American Express recently released results from a survey of 681 American Express travel agents about travel arrangements for holiday travel. The majority (83 percent) of those polled revealed that travelers are increasingly seeking new destinations and more than half (52 percent) said that travelers are traveling farther during the holidays than in years past, requesting more elaborate and customized trips (59 percent). The agents said they are seeing a significant rise in luxury travel among families who are booking high-end hotels with kids programs (82 percent) and traveling with nannies (56 percent) and Membership Rewards members are redeeming points for air travel more than ever through the Pay With Points feature, lured by the absence of holiday black-out dates and restrictions.

The top five U.S. destinations requested are Hawaii, New York, Las Vegas, South Florida and the Rocky Mountains. The top five international destinations are the Caribbean, Mexico, Rome, Paris and London. Destinations that are gaining in popularity are Arizona, Central America and Dubai.