Photo: Sergey Furtaev (Shutterstock)
As of the week leading up to Tax Day, the IRS had paid out nearly 76 million refunds, with the average refund totaling $2,840. While it may be smartest to put that extra cash toward debt (if you have any), emergency or retirement funds, or a savings vehicle for big expenses you’re anticipating in the short term, you could also use it right now for your planned or spontaneous summer vacation. If you don’t have a trip already on the books, Kayak’s tax refund tool shows you what destinations you can afford flights to with your refund amount.
A heads up for planning purposes: The IRS expects to issue the vast majority of refunds within three weeks of returns being filed. If you haven’t yet received yours, you can use the Where’s My Refund tool to check the status.
How to choose a tax refund trip
To use the Kayak tool, simply plug in your refund amount (or the amount you’d like to spend on travel) and hit “See your options.” By default, Kayak will show you a map with flight prices from your local airport to domestic and international locales without any limits, but you can also narrow the search if you have a specific destination or date in mind.
The map view is especially useful if you simply want to browse your options. For example, I can get from Salt Lake City to San Francisco for $123, to Nashville for $175, or to Honolulu for $451, though those prices are simply the cheapest available. Selecting a destination takes you to Kayak’s standard search results, where you can see itineraries and further narrow down your options.
If you have flexibility, the best approach might be to select a month and duration and see what’s within budget and then use additional search parameters for the type of trip (beach, city, skiing, etc.). And obviously, you don’t have to have a tax refund to make good use of this tool.
