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Near-Record Gas Prices, Crowds Await Holiday Travelers

Consumers starting to feel the pain of rising gas prices

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 16, 2007    Spanish

• Why Are Oil Prices Falling? • Labor Day Gas Prices Up a Penny • Gas Prices Fall for 37 Days • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record • Gas Prices Creep Down • Oil Price Trend May Be Good News For Consumers • Gasoline Drops Below $3.90 a Gallon • Gas Prices Pull Back Slowly • Oil Prices Fall As Storm Misses Rigs • Latest Gas Price Round-Up • 'Run Your Car On Water' Scheme Could Leave Consumers All Wet • Unregulated Energy Trading Blamed for Much of Gas Price Gusher • Airlines Join Effort To Limit Oil Speculators • Questions Raised about MyGallons.com • 'Hypermiling' Is Dangerous, Says AAA • Struggling Drivers Blame Washington for High Gas Prices • What’s Really Fueling Those Sky-High Oil Prices • Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a 'Hidden Tax' on Consumers • Survey: 3 Out of 4 Angry About High Gas Prices • $2 A Gallon Gas Possible, Analysts Tell Congress • Speculators Buy More Oil Contracts Than Oil Companies • Saudis to Pump More Oil • Limiting Oil Speculators Gains Ground • Congress To Probe Oil Price Spike • Oil Market 'Saturated,' Iran Claims • Feds See No Relief from High Gas Prices • High Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Insurance Rates • High Gas Prices Good For Kia, Honda • Gas Prices Rip Past $4 and Keep Climbing • Administration, OPEC See Different Causes Of Oil Surge • Feds Probing Possible Oil Market Manipulation • Beware of Fuel Sippers Sipping High-Test • Retailers Respond to High Gas Prices with Discounts, Promotions • Rushing Into a Smaller Car Too Soon May Not Save Money • Hybrid Sales and Prices Climb in Lockstep with Gas Prices • Truckers Bemoan Burden of High Diesel Costs • Gas Prices Biting into Worker Productivity • Consumers Warned About Gas-Saving Schemes • Is Tony Soprano Controlling Gas Prices? • Oil & Gas: The New Bubble • Critics: New Federal Gas Mileage Standard Falls Short • Consumers Feeling Pain of Skyrocketing Gas Prices • New Gas Price Record Forecasts Expensive Summer Driving Season --- • More ...

Americans by the millions plan to hit the road over the Thanksgiving Holiday to visit family and friends despite rising gasoline prices that now are above $3.00 per gallon in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

The travel and leisure group AAA estimates that 38.7 million Americans, 1.5 percent more than last year, will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday.

“Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for family gatherings, and higher gas will not discourage Americans from reconnecting with their loved ones," Robert L. Darbelnet, President and CEO of AAA, said in a release.

Some 31.2 million people will travel by car, up 1.3 percent from last year, AAA said. Another 4.7 million will go by air, up 2.2 percent. The rest will take trains, buses or other modes of transportation.

Southerners will make up the largest portion of those going by car, with 9 million people expected to take to the roads, according to AAA.

Average U.S. retail gasoline prices are moving closer to the record $3.23 set in May. The national average price for regular self serve is now $3.11, 37 cents higher than last month and 88 cents higher than one year ago.

Gasoline prices usually decline in the fall as demand drops off at the end of the summer driving season but not this year.

Gasoline prices began climbing again shortly after Labor Day as they followed the spike in crude oil to nearly $100 per barrel.

Analysts suggest the worst of the price run up is not over and gas prices could move above the previous $3.23 record.

"We think there's room for the price nationally to set a new record," said Geoff Sundstrom, an AAA spokesman.

More pain, no gain

Consumers are starting to feel more pain from fuel costs because they are rising as a percentage of income. According to a new Oil Price Information Service study, it now costs 3.8 percent of median household income to fuel a single vehicle, up from 1.9 percent in 2002.

"Unfortunately, this price increase, for a lot of Americans, is going to be very difficult this year," Sundstrom said.

Families could find themselves spending $80 to $90 a month more on gasoline this holiday season as many people will find they cannot reduce the amount they drive.

Here is a look as some gasoline prices from around the country in the ConsumerAffairs.com Gas Price Round Up.

California: San Francisco consumers are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in the country and in Los Angeles are not much better off.

The two cities have the highest gas prices for metropolitan areas nationwide, with San Francisco averaging $3.47 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline, up 14 cents from a week ago

California's skyrocketing gas prices lead the nation with an average statewide price of $3.41 a gallon, followed by Hawaii with $3.32, Washington with $3.26, New York with $3.25 and North Dakota with $3.23, according to AAA.

Gas is up 35 cents in Oakland, to $3.52, 35 cents in Fremont, to $3.42, and 36 cents in Concord, to $3.38, AAA reports.

Illinois: Gas prices in the Chicago area have climbed higher over the past month and in Cook County the price of unleaded regular gas is up 29 cents to $3.24, according to AAA Chicago.

In DuPage County, the price is up 32 cents from last month, at $3.15.

Statewide the price has increased 36 cents to $3.17 a gallon. That is up 88 cents from one year ago.

Hawaii: Gasoline prices could rise by 20 cents per gallon in the next few weeks, and higher fuel prices will affect a lot more than just the cost of driving.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Honolulu is$3.22 a gallon, according to AAA. Prices were $3.32 a gallon in Hilo and $3.65 in Wailuku, AAA said.

Typically, drivers in Hawaii pay among the highest gasoline prices in the nation. Those prices are caused by the state's isolated, small market, which isn't subject to the same fluctuations in supply and demand that force Mainland prices to move.

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