Travel tops holiday wish lists, but shoppers favor physical gifts

Just 15% of respondents said they were prioritizing experiences for others, compared with 27% who planned to favor physical gifts, according to Visa’s survey of roughly 4,660 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. The survey was designed to represent the broader consumer population.

Brown told CNBC that consumers face trade-offs: spending more on travel can leave less money for physical gifts. Visa expects more people to celebrate closer to home as airfares and general inflation rise. Consumer prices were up 3.7% annually in September, driven higher by energy costs. Airfares rose more than 22% from a year earlier that month, according to the consumer price index. Airlines have raised ticket prices as fuel costs climbed amid the war in the Middle East, and executives have said fares may remain high even if fuel prices fall.

Travel spending also varied by income. Only households earning more than $200,000 spent more on trips departing between Nov. 1 and early next year than during the comparable period from 2025 into 2026; many other income groups cut back. Brown said gains in equity markets had helped support spending among affluent households. By contrast, Visa’s October survey found that roughly one-third of consumers earning below $100,000 planned to switch to lower-cost brands or stores for holiday gifts.

Visa forecasts holiday sales growth of 4.5% year over year, but estimates that sales would rise just 1.1% after excluding price increases, down from a 1.3% increase during the 2025 holiday season. Brown said a shift toward physical gifts could support retailers, while cautioning that consumers’ higher spending expectations may reflect their acceptance of rising prices and perceptions of future inflation.