There is good news at the pump for people of the High Plains planning to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas ranked first, fourth and fifth for least expensive gas prices in the nation Monday, according to AAA.
Oklahoma boasted the least costly average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline at $1.85 per gallon Monday, while Kansas was fourth at $1.90 and Texas was fifth at $1.92. In Colorado, average gas prices were $2.06 per gallon, according to AAA.
According to a press release from GasBuddy, national average gas prices this week will be the third lowest in over a decade.
“Over the Thanksgiving travel period, Wednesday through Sunday, motorists will be collectively spending nearly $1.7 billion less at the gas pump than the five-year average,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. “This year will go down as the first in over a decade that no state – not even traditionally pricey Hawaii or California – has seen its average daily price breach $3 per gallon. We can thank global oil production that continues to outpace rising demand for the low prices.”
According to the Amarillo Globe, more Americans are expected to travel this Thanksgiving than any year since 2007.
While gas prices are about five cents higher than they were last Thanksgiving, AAA anticipates 48.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more during the Thanksgiving travel period, an increase of one million over last year.
AAA expects 3.7 million Americans to fly this Thanksgiving and in a Wichita Eagle article, a spokeswoman at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport, Valerie Wise, said the busiest travel days at the airport will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. Wise recommends flyers arrive at least 90 minutes before departure.
