Best Vacation Loans of March 2025

Do you have a vacation in mind? Perhaps a cruise, a trip to visit family, or a getaway to a tropical island? If you'd like help footing the bill, you might consider a vacation loan. A vacation loan can provide a lump sum upfront that you repay, plus interest and fees, over a number of months or even years.

Our experts researched the best personal loans for vacations and chose Upgrade as the top pick, based on competitive interest rates, high loan amounts, fast funding, long repayment  terms, and an autopay discount. 

But other lenders provide personal loans for vacations as well. The best for you could depend on a lender's eligibility requirements, available loan amounts, rates, and repayment terms. Compare prequalification quotes across several to narrow down your best options.

Compare vacation loan rates of March 2025

Methodology

To find the best vacation loans, Credible editors compared 31 lenders across nearly 900 data points. We began by narrowing the list to lenders that offer personal loans for vacations or travel. Further criteria included interest rates, loan amounts, funding times, fees, and customer service. 

We scored lenders based on the following: 

• Rates and fees: 18%
• Loan terms: 18%
• Customer experience: 17%
• Eligibility: 14%
• Customer satisfaction: 10%
• Efficiency: 10%
• Options for poor credit and no credit: 9%
• Discounts: 4%

Each data point was verified by a senior editor to make sure it was accurate and up to date. Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our personal loans lender rating methodology.

What are vacation loans and how do they work?

Vacation loans help finance personal travel, including flights, accommodations, and other vacation-related expenses. Personal loans for vacation and travel are typically unsecured loans, meaning you don’t have to provide collateral. Unlike credit cards, they often have fixed APRs and are paid back in equal monthly installments over a set number of years. 

While vacation loans can provide a convenient way to fund your trip, borrowing money always has some less than leisurely aspects. You’ll have to compare lenders, complete an application, sign a loan agreement, and repay the amount you borrowed, inclusive of the loan’s APR (annual percentage rate), which accounts for interest and upfront fees.

Here are some typical features of personal loans:

• APRs: 6.94% - 35.99% APR
• Loan amounts: $1,000 - $50,000, with some lenders offering up to $100,000 
• Repayment terms: 2 - 7 years
• Upfront fees: Origination fees can range between 0% and 12% (not all lenders charge them)
• Time to fund: As soon as same day in some cases, but often within a few business days

Although a small number of online personal loan lenders offer vacation loans, online marketplaces make it easier to shop around for the best terms. Your bank or credit union might also be good places to look for a vacation loan. 

How to compare vacation loans

It’s important to compare lenders and loans to get the best rate and terms. Here are the basics by which you should evaluate lenders:

• Interest rates: The annual percentage rate (APR) determines how much the loan will cost you. It accounts for the interest rate and upfront fees, like origination fees. The lower the APR, the more affordable your loan.
• Loan amounts: The loan amounts lenders offer, and the amounts they’ll offer you, can vary greatly. To find those that best suit your needs, check the loan ranges of lenders and prequalify to get rate estimates based on your credit profile.
• Repayment terms: The repayment term is the amount of time a lender gives you to repay your loan. Longer repayment periods can help to lower your monthly payments but will cost you more in interest overall.
• Fees: Lenders may charge a variety of fees, such as origination fees, prepayment penalties, application fees, and late fees. Look for no-fee loans or those with the fewest fees.
• Cosigner option: If you want to apply with a cosigner to help you get a vacation loan with bad credit, you’ll need to check if lenders allow them. 
• Time to fund: Some lenders are faster than others when it comes to delivering loan funds, offering funds as soon as the same day you apply. Check each lender's funding times.
• Eligibility requirements: Different lenders cater to different types of borrowers. It's important to check a lender’s eligibility requirements to ensure it’s the right fit for you.

By reviewing vacation personal loan providers according to these criteria, you can gain a better idea of which lender will be the best for your situation. For example, if you're planning a trip to Hawaii and need a loan of $10,000, a lender that only offers you $5,000 wouldn’t be ideal, even though it may offer loans up to $35,000 to other borrowers. Further, If your credit score is 650 and a lender requires a minimum score of 700, it also wouldn't be a good fit.

Learn More: Difference Between Interest Rate and APR

Eligibility requirements

Who qualifies for vacation personal loans? It depends on the lender you ask. However, here are some of the common eligibility requirements.

• Age: You must be of legal age in your state to qualify.
• Legal status: You often must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or have a valid visa. 
• Bank account: You must have an active and verifiable bank account.
• Service area: You must live within a lender’s service area and may need a verifiable physical address. 
• Credit score: You may need to have a credit score above a certain minimum. It’s best to have a good FICO score, which is one of 670 or higher. The higher your credit score, the more likely you are to be approved, and the better rates and terms you can get.
• Credit reports: Ideally, you’ll have a decent credit history. Lenders often review credit reports from one or more of the three consumer credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. They may look at your payment history, credit utilization, credit mix, new credit inquiries, and public records.
• Income: You must have a stable source of income that’ll enable you to repay the loan. Lenders may require a minimum annual or monthly income amount.
• Debt-to-income ratio (DTI): In addition to your overall income, lenders consider your DTI in order to assess how much of your income is available to handle new debt. Lenders generally prefer a DTI less than 35%.

While these eligibility requirements are common, each lender has its own algorithm or rules by which it evaluates borrowers. It’s not uncommon to get approved by one lender and denied by another, especially if your FICO score falls into the fair range (580 to 669). As a result, it’s best to prequalify with multiple lenders that look to be a good fit.

Learn More: What Are the Requirements for a Personal Loan?

How to get a vacation loan

Getting a personal loan for a vacation can be as easy as going online, filling out a form, getting a quote, and signing a contract. However, it’ll benefit you to shop around first. Here are the steps we recommend:

1. Compare lenders: With many vacation loan lenders on the market, you can better your odds of getting a good deal by shopping around. Look for those that are a good fit for you based on the criteria listed above.
2. Prequalify: Once you create a shortlist of potential lenders, head over to their websites or use an online marketplace to see if you can get a quote without a hard credit check. Upon prequalification, lenders will provide you with one or more loan quotes to review. Just note that these aren't offers of credit, but what the lender expects to approve you for. You won't know your final rate until you apply.
3. Pick a loan option: After you've collected a handful of quotes, compare the rates and terms side by side to find the best deal for your situation.
4. Complete the application: Head back to the website of the winning lender and complete the full application. You may need to provide documents such as a government-issued identification card, utility bill, pay stubs, and bank statements. It’s at this point that the lender will conduct a hard credit inquiry.

If your final application is approved, review the contract and sign it if the terms are as agreed. The lender will then get to work on funding your vacation loan. The funds will be deposited into your bank account according to the funding times of that lender, which could be as soon as the same day.

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Pros and cons of vacation loans

Vacation loans are widely available and can help make an upcoming dream vacation possible, but they also come with a few cons that are worth considering.

Pros

• Fund a vacation: The biggest pro of vacation loans is they can help you fund the vacation you want to take. You can receive a large lump sum upfront and use it to make vacation-related purchases such as booking airplane tickets, rental cars, and hotel stays.
• Many options: A wide variety of financial institutions offer vacation personal loans. As a result, you can shop around to find the best fit for your situation.
• Fast funds: Upon approval, you can get the funds for a vacation loan quickly, sometimes as soon as the same or next business day, depending on the lender.
• Low APRs: Personal loan interest rates tend to be lower than the standard APR on most credit cards. According to the Federal Reserve, the average interest rate on a two-year personal loan was about 9 percentage points lower than the average credit card interest rate.

Cons

• High APRs: If you have bad credit, your APR could be over 30%, which could make a vacation loan expensive. Or if you have very good credit, you may qualify for a 0% promotional offer on a credit card which you could use to buy your vacation. 
• Fees: Loans may come with fees, such as an origination fee, an application fee, or late fees, which add to your borrowing costs.

How to get a vacation loan with bad credit

If you have less-than-perfect credit, it may still be possible to get a vacation loan. That said, it'll likely be harder to get approved for an affordable loan. Your best bet is to identify bad-credit loan lenders and compare offers to find the most affordable deal.

If you can't find a vacation loan that works for you, you may want to hold off and work on improving your credit. Alternatively, you could enlist the help of a friend or family member with a strong credit profile who's willing to cosign a loan for you.

Alternatives

If you want to avoid taking on debt for travel, there are several alternatives to vacation loans. 

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): BNPL apps and services can be used to pay for vacations. BNPL providers like Affirm often partner with a range of online travel agencies, like Expedia and Priceline. These apps often specialize in short-term, 0% interest loans where purchases are paid off in equal installments over six weeks. For longer terms, rates are similar to personal loans. 
• Savings: Another option is to save in advance by setting up a dedicated travel fund in a money market account or high-yield savings and contributing regularly. Saving is a good plan for the long run, but it won’t work if you want to take a vacation on short notice.
• Credit card rewards points: Credit card rewards points can be applied to certain travel expenses such as airfare and hotels. Unfortunately, restrictions on usage and fluctuations in points value can make it difficult to maximize your rewards. Travel rewards programs have also drawn criticism from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• 0% APR credit card offer: Some credit card issuers offer introductory zero-interest rates on purchases and balance transfers. To pay for a vacation, you could put your expenses on the new card as you go. The key is paying off vacation purchases before the 0% APR offer expires, at which point the card’s regular APR applies. 
• Travel in the off-season: By traveling out of season, you can typically find better rates on accommodations and airfare. 

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