Fuel Prices altering your Summer RVing plans?

Waterbug

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2012
Posts
505
Location
Florida
Have current fuel prices altered your Summer RVing plans? I'm over 80 and only RV in my home state, but fuel prices have made even that questionable. Can I afford it? Yes. Is it the best way to spend that money? My car gets 30 mpg, my RV gets 6.5.
 
There seems to be only one way for gas prices to go over the long haul and we have been had, just like the last time gas prices went up and never fully came back down.
I sold my first big motorhome when the gas prices reached the outrageous price of $1. 54 a gallon!
As far as I can tell the country has not learned much in the years since then!
 
There seems to be only one way for gas prices to go over the long haul and we have been had, just like the last time gas prices went up and never fully came back down.
I sold my first big motorhome when the gas prices reached the outrageous price of $1. 54 a gallon!
As far as I can tell the country has not learned much in the years since then!
The Major gasoline refiners are raking in $$$ in profits. Only 2% of their oil comes thru the straights of Hormouz and won't reach here for months. They refine US oil, which they pump from the ground here. They have had ZERO increase in production costs but have raised fuel prices by 30%. The federal government needs to do an anti-trust/monopoly investigation. Passing on increased costs to consumers is legal, but price gouging isn't.
 
Oil is traded on a global market, and refiners buy oil at the global price. It doesn't matter whether the oil comes from the Permian Basin or North Dakota or Kuwait or Oman, it all trades at the same price. US refineries can't buy US pumped oil for $70/barrel if the going price is $120/barrel. Selling gas at the market price isn't price gouging. Yeah it sucks, but it's not illegal.
 
When I was a kid, gas would sell for about 20¢ per gallon. That would be two Constitutional Dimes, coined through 1964. Today, two Constitutional Dimes are worth $10.70 in Federal Reserve Notes. Even at today's prices, gasoline is actually less expensive.
 
We're driving out to San Fransisco in a couple of weeks, I would love to drive the MH but at ~5.5 mpg towing that's just not an option. We also have a trip scheduled for late June but it's only a couple hundred (mountainous) miles away, so unless gas prices get really insane we'll probably do that one. And a couple of boondock trips to a national forest area about 30 miles away when we get a chance. But no big trips this year like we did last year for sure.
 
Oil is traded on a global market, and refiners buy oil at the global price. It doesn't matter whether the oil comes from the Permian Basin or North Dakota or Kuwait or Oman, it all trades at the same price. US refineries can't buy US pumped oil for $70/barrel if the going price is $120/barrel. Selling gas at the market price isn't price gouging. Yeah it sucks, but it's not illegal.
Oil is traded on the global market but many local refineries pump their own fields. Even if they don't, local drillers are making $$$$, because their production cost have remained constant, but the value of their production is up 50%.
 
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Wyocamper is spot on. It doesn’t matter if the refinery is next door or across the globe. Oil sells today for today’s world’s price. It’s not price gouging and it’s perfectly legal in our capitalist country.

We leave in a week for a 3,500 mile trip. Luckily, our new RV gets ~13 mpg. But it’s diesel, and we’re going to California. So….
 
The only change I foresee in my travel plans is finally becoming a member of Mudflap. I been putting it off you a couple years now but I think the time has come. Will be traveling over 5000 miles this years so the savings have to add up[.
 
Greenlane is generally providing greater discounts than Mudflap. Mudflap is generally lower cost than Open Roads.

Get the Greenlane and Mudflap apps and compare them side by side. I have found that having both provides a greater number of discount stations. Another thing I have noticed is that when heading for our discount fuel station, we sometimes see lower prices at a station that we pass on the way. Keeping our eyes open in various ways pays off.
 
It really depends on your travel route and destination. Last week, we paid $6.39/gallon for diesel in northern AZ, $5.69 in central NM earlier this week, and $4.88 in West Texas today. Gas Buddy, Maverik discounts, and Kroger fuel points are my closest friends!
 
For the past 6 years, we winter in the Rio Grande Valley, and summer with the grandkids in NW Washington State. But not this year. 3000 miles out and then back again with 8.5 mpg, means diesel will be very expensive for us, let alone the increases in regular RV parks. So, we will stay put this year, with a very low price to stay here. Perhaps we can buy plane tickets for the grandkids to visit us. Oh yes, plane tickets are going up too. This year, it's a no-win situation for us old folks on a fixed budget. :(
 

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