Drivers can expect higher gas prices this holiday season.
With oil prices reaching $96 a barrel on Thursday, analysts say consumers will begin feeling it at the pump in time for Thanksgiving.
They'll also feel it when they fly. American and Delta airlines on Thursday raised round-trip tickets $20 to recover some of the costs of higher fuel prices.
"We're just now beginning to see the impact of $80 to $85 oil trickling down to the consumer level," said Stephen Schork, editor of energy newsletter The Schork Report, who predicts gas prices will go up about 15 cents a gallon by Christmas and could go higher by as much as 35 cents.
On Thursday, average gas prices in West Palm Beach crossed the $3 a gallon threshold, up almost 3 cents overnight. In Fort Lauderdale, they hit $2.95.
Consumers said that if gas rises by the amount predicted, it could affect their holiday shopping decisions.
"People will buy fewer gifts," said Pradel Vilme, a Miramar mortgage broker and real estate agent who is a member of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel gas panel.
More immediately, Vilme said, a jump in prices would cause him to curb some nonessential trips. "You will think twice about driving to visit friends or to go miles away to visit something," he said.
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