ToplineWith gas prices hitting the $4-a-gallon “psychological wall,” many Americans may opt for a staycation this year.Gas prices over $5 a gallon at an Exxon gas station near the U.S. Capitol Building on Tuesday. (Photo by Andrew Harnik)Getty ImagesKey FactsOn 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. 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.”What To Watch For“This is the critical time” for summer tourism in the U.S., De Haan told Forbes. “Travelers are planning now, and basing their decisions on what is happening now, and prices at the pump are prohibitive. And I think you’re going to see a recalculation that’s going to start impacting those types of discretionary budgets.” The Trump administration has “two to three weeks” to provide more clarity about the Iran war, he said. After that, “we’re going to start seeing an economic impact that lasts into the start of the summer, and that’s hard to get back.” Higher gas prices will likely cause Americans to plan shorter trips this year, Dr. Brian Tyrrell, a professor of hospitality, tourism and event management at Stockton University in New Jersey, told CBS News. “If gas prices continue to go up the way they have, that will have an impact on travel,” Doug Price, CEO of Visit Colorado Springs, told a local NBC News affiliate, leaving people “wanting to stay a little closer to home and not making the longer road trips.”Big Number$375 million. That’s how much more Americans are collectively spending on gas per day compared to a month ago, according to De Haan.Which States Have Seen The Biggest Gas Price Hikes?Compared to one month ago, gas prices are up nearly 54% in Utah, up 46% in Tennessee, up 45% in Idaho, and up 44% in Louisiana and Florida, according to GasBuddy data.TangentWarehouse shopping clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s, which offer below-market fuel as a membership benefit, gained share of total U.S. gas station transactions in the week after the start of the Iran war, according to spending data from Consumer Edge.Further ReadingGas Is Now $4 A Gallon—First Time Since 2022 (Forbes)