Some Portland-area residents are scaling back vacations, skipping flights and sticking closer to home as rising gas prices and airfare make summer travel harder to justify.
The latest: Consumer prices climbed 3.8% last month compared to a year earlier — the highest increase since 2023 — with energy and travel costs driving much of the rise, according to new federal data.
Airfare jumped 2.8% in April and a gallon gas cost $5.47 on average this week in Multmomah County, per AAA.
What you're saying: Readers told us higher prices are forcing difficult tradeoffs.
"I was supposed to be in Mexico right now," Kathy M. told Axios, adding that she didn't feel safe going while the U.S. is at war with Iran. A last-minute Southwest roadtrip was also abandoned due to gas prices. "I could've been by my favorite pool."
Two plane tickets totaling nearly $6,000 made Jesse R. rethink a vacation in the U.K. next month. Instead, he and his wife will spend a few days in New York.
Meanwhile, Sonia M. said the cost of flights to Hawaii or Mexico — "almost twice what they usually would be" — pushed her to swap a warm-weather getaway for a quieter — albeit colder — trip to the coast instead.
"At least my tourism money that would be spent elsewhere will stay in-state," she said.
