Fuel Prices

Hello Everyone,

As you can guess by my username, I am a newbie. Not just to HGVC, but to timeshares in general.

I want to thank you all for contributing to this forum as I have followed it for several months now and have received VERY good info. I will try to return the good deeds as well as I become more experienced.

I am very close to purchasing a HGVC timeshare (resale, of course). As with most, I am VERY concerned about rising fuel costs (currently $118 a barrel as of this week). Particularly, I am worried about how it will affect airfare costs to fly to use the timeshares. Up to this point, airfare has been within reach. Even Hawai'i, with planning, is somewhat manageable to afford.

What will it be like in the future?? Will it be like back in the 1950's where it was mostly wealthy people that could travel via airplane? (not talking from experience here - I am a lot younger - lol) Is it eventually going to be tough to even get a decent fare to Florida?

Now, I realize that most of us here are not economists by trade. However, I would like to get opinions from others and hear what you have heard out there.

What do you think?

I think you make good points that reflect concerns many of us have. It's expensive to drive or fly, with fuel costs being what they are. I predict folks will still vacation, but instead of multiple vacations per year they'll pare it down to one special, long trip and maybe a weekend or two closer to home if they can swing it. Gas hit $120/barrel for a moment today! Let's see what tomorrow brings. :annoyed:

I think fewer will vacation by air, but I don't see it going to only wealthy people being able to fly unless the entire economy collapses. The modern companies can't operate on that low a volume.

We usually drive to vacations and the higher cost of gas won't affect that very much. Paying $50 more for gas for the trip isn't that much compared to the total cost. We might cut out a few of our weekend trips, but not the main vacations.

Hi,
For me, I think the increase in gas prices will affect how much I vacation. Everything is more expensive, because of the increase in gas. Home heating, groceries, everything is getting more and more expensive. There is just not as much money left over for recreation as there once was. Yes, we will con't to enjoy our timeshares, but we will probably cut back on the number of vacations we take. Sue

Predicting the future is always a tough thing to do. I know that right now I'm planning on cutting back on vacations that require flying for next year.

I believe part of the problem is based on how weak the dollar is on the world market. A stronger dollar may mean lower cost per barrel of oil. It will be interesting to see what happens to the price of gas a few years after the next election. I'm hoping that the stronger dollar will stablize and perhaps lower the cost of oil for America.

Don't get to political on this. It's not meant to be political. I'm only pointing out that the weakened U.S. dollar on the world market may be having a greater effect on what we're paying at the pump than those countries using the Euro or Britian using is pound sterling.