The 'funflation' effect: Why Americans are spending on travel and entertainment
Even while carrying $1.13 trillion in credit card debt, many Americans are still willing to splurge on travel and entertainment.
Even while carrying $1.13 trillion in credit card debt, many Americans are still willing to splurge on travel and entertainment.
But this summer it will cost even more thanks to “funflation,” a term economists use to explain the increasing price tags of live events as consumers hanker for the experiences they lost during the Covid years.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact of the pandemic. It changed the way so many people view their spending, and the result is that people are more focused on the ‘right now’ than thinking about 40 years from now,″ said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree and author of “Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More.”
Some ticket prices have surged in recent months, according to federal data.
Admission prices for sporting events jumped 21.7% in May 2024 from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index data. The category saw the highest annualized inflation rate out of the few hundred that make up the inflation gauge. Admission to movies, theaters, and concerts rose a relatively modest 3% on an annualized basis.
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