Credit and debit cards were the most popular payment method used by Spaniards to pay for their trips in 2015, according to the Brain Trust Tourism Barometer. Specifically, 42% of trips were paid for by credit card, 31% by debit card, and 27% in cash.
The Brain Trust Tourism Barometer also reveals that personal loans or payment deferrals are not common practices among Spanish travelers to finance their leisure activities.
Analysis of payment by social group reveals that social class has a decisive influence. Thus, the upper echelons of Spanish society are the most frequent users of credit cards, at 64%, compared to 32% of social classes with lower purchasing power. At the same time, the use of cash is more prevalent among lower-income groups, at 34%, compared to 13% among the highest-income segment of Spanish society.
The Barometer concludes that people with lower incomes try to spend on travel based on their income level and/or available liquidity, without financing themselves through alternative methods; on the contrary, the upper economic classes debunk the belief that they use cash to cover their travel expenses.
By region
In this regard, there are also significant differences depending on the degree of conservatism of the culture and the level of employment. We see that 50% of people in the Basque Country, a region with low unemployment, use credit cards, compared to 17% who pay in cash. In contrast, in Andalusia, a region with high unemployment, cash wins out with 34%.
The same trend emerges from the analysis by age group. Young people, who generally find it more difficult to enter the labor market, opt for cash payment in 36% of cases, while senior travelers do so in only 26% of cases.
The conclusion is clear: contrary to what has been thought until now, cash is not used to pay for travel by those with greater purchasing power, but rather by the less privileged social strata.
Travel cards and insurance
The Barometer also reveals that the insurance offered by credit cards is an important reason for using them. Fifty-one percent of Spaniards still travel without insurance on their leisure trips, compared to 19% who do so with the insurance offered by the financial institutions that provide the cards. Likewise, 10% travel with travel insurance included in their private health policy, and 18% take out insurance either individually or through their travel agency.
The study also points out that the insurance policies taken out by travelers are not usually to cover standard healthcare services (22%) or accident coverage (15%), but rather for potential problems that seem to cause travelers the most headaches, such as cancellations (31%) or lost flights or luggage (26%).
