Around half of Americans say the latest they have booked summer leisure travel is within a month of their departure dates, and it could be costing them

About half of Americans (49%) say the latest they have booked flights or hotels for summer leisure travel is within one month of their trip dates. More than 2 in 5 Americans who have booked flights or hotels within a month of summer leisure travel (42%) did so because the trip was spontaneous.

Among those who have booked flights or hotels for summer leisure travel, millennials (ages 23-38) are more likely than older generations to book flights or hotels within a month of travel (63%, compared to 53% of baby boomers, ages 55-73). About a quarter of these millennials (23% compared to 13% of boomers) say this is because they were waiting for last-minute travel deals from apps they use or websites they follow (23%, vs. 13% of boomers) or waiting for hotels or airlines to share limited-time deals (21%, vs. 13% of boomers).

Booking a trip within a month of travel can be nerve-racking: 15% of Americans who said the latest they have booked flights/hotels for summer leisure travel is within 1 month of their travel date said they were stressed about trying to find flights on the days they wanted to travel. But not all of them feel that way. About 1 in 10 (11%) say they enjoyed the hunt to find flights. However, 1 in 5 (20%) say they had to pay more for airfare than they would have if they booked farther in advance.

What consumers should know

Hoarding travel rewards can cost you: “Stockpiling travel rewards and letting them collect dust in your account is pointless,” says Sara Rathner, NerdWallet’s credit cards expert. “Travel rewards are designed to help you do just that — travel — and only have value when they’re actually used. Hoarding reward points exposes them to potential devaluation or expiration, both of which make it that much harder for you to take your dream trip at a big discount.”

Credit card rewards points and miles can be valuable, but avoid overestimating just how valuable. With close to half of Americans (45%) believing a point or mile is worth more than 1 cent, it might be disappointing to hear that its average value is about 1 cent. But that adds up. On average, a 50,000 point sign-up bonus could buy you 1.6 round-trip tickets, and that doesn’t even take into account all the other rewards your spending will earn you.

For more precise information about how much your rewards are worth, check out NerdWallet’s travel loyalty program reviews.

Rewards are great, but they won’t outweigh the interest you’ll accrue if you don’t pay off your balance: Credit cards are excellent tools, not only for convenience and credit-building, but also for the purchase rewards and travel perks that many offer. But interest can quickly eat up the value of these benefits.

Consider the average amount Americans said they’d charge to a credit card for their summer travel plans — $1,467. [2] If you put that on a credit card and paid it all off before the due date, you’d enjoy whatever rewards you’ve earned without paying interest. But let’s say there’s a minimum payment of $30 a month and you chose to pay that instead. Even with a relatively low interest rate of 15%, you wouldn’t be debt free for 77 months and it would cost you $815 in interest.