Corporate travelers were drawn to bleisure trips in 2018 and preferred using personal credit cards during business travel, a new study from Wex and Mastercard found. Of the more than 375 business travelers the companies surveyed as part of their 2019 Travel Trends and Expectations report, 55 percent tended to extend business trips to further explore cities.
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Notably, personal payment cards predominated for business travel expenses in 2018, as 65 percent used them on business trips; 37 percent used corporate credit cards, and 24 percent used other payment like cash. The popularity of personal cards may reflect a desire among travelers to earn loyalty points and rewards, the report said. Rewards have become more common in the corporate card sector over the past several years, but rewards remain more widely associated with personal cards and many travelers consolidate spending points on their personal cards to maximize rewards.