Poles are eager to travel, and abroad they pay mainly in cash and cards

As indicated by the results of the "Finances of Poles" survey commissioned by Bank Millennium, we most often travel within the borders of our country, but foreign travel is also popular. 79 per cent of Poles travel abroad at least sometimes: 15 per cent of Poles go abroad 2 to 4 times a year, and almost every fourth (23 per cent) once a year. The same percentage (23%) travels about once a year to Poland. We travel abroad most often with a life partner (almost 70% of people planning their main holiday trip abroad) and children (36%). Less often these are trips with friends (22 per cent). 12 per cent. of Poles go abroad on their own.

63 per cent of Poles planning to go on holiday this year most often choose holidays in Poland. Every third person (30%) is planning a domestic trip, and 12% of people are planning a holiday abroad. Another 15 per cent of people have holiday trips planned both in Poland and abroad – most such people are among Poles under 34 years of age. Nearly every fourth person in this age group plans to visit these two destinations. One in five Poles (21 per cent) is not planning to go on holiday this year.

Among Poles planning a holiday, more than half (53%) declare that they will spend their main holiday (the longest trip) in Poland. One in three people (36%) indicate a foreign destination for their main holiday, and 11% have not yet made a decision. It is worth noting that people between 25 and 34 years of age are much more likely than people from other age groups to go on their main holidays abroad (45 per cent).

38% of Poles plan to spend less than PLN 2.5 thousand per person on their main holiday trip. Every third person (35%) estimates that they will pay from PLN 2.5 thousand to almost PLN 5 thousand per person for their main trip. One in four Poles (26 per cent) will spend PLN 5,000 or more per person on their main holiday.

During a trip abroad, Poles most often pay in cash.– More than half of people (55 per cent of those going on the main trip abroad) exchange currency for a trip in Poland. The second popular choice – for 37 per cent – is a multi-currency payment card. Every fifth person (21 per cent) exchanges or withdraws cash on the spot abroad. 14 per cent. of Poles pay during a trip abroad with an ordinary bank card, and 10 per cent with a credit card.

- Appreciating the fact that an increasing number of customers use modern payment solutions abroad, from 1 July we are expanding this type of possibilities in Bank Millennium's offer. We will offer our customers a multi-currency service, i.e. the possibility of linking the card to foreign currency accounts (EUR, USD, GBP and CHF) and paying directly from these accounts without currency conversion. At the same time, for customers paying in foreign currency directly from the Millennium 360° account or by credit card, the spending limit will be increased to PLN 5 thousand per month, within which we do not charge additional commissions for currency conversion transactions. Invariably, we also apply attractive exchange rates of card organisations to all payments in foreign currency made with Bank Millennium cards. - assures Szymon Kuchciak, Head of the Payment Cards Sub-unit at Bank Millennium.

* The survey was conducted on the Ariadna National Research Panel on a nationwide sample of N=1135 people. Amounts selected according to the representation in the population of Poles aged 18 and over for gender, age and size of the town/city of residence. The survey was carried out on May 10-12, 2024. Survey method: CAWI.