{"id":8456,"date":"2026-05-21T15:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8456"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:32:15","slug":"memorial-day-higher-fuel-prices-have-some-americans-scaling-back-their-travel-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8456","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day: Higher fuel prices have some Americans scaling back their travel plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

By RIO YAMAT, AP Airlines and Travel Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

As someone who is \u201cnot the best person with bugs and stuff,\u201d Stephanie Bernaba never imagined herself becoming an outdoorsy mom.<\/p>

Read more A record 274 climbers scale Mount Everest in a single day<\/a><\/p>\n

But the mother of three is getting more daring as gas prices and other travel costs make vacations more expensive. Bernaba, 47, has been steering her family toward local beaches, bike rides and hiking trails near their home in coastal Rhode Island instead of the faraway trips they once took.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to do more of that because one, it\u2019s quality time. Two, it\u2019s fresh air. And three, we\u2019re not spending an arm and a leg,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That kind of calibration is shaping the summer travel season, which gets its traditional start in the U.S. with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures are making most forms of travel costlier as people in many parts of the world form their plans.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Travel Association expacts annual travel spending to grow by a modest 1% this year, powered largely by domestic leisure travel despite the FIFA World Cup giving soccer fans from other countries a reason to visit the U.S. Airfares have climbed around the world along with the price of jet fuel as the war constrains global oil supplies.<\/p>\n

Sticking closer to home may not cushion the sticker shock. The nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated Americans would collectively spend an extra $3.5 billion on gasoline over the holiday weekend. The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $4.56 on Thursday compared to $3.18 a year ago, according to motor club AAA.<\/p>\n

Other travel expenses have gone up too. The latest showed airfares were 20.7% higher in April from a year earlier, the cost of intracity transit such as buses and subways rose 5.6%, lodging cost 4.3% more, and eating out got 3.6% pricier.<\/p>

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