Festive Travel Costs ₹1.2L: Plan Without Debt?

Festive season travel costs are rising fast. A typical Indian family holiday now runs ₹80,000–₹1.5 lakh. Here's how to enjoy the break without wrecking your budget or landing in EMI trap.

Here's what happened: Domestic and international holiday bookings have surged for the festive and winter season, with premium hotels and group tours seeing the sharpest demand spike.. Average per-family festive travel spending has climbed to ₹80,000–₹1.5 lakh, driven by rising airfares, hotel prices, and appetite for experience-led holidays.. Credit cards, BNPL travel schemes, and personal loans are increasingly being used to fund holidays, raising the risk of post-festive debt hangovers for middle-class households..

What you should do: Book flights and hotels at least 6–8 weeks before your travel date — festive-route airfares jump 40–70% in the final fortnight and early booking can save a family ₹10,000–₹15,000.. Set a hard trip budget before opening any booking app — total it across flights, stay, food, and activities, then check if your savings cover it fully before reaching for a credit card.. Avoid BNPL travel plans unless you can verify the merchant absorbs the interest cost — call the travel portal and ask explicitly, because '0% EMI' is not always truly zero for travel bookings..

Pay your holiday on a credit card only if you will clear the FULL bill on statement date — every rupee that rolls over attracts 36–42% annualised interest, turning a ₹1 lakh trip into a ₹1.18 lakh one within six months.