Best Vacation Loans in 2025

If you have good or excellent credit, consider using a Discover loan to pay for your next trip. Discover will send you your money as soon as the next business day. Plus, you’ll keep costs down by skipping the upfront loan processing fee (origination fee) that many other lenders charge.

But don’t let your vacation relax you so much that you forget to make your Discover loan payment. Otherwise, you’ll be on the hook for a $39 late payment fee.

You’ll need to meet these eligibility criteria to get a Discover loan:

• Age: Be at least 18
• Citizenship: Have a Social Security number
• Administrative: Have a physical address, an email address and internet access
• Income: Minimum income of $40,000 (individually or as a household)
• Credit score: 720

You’ll avoid the upfront and late payment fees that other lenders charge when you take out a vacation loan with LightStream. You can also get fast funding — LightStream will send you your money as soon as the same day you apply.

LightStream only works with borrowers who have good or excellent credit and several years of credit experience. Also note that LightStream will only show you your rates after doing a hard credit pull. This will temporarily knock a few points off your credit score.

LightStream doesn’t specify its exact credit score requirements, but you must have good to excellent credit to qualify. Most of the applicants that LightStream approves have the following in common:

• At least five years of on-time payments under a variety of accounts (credit cards, auto loans, etc.)
• Stable income and the ability to handle paying their current debt obligations
• Savings, whether in a bank account, investment account or retirement account

If you want to boost your odds of approval, you can add a second person to your Prosper vacation loan application. A co-applicant with excellent credit can also help you qualify for lower rates, which would make paying for your vacation less expensive.

Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay an upfront loan processing fee (origination fee) of 1.00% - 9.99%, which is taken out of the total amount you’re borrowing.

To get a loan with Prosper, you must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Age: Be 18 or older
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen
• Administrative: Have a U.S. bank account and Social Security number
• Residency: Not live in Iowa or West Virginia
• Credit score: 560+

While lenders usually only offer up to $50,000, you can take out as much as $100,000 from SoFi. SoFi can transfer your funds as soon as the same day you close on your loan, and the upfront origination fee is optional.

Since SoFi loans start at $5,000, you’ll have to look elsewhere for a smaller vacation loan. And you may have to accept an origination fee in order to qualify for SoFi’s lowest rates.

You must meet the requirements below in order to get a loan from SoFi:

• Age: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18)
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen, an eligible permanent resident or a non-permanent resident (a DACA recipient or asylum-seeker, for instance)
• Employment: Have a job or job offer with a start date within 90 days, or have regular income from another source
• Credit score: 680

You should only borrow as much as you need to pay off your vacation, and Upgrade allows you to take out as little as $1,000. Besides small loans, Upgrade also offers an autopay discount, which could make your trip even less expensive.

While Upgrade loans are available to people with fair credit, these borrowers will likely pay high rates. You should also keep in mind that Upgrade charges an upfront loan processing fee called an origination fee, which will add to the cost of your loan.

To qualify for an Upgrade loan, you must meet the requirements below:

• Age: Be at least 18 years old (19 in some states)
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or live in the U.S. with a valid visa
• Administrative: Have a valid bank account and email address
• Credit score: 580+

Borrowers with bad credit have better odds of getting a vacation loan from Upstart, an online marketplace. Upstart heavily weighs factors like employment, income and level of education when deciding whether to offer you a loan. Plus, Upstart has one of the lowest credit requirements currently on the market.

People with bad credit may qualify for an Upstart loan, but they’ll likely pay high rates and fees. Upstart’s origination fees go up to 12.00%, and repayment periods are limited to just two options: 36 or 60 months.

Upstart has transparent eligibility requirements, including:

• Age: Be 18 or older
• Administrative: Have a U.S. address, personal banking account, email address and Social Security number
• Employment: Have a job or job offer that starts within six months, or have regular income
• Credit-related factors: Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio no higher than 50% (45% in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Vermont), no bankruptcies within the last year, fewer than six inquiries on your credit report in the last six months and no current delinquencies
• Credit score: 300+ (unless you’re an eligible college student or graduate, in which case Upstart could approve you with no credit)