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What's Your Tolerance For High Gas Prices?

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By Kurt Repanshek - July 7th, 2022

What is your breaking point when it comes to fuel costs??RV Trader

What's your breaking point for fuel costs this summer? Will you stay out of the National Park System if you have to pay more than $4.50 per gallon, or $5 per gallon?

During my recent road trip through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas, gas prices certainly caught my attention. I found a relative bargain in McPherson, Kansas, where I paid $4.249/gallon for "Super 93" unleaded, while in Rawlins, Wyoming, the price was $4.799 for regular unleaded. Even though my 2012 Subaru Outback averaged about 26 miles per gallon, fuel was a major expense for the trip. 

But there were many travelers out on the highways, where I saw more than a few three-quarter-ton pickups hauling fifth-wheel campers, and you know they're lucky if they can average 15 miles per gallon. While I never paid $70 or more to fill up my 16-gallon tank, filling a 36-gallon pickup tank with diesel can run $200 or more, a breath-catching cost. It might cost four or five times that to fill one of those bus conversion RVs.

According to RV Trader, RV owners are watching fuel costs and adjusting their summer plans. Back in March during its first survey of 1,800 RV owners, the business found that 51 percent were adjusting their travel plans due to fuel costs. Now, in a follow-up survey, RV Trader found that more than 57 percent of those surveyed are altering their plans.

Just like in March, the best solution RVers believe they should resort to in order to save gas is to just drive less. Although an RV is meant to be a home away from home, over 50% have decided to stay local and travel fewer miles. Additionally, 4% more travelers have opted to skip their multi-location road trip and instead settle in and enjoy one stop for longer (36%).

Another solution for many is to shorten the duration of their trip with 18% heading home early in March. This remains true in our June survey with 20% making this their plan. Sadly, in a worst-case scenario, both surveys found around 21% of RVers had to make the tough call to cancel their trip altogether.

Some, however, are going a whole different route by considering a new purchase that will offer more bang for their buck. Over 10% of respondents said they are considering purchasing a more fuel-efficient unit for their excursions. -- RV Trader.

The latest survey also found that 54 percent of RV owners began to adjust their travel plans once fuel reached $4/gallon. Forty-three percent said $5/gallon was the tipping point for changing their original travel plans. In terms of simply canceling a trip, 50 percent of those surveyed said fuel costs of $5/gallon was the breaking point, while 20 percent said they could afford up to $5.50/gallon before canceling a trip.

So, what's your breaking point for changing or canceling a summer vacation to the parks when it comes to fuel costs?

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Comments

Submitted by SB in AL on July 7, 2022 - 7:21am.

We just completed a 3,000 mile trip in our RV. We visited a number of National and State Parks and we saw diesel ranging from $5.29 to $6.59.  We used the gasbuddy app and filled up whenever we found cheap diesel but we did have some sticker shock at the end of a fill up and our tank is 26 gallons. The price did not stop us from going, but we did consider it.


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