BY MUBHASHRA SIDDIQUI

Record gas prices – up nearly 20 % over the past year - have many of us rethinking our summer travel plans.

While the summer driving season kicked off with the Memorial Day holiday, for most people long road trips are no longer an option. Indeed, according to many recent national surveys, US travelers are choosing to alter their travels or not travel at all due to rising gas prices.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that one in four people altering their routes won’t go as far or stay as long. Vacations plans will further be hampered as many opt for less expensive restaurants and hotels to offset the high gas prices.

How are the soaring gas prices affecting your travel plans? What changes, if any, have you made to your travel plans? Is flying a better option for you? If you choose not to travel, how do you plan to spend your vacation time?

With pump prices showing no signs of halting, NRI Pulse has you give your take on some major ‘summer sizzle and gas guzzle’:

“The high gas prices are very disturbing and have already affected my summer plans. I had planned initially to drive to Dallas and enjoy myself with a couple of layovers on the way. But since gas prices are so high now, I will probably be traveling by air. I think that a flight will be cheaper as there will also be no other expenses on the way like restaurant stops or an overnight hotel stay. Also, I didn’t think I will be planning more than one summer trip this year.”
Debabrata Pradhan, Ph.D. Candidate – Mech. Engineering, Tuscaloosa

“The high gas prices are definitely affecting us. Initially, we had planned to head down to Daytona but because of the gas prices we are considering going somewhere closer like Myrtle Beach. Also, I don’t think this summer we shall be planning any short day trips nearby. I think that now we will carefully plan how to spend our time and make the most of the stay wherever we go. Its not only about the summer trips, the gas prices are affecting us on a day-to-day basis – even with my work as realtor. I have cut down previewing homes and won’t take trips that are further away unless the buyer is serious.”
Kiran Agnihotri, Realtor, Atlanta

“I do have summer plans at this moment [and] they are greatly affected by the escalated prices of gas. We intend to travel to the beaches of Florida in the scorching summer, but we would use Amtrak as one of the connectors for public transportation which is much cheaper than throughout rental cost. It's difficult to cancel the travel plans when you're with a family at home in the long summer! Flying can't be a cheaper option unless you get a super-duper deal from a not-so-known flight company.”
Rupak Das, Ph.D. Candidate – Alt. Energy, Atlanta

“People are definitely traveling less this summer because of the high gas prices and this has affected my business as well. Usually, over long weekends we tend to have lots of customers from out of state but this Memorial Day weekend we were very disappointed. I would say that we had almost 50 per cent less customers than we normally do at this time of the year. Also, with inflation hitting people from everywhere even local people in Atlanta are coming out less to eat.”
Suresh Sheregar, Owner, Udipi Cafe