In a unique study, officials for the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program wanted to find out who plans a better vacation: Adults or kids.
A new national study from global hotel loyalty program Wyndham Rewards® says more than half of kids think they can do it better. And, while most kids believe they can do a better job pulling together the family getaway, they still recognize that mom and dad have earned a vacation–especially moms.
A staggering 96% of kids think their parents are in need of a vacation, with moms taking the crown as the family member that deserves a break the most. The study compared the travel habits and current stress levels of more than 2,500 children and parents across the U.S.
Noah Brodsky, SVP Worldwide Loyalty & Engagement, Wyndham Worldwide, told Loyalty360 that there were some surprises gleaned from the study.
“Some of the biggest surprises we found from the survey were kids’ ideas around family vacations: A whopping 96% of kids think their parents are in need of a vacation, but more than half of kids (53%) think they can plan that vacation better than their parents,” Brodsky explained. “In addition, while taking a vacation can help to de-stress, the process of planning can be a stress trigger itself: Staying within budget is the most stressful part of planning a vacation, according to 52% of parents, with moms worrying about money more than dads (59% vs. 44%). Money isn’t everything though, as parents are so in need of some time off that, when given the choice, they would rather have a vacation than be debt free.”
Brodsky said the study was conducted to take a fun approach to better understand how families are traveling this summer and what kinds of challenges they’re facing when they do.
“The survey uncovered a few major themes,” he explained. “Parent stress levels are as high as ever, kids think they know best, and families that vacation more, fight less. These findings underscore many of the reasons why we created the new Wyndham Rewards: To simply and easily reward our guests with the vacation they’ve earned, whether it be an overseas vacation or a quick weekend getaway. Our goal for the survey was to uncover family travel behaviors as well as what challenges families face when planning their vacations. We found, aside from kids thinking they know better than their parents, that parents are hard-working, dedicated individuals who deserve a vacation.”