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With gas prices hitting the $4-a-gallon “psychological wall,” many Americans may opt for a staycation this year.

Key Facts

On Tuesday, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. topped $4 per gallon for the first time since 2022. 

Traditionally, between 85% and 90% of Americans drive to their summer vacation destinations rather than fly, according to AAA data.

“Unless the administration figures this out very rapidly, we are probably coming up on the point of no return for the first four weeks of the summer driving season,” Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, told Forbes. 

A recent Yahoo/YouGov survey shows two-thirds (66%) of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling gas prices.

An AP-NORC survey fielded this month shows 45% of Americans are “extremely” or “very” worried about being able to afford gas in the next few months, compared to 30% in December 2024, shortly after Trump was elected to his second term.

Why Higher Gas May Play Differently This Year Than In 2022The $4-per-gallon milestone is a “psychological wall,” De Haan noted in a recent social media post. Gas stations will even sacrifice their margin to stay at $3.99 “because they know how consumers react.” He warned against drawing any parallels to August 2022, when travel demand soared despite gas prices hitting $4 per gallon. “That was an abnormal year for the fact that Americans, after two years of Covid lockdowns and other impediments, had a very different tone in wanting to get out, and they were not going to be deterred by higher energy prices,” De Haan told Forbes. “Whereas now I don’t view that there’s enough optimism in the economy for Americans to be able to weather the higher prices.”

Read the full story on Forbes: By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/03/31/gas-prices-psychological-wall-summer-vacations/

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