Dina Guillen had planned to make the 520-mile drive from her home in the Rio Grande Valley to Dallas to visit family for her teenager’s spring break. But after calculating the cost — particularly the painfully high price of gas — she decided to figure out a cheaper way.
So instead of an eight-hour journey through Texas two weeks ago , she made a two-hour jaunt to Corpus Christi. The change shaved off about $100 in gas costs. Ms. Guillen, 46, a home health care worker, said she still hopes to get to Dallas with her daughter in the coming months, but only if gas prices drop.
“We’ll wait until the summer and see what happens,” she said. “It’s scary what’s going on.”
Spring break, one of the busiest vacation seasons of the year, has presented a trifecta of headaches for travelers: soaring gas prices and airfare spikes, long and unpredictable airport security lines tied to a partial government shutdown, and persistently high food costs.
The Iran war, along with the spring break season, has pushed gas prices to levels not seen since 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affected the global oil supply. The cost of airline fuel has also surged, as have fares, but generally, demand for tickets has not yet dampened. That includes travelers who are purchasing tickets now to lock in prices for summer travel.
“Our indicators show that demand is holding strong,” said Casandra Matej, the chief executive of Visit Orlando, a tourism association, noting that travelers typically book spring break trips well in advance.
But as the summer approaches, that demand could change.
“As people have to spend more for gas, that’s going to eat into their budget for other things, including discretionary vacation funds,” said Eric Rosen, director of travel content at The Points Guy, a travel and loyalty points information website. “If gas prices remain high, you are going to see a lot of people re-evaluate their road trip plans for the summer.”
For families already pinched by higher costs of living, the bloated prices at the pump have added another layer of financial pressure, prompting many to at least reconsider their spring break plans or make trip adjustments. Fearing a prolonged period of elevated pricing, many are adopting a wait-and-see approach to summer travel.
“I’m going to have to make some major spending, budgeting changes,” said Bryce Kelly, a 22-year-old student at University of Central Florida whose budget has been strained by gas costs.
Mr. Kelly, who is studying information technology, gave up spring break plans to hang out with friends on the sugar-white sands of St. Joe Beach, about 360 miles away on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Instead, he spent the week at his off-campus apartment in Orlando. The roughly $1 per gallon price hike over the last several weeks was a deciding factor.
Gas prices have climbed by approximately 34 percent since the war began on Feb. 28, with the national average price now about $3.98 and Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rose to about $111 on Friday. It jumped roughly 5.7 percent, to $108.01, on Thursday. The gas price is up from $2.98 just a month ago and the national average could soon reach $4 per gallon for the first time since August 2022, according to AAA data.
So far, the average domestic spring airfares have increased by about 10 percent and summer airfares are up approximately 17 percent year over year, Katy Nastro, a travel expert at Going.com, a membership service for cheap flights, told Forbes.
Adam Elsinga, a high school social studies teacher in Des Moines, said that in recent years, his family has traveled to Minnesota, Florida, and California for spring break. But this year, the price of gas and flights deterred them. “We’re trying to save a little bit more money by just staying home,” he said.
In February, Mr. Elsinga searched for a flight from Des Moines to Chattanooga, Tenn., to travel for a funeral. He and his wife watched as the price for a ticket more than doubled, from about $400 to $900 over the course of just a few weeks.
“It was crazy to see,” he said. “I mean, you could partially chalk it up to just, it’s spring break. But everything else that’s going on contributes as well.”
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Brittany and Ken Smith had a similar experience, monitoring gas prices while planning a trip to Nashville. By the time they hit the road in mid-March, they said a tank of gas that typically costs them $30 to $40 had jumped by $10 to $15.
The oldest of their four children was coming home for his first college spring break, so they still wanted to make the vacation happen, but with some adjustments. Instead of a downtown hotel, they stayed further away and as a result, saved about $250, more than enough to cover gas costs. They also nixed sit-down meals at popular Nashville restaurants.
“It’s shaping our decisions,” Ms. Smith, 41, said.
Ms. Smith, a photographer, said her family is bracing for another cost hike: Their youngest son plays travel baseball, which will mean frequent trips to games this summer. To offset increased fuel costs, she plans to book cheaper hotels, preferably with a kitchen that would allow her to prepare meals.
Joy Allen of Murfreesboro, Tenn., whose four children also regularly travel for sports, said she was already calculating the cost of a half-dozen trips planned for the spring and summer. As Ms. Allen, 47, drove home from her daughter’svolleyball tournament in St. Louis about two weeks ago , she stopped to refill up her tank. The $70 price offered a hint of what was in store.
Top of mind for her was a trip with her daughter to Denver in June for a softball tournament that might be affected. After researching flights and rental car rates, she began to consider alternatives, such as driving the 1,100 miles from their home with coolers full of sandwiches.
“It’s something I’m paying attention to because we have a very busy summer,” Ms. Allen said.
For Annie Odle, summer travel plans are dependent, in part, on whether gas reaches $4 per gallon. On Wednesday, Ms. Odle filled up her Kia Sedona minivan before driving 350 miles to Dallas. A Wal Mart Plus discount card reduced the price to $2.82 per gallon.
“When it gets close to four dollars,” she said. “That’s a lot.”
Steven Rich contributed reporting from Washington, Kendal Asbury from Orlando, Mary Beth Gahan from Dallas and Jamie McGee from Nashville.
Audra D. S. Burch is a national reporter, based in South Florida and Atlanta, writing about race and identity around the country.
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