As the 2020 summer season wanes, COVID-19 continues to affect Americans' ability and willingness to travel and upend many of the arrangements that are usually made around national holidays. A recent survey, conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet, investigated how the ongoing pandemic is shaping U.S. travelers' Labor Day vacation plans.
It found that just under half (49 percent) of Americans who had Labor Day weekend getaway plans had canceled their trip thanks to COVID-19. Although it seems that many have replaced their original plans with at least an overnight stay somewhere they deem safe to travel. Details of the findings include:
-While about two in five (41 percent) of Americans said they have or had plans for a Labor Day weekend getaway, Millennials emerged as the generation most likely to have Labor Day 2020 travel plans.
-Sixty percent of the Millennials (age 24 - 39) surveyed reported that they have/had travel plans for the holiday weekend, while Gen Z (ages 18 - 23) came in second with 48 percent, Gen X (ages 44 - 55) with 38 percent and Boomers (56 - 74) with 27 percent.
-Families with kids were split almost evenly in their decisions to forego or push on with Labor Day travel plans. Just over half (53 percent) of parents with children under the age of 18 who previously had plans to travel over Labor Day weekend said that they'd canceled their trips, while 47 percent said that they'd be keeping their plans, despite COVID-19 concerns.
-Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents with overnight travel plans for Labor Day Weekend also intend to stay at a hotel, resort or motel. Another 31 percent said they would stay with family or friends, and 22 percent chose to go with a vacation rental property.
-Parents with children under 18 emerged as the most likely consumers to insure their trips. Of those with planned Labor Day weekend travel that includes an overnight stay, 38 percent said they're purchasing travel insurance to protect their trip. Parents of minors were shown to be more likely to have bought insurance (61 percent) than those without kids under the age of 18 (20 percent).
-Among those with an overnight stay planned during Labor Day weekend, more than half (55 percent) said they plan to pay their travel costs using a credit card, while only seven percent reported that they'd be using funds on account from a previously planned trip that was canceled due to COVID-19.
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