With extra cash in-hand women are more likely to shop on "Black Friday" while westerners long for, weekend travel.

Although Thanksgiving is a national holiday, turkey may be the only thing Thanksgiving celebrations have in common. A new survey released by Chase Bank USA N.A., a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), reveals regional, gender and age differences in Thanksgiving spending and attitudes.

The online Thanksgiving survey of 1,092 U.S. adult Americans, conducted by Greenfield Online, Inc., explored Thanksgiving spending behavior and topics ranging from holiday travel to Thanksgiving grocery buying to Black Friday shopping trips. The survey found that most Americans attend Thanksgiving dinners of five to ten people (38 percent). In the West, people are more likely to attend intimate Thanksgiving dinners of five people or less, while those in the South are more likely to celebrate with a group of 20 to 30 people. However, people in the West are more likely to clip coupons for Thanksgiving ingredients than those in the South. This may be a result of most Westerners grocery shopping at wholesale warehouse stores, while most Southerners buy from big-box retail stores.

"As a customer-centric company, we continually keep our eye on interesting trends that affect our customers," said Carter Franke, chief marketing officer of Chase Card Services, the company's credit card division. "The more we understand consumers' habits, the better we can design rewards card programs to help cardmembers enjoy the holidays with family and friends, while saving."

Food and Football or Family?

Age ranges also affect people's views on Thanksgiving. Respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely than older consumers to attend a Thanksgiving meal with between 21 and 30 people. People aged 24 and under most enjoy eating Thanksgiving dinner, watching football and shopping, while people aged 55 and older prefer family time during the holiday. Younger consumers (aged 24 years and under) are also more likely than other age groups to shop on "Black Friday." The majority of consumers (56 percent) say they avoid "Black Friday" shopping all together.

Cash to Burn for Thanksgiving

Responses varied greatly by region, age and gender when consumers were asked how they would spend $300 to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday if they had extra cash in their wallets. With extra money in-hand, women are the most likely to hit the malls for "Black Friday" shopping. Consumers aged 25 and older are more likely to save the money or apply it to debts, while Americans in the South and West are more likely than those in the Midwest to use the money to travel over the long weekend. Most consumers surveyed (31 percent) report spending less than $50 on entertaining friends and family during the holiday.

About Chase's Rewards Programs

Chase offers a variety of unique rewards programs to help cardmembers make the most of their spending year round. Chase Freedom allows cardmembers to change the types of rewards – cash and rewards points – they earn as their needs change, without ever leaving rewards behind. With Chase Freedom, cardmembers earn triple the rewards in everyday purchasing categories – groceries, gas and at quick service restaurants. This is a great benefit to cardmembers who'll earn rewards for their Thanksgiving shopping and fueling up the car for any holiday travel. Chase also offers airline rewards cards to help ease travel costs for cardmembers by allowing them to earn miles through everyday purchases and hotel rewards cards that offer deals on hotels across the globe. Chase has a rewards card to fit everyone's lifestyle.

Chase Card Services - Thanksgiving Survey Results
November 16-19, 2006

1) How much do you anticipate spending this year on entertaining
friends and family during the Thanksgiving holiday?

1. $0 - 14%
2. More than $0, but less than $50 - 31%
3. $50-$99 - 26%
4. $100-$199 - 18%
5. $200-299 - 7%
6. $300-$499 - 3%
7. $500 or more - 2%

2) Thinking about the Thanksgiving meal that you will host or attend this year, how many people will be there?

1. Less than 5 - 21%
2. 5-10 - 38%
3. 11-20 - 26%
4. 21-30 - 6%
5. More than 30 - 2%
6. I won't be attending a Thanksgiving meal this year - 6%

3) Where will you do most of your Thanksgiving grocery shopping this year?

1. Supermarket (e.g. Safeway, Shop Rite, Dominik's, Food Lion) - 44%
2. Gourmet grocery store (e.g. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's) - 3%
3. Wholesale warehouse store (e.g. Costco, Sam's Club) - 4%
4. "Big-Box" retail store (e.g. WalMart, Target) - 15%
5. Neighborhood grocery store - 14%
6. I won't be doing the Thanksgiving grocery shopping this year - 20%

4) When shopping for Thanksgiving meal ingredients this year, will you clip coupons or specifically shop for items that are on sale?
1. Yes - 46%
2. No - 18%
3. Not Sure - 16%
4. I won't be doing the Thanksgiving grocery shopping this year - 20%

5) How will your family/friends organize your Thanksgiving meal this year?

1. We'll cook the whole meal at one location - 58%
2. We'll use a combination of food that we cook and catered food
that we buy already prepared - 6%
3. We'll have a potluck, and everyone will bring a dish or two - 25%
4. We'll have the whole meal catered - 1%
5. We'll go out to a restaurant - 3%
6. I won't be attending a Thanksgiving meal this year - 7%

6) How much do you anticipate spending on travel this year during the Thanksgiving holiday?

1. $0 - 36%
2. More than $0, but less than $100 - 43%
3. $100-$299 - 7%
4. $300-$499 - 2%
5. $500-$999 - 1%
6. $1000 or more - 1%
7. I won't be traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday this year - 10%

7) What is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving holiday?

1. Spending time with family - 57%
2. Eating Thanksgiving dinner - 21%
3. Watching football - 4%
4. Taking time off work - 9%
5. Traveling - 1%
6. Shopping - 2%
7. Other (specify) - 5% - (Most popular - Leftovers, spending time with friends, giving thanks, cooking, playing)

8) What is your least favorite part of the Thanksgiving holiday?

1. Dealing with the crowds while shopping - 41%
2. The expenses associated with traveling/entertaining/shopping - 14%
3. Seeing family - 8%
4. Traveling - 9%
5. Having to prepare all the food - 13%
6. Other (specify) - 16% - (Most popular - Gaining weight, cleaning up, having to watch sports, saying goodbye to family,
not being able to visit family, missing loved ones who have passed away, traffic, family arguments, having to work on over
the holiday)

9) Do you plan on going shopping on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving) this year?

1. Yes - 22%
2. No - 56%
3. Not Sure - 23%

10) If your bank gave you an extra $300 this year to spend over the Thanksgiving holiday, how would you spend it?

1. I'd have my Thanksgiving dinner catered - 2%
2. I'd take my family/friends out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner - 4%
3. I'd use the money to travel over the long holiday weekend - 6%
4. I'd spend the money on "Black Friday" buying holiday presents - 29%
5. I'd save it/use it to pay debts - 51%
6. Other (specify) - 8% - (Most popular - donate to charity (majority of write in answers), buy gifts after Black Friday,
save it to pay for future travel, gamble)

* Further data analyses were conducted.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.3 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries.  Information about the firm is available at jpmorganchase.com.