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The honest framing
A trip is a want. That is not a criticism, but it changes the arithmetic, because borrowing turns a $3,000 holiday into more than $3,000 and the extra buys you nothing you will remember. Money borrowed for a repair fixes something. Money borrowed for a flight moves the cost forward and adds interest to it.
If you are going to borrow anyway, the goal is to make it small, fixed and short. The personal loans market can do that; a credit card carried through the winter cannot.
What Canadians request for travel
People do borrow for this, and the amounts are moderate. Across Smarter Loans personal loan applications from August 2025 to July 2026, borrowers citing a vacation requested an average of $2,821. That is a flight and a week somewhere, funded by credit rather than savings.
Loan against card, in dollars
A $3,000 trip: fixed loan against a carried card
| Route | You get | When | Total cost |
| Personal loan | $3,000 | Cleared in 24 months | $594.19 interest ($149.76 a month for 24 months) |
| Credit card at minimum payments | $3,000 | Years | $4,830.71 interest (20.99% at minimum payments, about 22 years to clear) |
The loan ends and the card does not, which is the whole difference between borrowing for a trip and paying for one for years.
Illustrative example, not quoted offers: $3,000 at 17.99% over 24 months against a 20.99% card paid at a minimum of interest plus one percent of the balance. Your rate depends on your credit and lender.
To price your own trip, the personal loan calculator takes any amount, rate and term.
When borrowing for travel is defensible
Some trips are not holidays. A funeral, a family emergency abroad, a sick parent you need to reach this week: the money is not buying leisure, and the cost of not going is real. A fare that genuinely will not repeat, booked around a fixed date you cannot move, is a weaker but honest case.
What does not qualify is a trip that could happen three months later for the price of saving for it. If the only reason to borrow is that the trip is now rather than soon, the interest is the price of impatience.
Cheaper ways to fund a trip
- Save on a timeline. Divide the cost by the months until you go and move that amount automatically on payday. A trip you funded is a trip you stop paying for when you land.
- Travel in shoulder season. The same destination a few weeks either side of peak is often a third cheaper, which beats any rate you could negotiate.
- Use points you already hold before taking on new credit for the same flight.
- Draw on a line you already have rather than opening new credit, and repay it on a schedule you set rather than the minimum.
If you decide a loan is the right call, one application compares every lender we list.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a good idea to take a loan for a vacation?
Usually not. A trip is a want, and borrowing adds interest to something that produces no return. If you do borrow, take a fixed loan over a short term rather than carrying the cost on a card, and decide before you book rather than after you overspend.
What is a travel loan in Canada?
There is no separate travel loan product. It is an ordinary unsecured personal loan used for a trip, priced on your credit and capped at 35 percent APR. Any lender marketing a special travel loan is marketing the purpose, not a different product.
Is it better to use a credit card or a loan for travel?
A card, if you can clear the balance within a statement cycle or two. A fixed loan, if you cannot, because it ends on a known date at a lower rate. The worst outcome is a card balance carried indefinitely at a purchase rate.
Sources
- Canada Gazette, SOR/2024-114, for the 35 percent criminal interest rate cap.
- Smarter Loans personal loan applications, August 2025 to July 2026, for the vacation borrowing figure.
Related reading: when should you use a personal loan and smarter alternatives to high-interest loans.
Written by:
The Smarter Loans Editorial Team produces in-depth, original content to help Canadians navigate borrowing, credit, and personal finance with confidence.
