• About 49 percent of employed travelers are “laptop luggers,” or those who plan to work at some point during their vacation, according to Deloitte’s Vacation Travel Survey.
• Travelers are making other arrangements to be able to go on trips, such as driving instead of flying or cutting back on other expenses, experts said.

Americans are determined to travel this holidays season – and certain solutions help them make those trips.

The ability to WORK from a distance is an important step when planning your itineraries.

Some 49% of employed travelers are “laptop luggers” – those who plan to work at some point during their holiday break – up from 34% last year, conformable to Deloitte’s holiday travel survey.

According to the survey, this flexibility allows workers to take trips they might not otherwise take or extend their trips for longer.

While there are multiple laptop luggers across most age groups and income levels, Gen Zers, which Deloitte defines as those born between 1997 and 2012, and high earners account for the largest shares, at 58 percent and , 52%, according to the survey. .

Deloitte surveyed 4,074 American adults in September. Of that group, 2,005 were identified as holiday travelers.

The switch from laptop luggers is “a pretty big leap. It’s across almost every income level and age group,” said Eileen Crowley, vice president and U.S. transportation, hospitality and services leader at Deloitte.

More from Personal Finance:
The best ways to save money this holiday season
About 28% of credit card users are still paying their holiday tab from last year
“Slow shopping” can save you money this holiday season

Since the pandemic, remote work has become a priority for job seekers, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

In the third quarter, 51 percent of job seekers surveyed said the ability to work from wherever they want is a top reason for remote jobs, up from 40.8 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to ZipRecruiter data.

“The value to American workers of being able to work from anywhere has clearly grown over the course of the great telecommuting experiment,” she said.

In addition to working while traveling, travelers come up with other solutions, such as driving instead of flying or cutting back on other expenses, experts said.

“People are willing to cut corners to save money, but they don’t want to skip the trip,” said Ted Rossman, industry analyst at Bankrate.

Who’s Spending on Vacation This Year

High earners are driving holiday travel and spending trends this year, according to experts.

When it comes to vacation travel, 52 percent of shoppers with incomes of $100,000 or more said they can “easily afford” that expense, conformable at Morning Consult, a polling research firm. This is the largest share compared to middle and low income groups.

“Higher-income consumers are not nearly as price-sensitive,” Stacy Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial, a wealth management, financial planning and divorce financial planning firm in New York. said recently CNBC.

“They’re not nearly as budget-conscious as people in lower income brackets,” said CNBC’s Francis. Financial Advisory Council.

Among the generational groups, millennials, or those born between 1980 and 1996, have the largest budgets and the longest planned trips. According to the report, millennials plan to take about 2.6 trips during the holiday season and spend an average of $3,927, according to the Deloitte survey.

What makes holiday travel possible this year

More than 4 in 5 holiday travelers, 83%, are finding ways to save money this holiday season, such as driving instead of flying, conformable at Bankrate.

“Most of these people are still traveling, they’re just doing it differently to reduce some costs,” Rossman said.

Separately, about 50% of respondents cut other expenses and 49% receive discounts and offers, conformable to the 2024 Holiday Travel Outlook by Hopper, a travel website.

Among other strategies, 22 percent plan to travel on peak days, and 21 percent use credit card points or miles to cover some of the cost, the Hopper report shows.

If you’re planning to pull out your laptop and work during a holiday break, be sure to review your company’s policies on working remotely, Pollak said. Some companies require employees to work from home, the company’s home state, or the US, unless otherwise authorized.

“You risk being shut down, disciplined, or even terminated if you try to work from somewhere else,” Pollak said.

Reach out to your manager or director about the idea, too, she said: “Some managers just care that you get the job done and aren’t concerned with how.”

Finally, you want to make sure the location you plan to work from has a strong network or electrical service and that the Wi-Fi is reliable.

“If you’re in a crunch for work, make sure you’re somewhere you can do it,” Pollak said.

Spending on experiences such as travel and concerts has surged after pandemic-era lockdowns and restrictions due to pent-up demand from Americans, experts say.

Still, even after a few years, travel “seems to be something that sticks,” said Deloitte’s Crowley: “People are putting value and making room in their travel budgets.”