math. A $200 staycation weekend (cookout, day trips, local activities) versus a $1,500 trip on credit means $1,300 that could go toward your highest-interest balance. At 21% APR, that $1,300 payment saves you roughly $273 in interest over the next year.
4. Check your cancellation deadlines. If you’ve already booked, check whether refundable options are available. 67% of travelers say refundable flights are worth the extra cost — if you booked refundable, you still have a choice.
5. Don’t touch retirement for a vacation. 13% of summer travelers plan to use cash advances, which often hit 25%+ APR with no grace period. That’s the most expensive way to pay for anything. And if you’re thinking about pulling from your 401(k) — please look at all your options first. Your retirement account is the one thing creditors can’t touch.

If You’re Already in Debt and Feeling Pressure to Travel

This is the part of the article that’s really for you. If you’re carrying credit card debt and you feel like you “should” take a Memorial Day trip because everyone else is, because the kids expect it, because cancelling feels like failure — I need you to hear this:

Choosing not to add to your debt is not failure. It’s the single smartest financial decision you can make right now. Your kids will not remember whether you went to the beach for Memorial Day 2026. They will remember if the family was stressed about money for the next two years.

If the debt is already overwhelming, take the Find Your Path quiz to see what your real options are — including options nobody in the travel industry or credit card industry wants you to know about. And if a “deserved” vacation is how you cope with financial stress, that pattern is worth examining. It’s not about shame. It’s about breaking a cycle.

This is what I see after 30 years of watching people trade tomorrow’s security for today’s comfort. Take it as one perspective — I don’t know your numbers, your savings, or your situation. Only you do. My job is to make sure you see the full math before you decide. Nobody — not AAA, not your credit card company, and not me — gets to tell you what to do with your money. But the interest rate doesn’t care about your feelings, and the bill is coming either way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Memorial Day trip really cost if I put it on a credit card?

Multiply the total trip cost by 1.22 to get the real price if you carry the balance for 12 months at the average 21% APR. A $2,000 trip becomes $2,440. If you make only minimum payments, that same trip takes roughly 10 years to pay off and costs over $3,200 total — you’d pay 1.6 times the trip cost in interest alone.

Is it worth going into debt for a vacation for mental health reasons?

Research shows the mental health benefit of a vacation fades quickly, but the stress of increased debt lasts for months or years. Financial stress is consistently ranked among the top causes of anxiety and depression. A vacation that adds to your credit card balance at 21% APR typically creates more long-term stress than it relieves.

What percentage of Americans are still paying off last year’s summer travel?

According to NerdWallet’s 2026 Summer Travel Report, 35% of people who charged 2025 summer travel expenses to a credit card still carry unpaid balances. That means more than a third of last summer’s travelers are paying interest on a vacation they took a year ago — and many are about to add new travel charges on top of that existing balance.

What’s the smartest way to travel if I’m already in credit card debt?

If you’re carrying credit card debt, the smartest option is a cash-only budget. Set a hard dollar limit you can pay from your checking account — not your credit card. Consider day trips or staycations instead of destination travel. The $1,300 difference between a staycation weekend ($200) and a destination trip ($1,500) could save you roughly $273 in interest over the next year if applied to your highest-rate balance.

Should I use a buy-now-pay-later service or cash advance to fund travel?

Both are worse than regular credit card charges. Cash advances typically carry 25%+ APR with no grace period — interest starts accruing immediately. BNPL services may charge late fees and can trigger additional debt obligations. NerdWallet found that 17% of summer travelers plan to use BNPL and 13% plan cash advances. These are the most expensive ways to pay for a vacation.