Chill Destinations, Hot Spend: How Chase Travel Is Reshaping Summer Cardholder Behavior

The sights of baseball stadiums filling up with fans and wildflowers blooming across the country are signs that vacation season is right around the corner.

And that means travel enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting tips from Chase Travel on this year’s popular vacation destinations. Chase Travel offers a portal that allows eligible Chase Bank cardholders to book flights and make vacation plans in countries around the world.

Cardholders can use information from Chase Travel to gain inspiration for their own plans to get away from it all for a few days or longer this summer.

The hottest travel trend this summer?
Going somewhere cooler and way less crowded, says Rena Shah from @Chase Travel. New data shows a surge in unexpected destinations 👇 https://t.co/Zgi3vomKVF pic.twitter.com/vNhcV5ehxd

— CardRates Industry News (@CardRatesNews) April 22, 2026

One trend Chase Travel uncovered this year is that many people are choosing to head to destinations that offer relatively cool climates in the summer, such as Helsinki, Finland and Quebec City in Canada.

You may think that cardholders would want to head for warmer locales, particularly if they’ve just endured a cold and lengthy winter. But the data from Chase says otherwise. We caught up with Rena Shah, Head of Lodging and Experiences for Chase Travel, to learn more about this trend and other insights the team at Chase recently unearthed.

Many people making vacation plans for the upcoming summer are opting for destinations that offer cooler climates.

Shah told us that Chase customers still want to visit traditional vacation destinations such as Paris, Rome, and Tokyo. But she added that she and her colleagues who monitor travel trends have enjoyed discovering that people are seeking more opportunities in 2026 to unwind in secondary markets.

One benefit of traveling to vacation spots in cooler climates is that they can be less crowded than warmer areas that attract people looking to bask in the sun. Shah told us that places with fewer crowds can allow travelers to have a more genuine experience. 

“[Travelers can] really get to see how people live and thrive in those parts of the world, and I think that’s really exciting for our customers,” Shah said. “And that’s part of the shift in what customers really define as luxury today — it’s having that sort of true, authentic experience in a destination.”

In 2025, Chase Travel revealed that hotspots such as Madison, Wisconsin, and Osaka, Japan, were top destinations for the summer. Heading the list for summer 2026 is Bilbao, Spain. Located in the northern part of the country, Bilbao doesn’t often get the same attention Barcelona and Madrid draw.

Shah told us that Spain is a highly popular spot for travelers in the summertime, but people may find they have fewer crowds to contend with in Bilbao than in other cities in the region.

“One of the things that’s really interesting about Bilbao this summer is that, in August, it will be directly in the path of the total solar eclipse,” Shah said. “And so we are seeing that our customers are really leaning into these sort of nature-led [experiences].”

Some cardholders may be feeling the effects of inflation in 2026. And financial concerns may be motivating them to cancel or scale back when it comes to summer vacation plans. 

If a trip to Europe was on your radar for the summer — but you are considering staying somewhere closer to the U.S. to keep travel costs in check — you may want to consider a destination such as Quebec City. The capital city of Quebec offers budget-conscious cardholders a chance to experience French culture without breaking the bank.

“[Quebec City is] a little bit closer to home for our U.S. customers, but you really feel like you’ve gotten away to a European city,” Shah explained. “And, quite frankly, your money’s just going to go further. You’re spending a little bit less to travel to get there, and you can have a really great experience in cities like that.”

Travelers may think that because a destination isn’t considered a top travel spot, getting there will present hurdles.

“I think with improved rail connections, flight connections, and things like that, it’s making these secondary cities really accessible for our consumers,” Shah told us. “We’re also seeing really great hotel development in these secondary cities.”

Many people would choose to spend their free time traveling from one exotic location to another if they could. But financial realities can prevent them from visiting all the places on their bucket list.

That’s where credit card points come in to help make travel dreams come true. Shah told us that Chase cardholders recognize the value of credit card points in making international trips something that can fit their budgets. 

Chase launched a program called Points Boost in 2025 that allows cardholders to increase the value of their points when they use them to book certain hotels or flights through Chase Travel.

“Chase Travel is a great place for customers to book their travel because you can get a lot of value with things like Points Boost where you don’t necessarily have to make that trade-off between having a luxurious, frictionless trip and [staying] within a budget that you’re comfortable with,” Shah told us.

Credit card points can help people afford flights to international destinations that may have otherwise been outside of their budgets.

With the summer travel season quickly approaching, we asked Shah for her tips on how travelers can best plan their upcoming trips. She said she always encourages people aiming to visit a popular destination to book their accommodations first.

“I think that there is this unspoken rule out there that you have to book your flight before you book your hotel,” Shah told us. “But where you’re staying is where you’re going to spend [a lot] of your time on that trip. So make sure you’ve got the accommodations that really meet your needs.”

Travelers also shouldn’t overlook a great price they come across for a travel opportunity. Shah told us that people who find a deal that not only fits their schedule but also their budget should consider taking advantage of it.