July Fourth weekend will be busy for travel despite high gas prices
Jun. 30—While this will be most expensive July Fourth weekend ever at the gas pumps, causing some motorists to cut down on how far they will travel, there will still be plenty of people hitting the roads and skies, according to travel industry analysts.
Independence Day is usually the second most popular travel weekend of the summer behind Memorial Day, and that will again be the case, even with the average price per gallon across the country at about $4.93, according to AAA.
The nation's average gas price declined for the second straight week, though, dropping 8.8 cents from a week ago to $4.88 per gallon on Thursday, and has fallen close to 20 cents since the peak in early June, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
In Pennsylvania on Thursday, the average gallon of unleaded cost $4.93, and in Berks County it was a little lower at $4.89, AAA reported.
In neighboring counties, the average on Thursday was $4.94 in Montgomery County, $4.91 in Chester County, $4.92 in Delaware County, and $4.87 in Lehigh County.
Those prices could drop again next week due to decreasing oil prices, De Haan said.
The federal Energy Information Administration in its June short-term energy outlook also predicted average gasoline prices will decrease to $4.42 per gallon in July and $4.26 in August.
Still, the national average is up 28.3 cents from a month ago and is $1.79 per gallon higher than a year ago, De Haan said.
And motorists should be wary that any sudden jolts to supply could quickly cause a turnaround, and risk remains that when the peak of hurricane season arrives we could see a super spike at the pump, he said.
On the road
AAA predicts 47.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, which runs from Friday to Monday. That is an increase of 3.7% over 2021, bringing travel volumes just shy of those seen in 2019. Car travel is expected to hit a record for the weekend with 42 million people hitting the road, AAA said.
"The volume of travelers we expect to see over Independence Day is a definite sign that summer travel is kicking into high gear," said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. "Earlier this year, we started seeing the demand for travel increase, and it's not tapering off. People are ready for a break and, despite things costing more, they are finding ways to still take that much needed vacation."
In the sky
The flight industry has had a tough month in terms of canceled flights, with several thousand often occurring per day, along with many more delays. Industry analysts blame the problems on a shortage of pilots, flight crew and baggage handlers, along with a shortage of planes, and a high number of thunderstorms in recent months.
Delta this week said it still expected its volume of customers to be higher between Friday and Monday than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic and took the unusual step of issuing a travel waiver for those dates. The waiver allows customers to rebook their trips to before or after those challenging weekend travel days with no fare difference or change fees. Customers would need to travel between the same origin and destination and complete their travel by July 8.
The difficulties within the airline industry led to a tweet from a flight attendant that went viral after she recommended that if a trip is less than seven hours away by car, you are now better off driving.
She also recommended leaving and returning earlier than you need to on flights, scheduling longer layovers to account for delays and also downloading airline apps in case you need to quickly reschedule.
Changing plans
While AAA didn't go as far in its travel forecast as to recommend travelers don't fly, it acknowledged that recent issues with air travel and ongoing concerns of cancellations and delays may be driving the increase in car travel. It said the percentage of people traveling by air will be the lowest since 2011.
According to GasBuddy's annual summer travel survey, of the 58% of Americans planning to take a road trip this summer, 33% planned to travel specifically on Independence Day weekend.
The survey showed that though many will drive for the upcoming holiday weekend, 70% of motorists said they changed their summer road trip plans because of high gas prices, a 52% increase from last year.
Those looking to save on gas should shop around for the best prices, increase fuel efficiency with better driving habits and proper car maintenance, pay with a gas card or gas rewards credit card at the pump, and take advantage of gas station loyalty programs for extra cents off, GasBuddy said.
Key travel links
—PennDOT road conditions: 511pa.com
—SEPTA: septa.org
—Philadelphia International Airport: phl.org
—TSA: 866-289-9673
—Amtrak: amtrak.com or 800-USA-RAIL
