A survey of  Visa Credit Card holders finds that Americans are planning on spending an average of $1,654 on their summer vacation, making it one of the biggest purchases most people are likely to make all year.

The Visa Card Holder  surveyed 1,000 cardholders and also found that 15 percent of respondents won’t be taking a summer vacation this year.

On the high end, 4 percent of those surveyed said they would be sending over $5,000 on their summer vacation, making them ‘mega vacationers.’

Visa’s “Travel Wizard” helps consumers decide between necessary and flexible expenses by walking them through the process of preparing a travel budget with an interactive checklist and corresponding travel tips. Users can build budgets for meals, hotels and entertainment expenses and make spending adjustments before traveling.

For example, the calculator will automatically estimate the cost of fuel for drivers based on trip mileage or prompt flyers to factor in the cost of food at the airport. With the ‘Travel Wizard’ estimations, travelers can modify excessive transportation, lodging, and meal expenses to plan a more cost-effective vacation.

The Summer Travel Budgeting Center and “Travel Wizard” are part of Visa’s award-winning financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life, and available for free at www.practicalmoneyskills.com/travel.

The Summer Travel Budgeting Center also contains some important tips for travelers to consider before hitting the road this summer.

They include:

• Remember to budget for spending money: Equipment rentals, snacks and gifts can add up quickly.

• Seek advice from fellow travelers: Research online for recommendations from locals and learn from others’ mistakes.
• Airfares to more remote airports are often considerably less expensive than the more popular, and crowded, alternatives closer to town.
• Always ask if hotels, restaurants and attractions offer discounts: AAA, AARP and other organizations often negotiate discounts for their members.
• Add 10 to 15 percent to your budget for unanticipated events: Things like lost luggage, a flat tire or an Emergency Room visit. Make sure you bring along copies your medical and auto insurance information.

 Comment: the budgeting suggestions are terrific.  The survey is a little loose, and doesn’t consider an important factor: the income of the cardholders.  If the 4% of the “mega vacationers” have a high income level, this wouldn’t concern me.

A better measurement would be: What  percentage of family income is applied to vacations?

I think a comfortable range would be 2% to 5% of gross family income.  That would mean a family with a net income of $100,000 would spend at a top end $5,000 on their vacations. 

If you figure total family income of $50,000 a top end vacation would be $2,500.  With kids, a plane flight to Disney and a week’s stay there could be really tight.  That’s why we encourage using discount coupons and pre-purchasing discount restaurant and fast food Gift Cards at our site ValueDining.com.

Vacations memories are lifelong, with planning and creative cost cutting - they can be wonderful times.