Sh*t Costs Too Much: Fall Treats & Leaf-Peeping
From $4.49 gas and airfares up 23% to a $6.66 pumpkin spice latte, the war with Iran and tariffs have made fall road trips and seasonal treats more expensive than ever.
Sh*t Costs Too Much.
Fact sheet · 2026
$4.49
National average gas price — the highest ever recorded for this time of year
23.4%
Rise in airfares over the past year, with fall fares now matching summer
$6.66
Cost of a pumpkin spice latte, nearly double its price two decades ago
Americans are paying more for everything this year, and the autumn discounts that once made leaf-peeping road trips affordable have all but vanished. Gas prices sit at the highest ever recorded for this time of year, airfares are up more than 23% over the past year, and hotel rates in the most popular destinations are running 20% above summer prices. The season’s small comforts cost more too — a pumpkin spice latte now costs $6.66, a pound of coffee costs 47% more than it did in 2024, and the pumpkin patches and apple orchards families visit every autumn have spent the summer grappling with skyrocketing diesel costs and doubled fertilizer bills. For millions of families, even seasonal celebrations are getting harder to justify.
Key points
- Nearly half of Americans plan to travel this fall, with nearly 60% of those travelers driving to their destinations. 61% of voters now say gas prices are a major problem for their household.
- Gas prices are the highest ever recorded for this time of year — the national average hit $4.49 a gallon, more than $1.30 higher than a year ago. Leaf peepers headed to New England are paying an average of $4.38 a gallon.
- Airfares are up 23.4% over the past year, and the average domestic fall fare is now $326 — up 39% from last year, matching summer fares for the first time in years.
- Hotel rates in top U.S. destinations are running 20% higher this fall than this summer, lodging prices jumped 2.4% last month alone, and restaurant meals cost 3.4% more than a year ago — outpacing wage growth.
- A pumpkin spice latte now costs $6.66, nearly double its price two decades ago. A pound of ground coffee sold for $9.30 in August, up 47% from the 2024 average, and coffee prices are still climbing 6.1% a year.
- Sugar and sweets are estimated to be up 6.1% from last year, as Americans prepare to spend $4.1 billion on Halloween candy alone this year.
Core drivers
The war with Iran is making every fall getaway more expensive
At the end of February, the U.S. launched strikes against Iran, sparking a war that has shuttered the seaway carrying a fifth of the world’s oil. Nearly seven months later, crude is still trading above $100 a barrel, and AAA reports that autumn, which normally brings lower gas prices, is instead bringing the highest pump prices ever recorded for the season. Airlines also hiked fares and fees as jet fuel surged.
Nearly seven months in, the war has no end date
The White House predicted the war would be over in four to six weeks. Instead, missile strikes on Saudi oil hubs have sent crude surging, the administration conceded there had been no breakthroughs in talks, and Iran floated a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with no resolution in sight.
War with Iran killed Spirit Airlines, locking in higher airfares for years to come
In May, war-driven fuel prices forced Spirit Airlines out of business, erasing the biggest source of cheap airfares overnight.
War-driven diesel and fertilizer costs are hitting farms just as the harvest comes in
Diesel set an all-time record of $6.53 a gallon this month, and farm economists expect harvest fuel costs to run considerably higher this fall — largely because of the war with Iran. From Alabama pumpkin growers to Hudson Valley apple orchards, diesel costs are nearly double last fall’s, and nitrogen fertilizer has doubled since the war began.
Tariffs drove up coffee costs, and shoppers are still paying for them
Last year the federal government imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil, the source of roughly a third of America’s coffee, and U.S. purchases of Brazilian beans fell 52% after the duties took effect. Raw bean prices rose nearly 35% while the tariffs were in place, and with a nine-month lag between bean costs and store shelves, those costs kept reaching grocery prices long after the Supreme Court struck down the emergency tariffs in February. A pound of ground coffee still costs 47% more than it did in 2024.
Every figure here is sourced and linked to public reporting, government data, and independent analysis.
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