Napoleon Sharble of Sacramento, Calif. stands by his pickup truck after filling up at a gas station in Jean, Nev. Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 | 2 a.m.
On their way to Las Vegas, Ron Robbi and his wife stopped near the Nevada-California border to get gas. With prices hovering around record levels, the numbers on the pump spun by like the wheels on a casino slot machine.
That Wednesday, regular unleaded at the Chevron station in Primm was $6.92 a gallon.
“There’s no point in worrying about it,” said Robbi, who lives in the San Fernando Valley. “I have an economy car here and I just put half a tank in. … It cost me $50. The cost of everything is going up.”
Robbi said if gas prices “went way up,” he might have to think twice about his Las Vegas trips. But for now, he’s not dissuaded.
The short-term impact of rising gas prices on Las Vegas tourism is unclear.
Last year, about 32 million people visited Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. More than a quarter of them came from Southern California, with most people driving.
The average price nationally for a gallon of regular gas was $4.89 a gallon Monday. Before this year’s spike, the previous high was $4.11 in 2008, according to the American Automobile Association.
In Nevada, the average was $5.59 a gallon Friday, up from $3.69 a year ago, according to the AAA. The average price reported by AAA in Los Angeles was $6.35 a gallon Monday; in San Diego it was $6.27 Monday.
Eric Sauceda and his wife, Jiji, also stopped last week at the Chevron station in Primm on their way to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. He was filling up his Audi A4 sedan with premium gas at over $7 a gallon.
“Driving to Las Vegas, it’s still probably cheaper than flying,” he said. “We could fly, but then we’d probably have to get a rental car to get around, and you’d still be paying for gas then. … No matter what, you’re going to have to pay to travel.”
At a gas station in Jean, about 30 miles outside of Las Vegas, Napolean Sharble stopped Wednesday to fill up his Dodge Ram pickup.
A high school teacher who lives in the Sacramento area, Sharble said he and his family had been visiting Southern Nevada to take advantage of the outdoor recreation opportunities. He says he usually comes to Las Vegas a couple times a year.
It would have cost Sharble about $130 to fill up his truck, but since his tank wasn’t empty, it was a little less on this day.
“Where I’m from, the gas prices are actually higher than they are here,” Sharble said. “From what I’ve seen, people are complaining about the gas prices, yes, but people are still driving. People are making the sacrifice, especially if you want to go on a vacation like we did.”
Carl Casey stopped in Jean to fill his car’s tank on his way back to Los Angeles from Cedar City, Utah. He said he didn’t think current gas prices would keep many Californians from visiting Las Vegas, but there likely is a breaking point.
“I suppose if it gets too bad, people will have to cut into their gambling budget or something like that,” he said.
