More travelers in New England hitting the road for Thanksgiving

Prices in Atlanta spiked in September, hitting an average high of $2.51 a gallon after a fire shut down one of the key pipelines bringing gasoline from the refineries along the Gulf Coast, according to GasBuddy.

The five states where average gasoline prices were cheapest were Oklahoma ($1.806), Kansas ($1.89), Arkansas ($1.894), Missouri ($1.897), and Texas ($1.912).

“Over the last two weeks we’ve dropped 7 cents a gallon here in Idaho”, AAA spokesman Matthew Conde said.

Approximately 76 percent of Tennessee gas stations are selling regular unleaded gas for under $2 per gallon.

And while pump prices are still around a nickel higher than the same date in 2015, the decline in gas costs is continuing. USA drivers have saved more than $28 billion to-date this year in fuel compared with this time last year, AAA estimated.

The auto club AAA said Tuesday that it expects 1 million more Americans to venture at least 50 miles from home, a 1.9 percent increase over past year.

AAA said almost 3.7 million Americans will fly during the holiday, an increase of 1.6 percent over previous year. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get a lower fare or it’s going to be higher.

The heaviest snow of 2 to 4 inches on Tuesday will likely be north of Grand Forks and along the Canadian border.

Wright reminds drivers that the busiest travel days are still the Wednesday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so plan accordingly. AAA estimates that 89 percent of travelers – 43.5 million Americans – are planning a road trip.

One reason, he said, could be that airlines “seem to be adding a lot of fees and making personal space a lot smaller”. That price range would suggest gas prices also won’t soar, he said. Compared with the same day a year ago, prices are almost a nickel higher.

“One million more Americans than a year ago will carve out time to visit with friends and family this Thanksgiving”, AAA East Central President and CEO Jim Lehman said in a news release.

“The average Thanksgiving long-distance trip length is 214 miles, compared with 275 miles over the Christmas-New Year’s holiday”, the bureau reports.