Travelers will have more to celebrate this Independence Day: the lowest gasoline prices in least five years, according to AAA.
The motoring and leisure travel organization predicts that 41.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home for the holiday travel period—representing the most Independence Day travelers since 2007, AAA said. The travel period runs from July 1 to July 5.
Almost 85% of those travelers, or about 35.5 million, will be driving, and most of those will likely pay the lowest price at the pump for gasoline since at least 2010. Check out AAA’s mobile app to find the lowest gas prices.
But “gas prices may not remain this low in future years,” said Michael Green, an AAA spokesman told MarketWatch. “This year has been a great bonus for drivers because the last time gas prices were this low, the economy was in pretty bad shape. This time around, many travelers are in a better financial place…can use the hundreds of dollars in accumulated gas savings this year towards their holiday trip.”
On Friday, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline cost $2.783 at the pump. That’s up 4.5 cents from a month ago, but down 90.1 cents from the same time a year ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
Gasoline prices stood at $3.66 a gallon on the Fourth of July last year.
Source: MarketWatch
