While Americans are exploring their travel options for the holiday season, gasoline prices are climbing.
In Tennessee, AAA reports that gasoline prices have risen an average of 5 cents over the past week and 16 cents since this time last year. The Volunteer State’s averages have not been as bad as increases at the national level, which are 6 and 20 cents, respectively.
But paying a little more at the pump isn’t going to scare Rhonda Warren as she looks to Christmas.
The 54-year-old Tunnel Hill, Ga., resident said she is considering heading to Nashville for the Dec. 25 holiday to see her nephew. And because she does not travel that much, a few cents extra for gas will not prevent that.
“It wouldn’t hold me back,” she said while filling her car at a Conoco on Ringgold Road on Tuesday.
Local travel experts and economists agree that if people have their hearts set on traveling, parting with a jar full of change is one of the last things that will stop them — that is, of course, if they have a job.
“Right now, 5 cents will affect those people who cannot afford it. But those who can afford it, it doesn’t make a lot of a difference,” said Ziad Keilany, head of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s economics department. “Remember, we paid a lot more [for gas] two years ago.”
On July 17, 2008, the national average for gasoline was $4.11, the highest average ever recorded, according to AAA.
But even though national gas prices currently average $2.85 a gallon — about one-third less than the record high — the cost still creates a “very severe burden” for the unemployed, Keilany said.
The current shift in prices, he said, is a good sign of economic growth. He noted the 155,000 jobs created nationwide last month.
“It always goes like this: [When] the economy is growing, the demand for petroleum products rises,” Keilany said.
That economic growth perhaps has trickled down to Lookout Travel Agency in Chattanooga, where travel agent Melissa Finch said she’s seen a steady stream of customers recently.
“I’ve actually been busy,” she said. “I haven’t really seen that much of an effect [from rising gas prices].”
There are some rare instances when employed travelers do back away from their plans because of gas prices, said Bob Humble, a travel agent for BMD Travel Services.
“I have friends who have motorhomes who can’t afford it, obviously,” he said. “When it costs them $500 or $600 to drive to Daytona and back, then it does become significant.”
But those instances are few and far between, Humble said.
“Since I’ve been in the travel business, gas has gone from 75 cents to $3 [a gallon], and I haven’t really seen that change people’s habits,” he said. “The cost of fuel has not impacted vacation travel that much.”
Contact staff writer Michael Stone at mstone@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.