Will you spend your 2009 tax refund to travel this year?  Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Disney, Colonial Williamsburg and others would all love it if you said yes. But Hotel Check-In reader FaithGayle spoke for the majority when she said no.  "There's not enough of a refund to apply to any trip!," she wrote on Hotel Check-In's tax return post earlier this week. Instead, she'll use it toward credit for next year's taxes, she wrote.  Hotel Check-In wrote the initial post based on findings of a first-ever TripAdvisor poll that asked the same question. Of TripAdvisor's 1,710 respondents, 54% said no (they won't spend tax refund money on travel) and 46% said yes. Hotel Check-In's post story traveled so widely on Twitter that we decided to follow up today with some highlights from reader comments...  Reader tivoboy also said no because he doesn't expect much of a refund; instead, he plans his tax withholdings to avoid getting too much taken out throughout the year.  "That said, I think if anyone is waiting for their tax refund in order to finance leisure travel, they should probably re-think that quite seriously. If one doesn't have the free cash to pay for a trip now, either simple or luxury they shouldn't go out and spend their tax refund on that purpose. They should probably still be putting that money in the bank."  Reader BBs girl, like tivoboy, takes a conservative approach when it comes to tax returns. "A tax refund is not meant to be a 'savings plan,'" she wrote. She is traveling this summer in Europe, however, but paid for it in advance.  Reader mromanova, however, spoke for the 46% who said yes, they will spend at least some of their return on travel.  "I (will) probably use 5 - 15% of my tax return to spend on my next trip, if I could. Why not? My upcoming trip is to Hawaii." (PS: Mromanova is seeking cooking classes and other ideas for Honolulu. If you can help her out, leave your ideas on her blog.)  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Will you spend 2009's tax return on a vacation this year? Most say no - Hotel Check-in: A road warrior's guide to the lodging landscape - USATODAY.com