Our RHV-based club (San Jose) just increased its prices by $2/gal/hr... They said it was entirely due to fuel prices.

Did your fuel go up by $2/gal? Because ours only went up by 40 cents a
gallon, and we just got a new load this weekend. We're paying $3.35
per gallon now. That reflects the actual price increases in the bulk
fuel. Anything significantly higher is just gouging.

I asked if the prices would go down when/if avgas
proces dropped. I didn't really get a good answer,
but the suggestion was no, they wouldn't.

For years, the costs of renting airplanes really didn't keep up with
the costs of owning them - making the profit margins slimmer and
slimmer. It's gotten to where you really can't own a typical trainer
plane for less than you can rent it unless you fly 150+ hours a year.
I suspect that's going to change - but owning won't get any cheaper.

Michael