Travelers will have a choice of high airfare and rental car prices, or high gas prices this summer travel season.
AutoweekThe national gasoline price average hit $5.00 just over a week ago, almost a month earlier than some experts predicted, topping the highs seen during the busy Memorial Day weekend when summer gas prices usually peak. But Memorial Day averages were almost 40 cents south of the $5.00 a gallon mark, catching some industry watchers off guard amid plenty of turmoil in the oil and retail gasoline markets.
If anything, this summer would not look particularly inviting for those who prefer to travel by car… were it not for the prices of airline tickets and the availability of rental cars.
Airfare prices are currently almost 50% higher than last year, with periods of sharp growth having kicked off earlier this spring. To make matters worse, rental car companies have been unable to build back their fleets fast enough to match demand due to the lingering chip shortage in the auto industry, which itself is not expected to be resolved for quite some time. Add to that hotel prices, which are about double those seen two years ago, and those who choose to fly and rent a car at their destination could be in a world of financial hurt.
AAA predicts that 47.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more during the Independence Day weekend. The association expects the share of people traveling by air to be the lowest since 2011, with this upcoming holiday weekend set to be the busiest since the year 2000.
“This is an increase of 3.7% over 2021, bringing travel volumes just shy of those seen in 2019. The biggest surprise—car travel—will set a new record despite historically high gas prices with 42 million people hitting the road,” AAA said this week.
Needless to say, this will push demand for gasoline higher at a time when high demand has been blamed for high gas prices, along with other culprits.
For some travelers, this perfect storm is forcing changes to summer vacation plans, or turning medium range flights into longer drives. The trade-off, of course, are gas prices that are well north of $5.00 in over a dozen states.
“Yeah, we’re still going to drive, it takes a day but that’s fine,” one family from New York that usually drives to North Carolina told Autoweek. “I-95 is not great in the summer every summer, so it’s nothing new. We just have to get up early before people flood the interstate. It’s going to be hot as always and we’re going to see people’s car broken down or on fire. We saw that a couple of times. No, we wouldn’t fly, plus we bring a lot of stuff for barbecuing.”
While flight cancellations have declined quite a bit from earlier in the year, airlines are still dealing with staff shortages this summer, suggesting more schedule turmoil for the busy July 4th week.
The good news, if it can be described as such, is that the national gas price average has receded about 6 cents since the highs of a week prior, down to $4.96 a gallon at the start of this week, and is expected to keep dropping slowly over the next couple of weeks. Take this projection with a grain of salt, of course, as few experts predicted the $5.00 average itself to be reached two weeks after Memorial Day.
If gas prices do continue dropping in the run up to the Fourth of July, this could make driving more palatable for those with trips that can be covered by car.
Keyword: Will You Drive More This Summer to Avoid Flying?