The roads will be crowded this Fourth of July weekend, but travelers have at least one thing going for them: much cheaper gas prices than last year.
A record-setting 43.2 millionAmericans are expected to travel by car this holiday weekend, according to AAA. That’s 2.4% higher than last Fourth of July.
And yet gasoline prices are much lower. The national average for regular gasoline dipped to $3.55a gallon on Thursday, according to AAA. A year ago, a gallon of regular sold for an average of $4.87 a gallon.
That kind of price drop is almost unprecedented.
During the week ending June 26, the average gas price was $3.57 a gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That’s down by $1.30, or 27%, from the same period last year.
This is the second-biggest one-year price drop in the week before the Fourth of July since EIA data began 33 years ago, according to John LaForge, who leads real asset strategy for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
The only bigger 12-month drop occurred during a historic downturn: the Great Recession. Gas prices plunged by $1.45 a gallon, or 35%, between June 30, 2008 and June 29, 2009.
“This is terrific. Gasoline prices are a leading economic indicator for many Americans,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
The average motorist is spending $20 less per fill-up than at this point last year, De Haan said.
Although pump prices have retreated from last year’s record highs, gas prices were cheaper in the summer of 2021 and certainly in 2020 when Covid-19 shut down large swaths of the economy.
Air travel hiccups
Meanwhile, as the Fourth of July holiday approaches, millions of Americans are once again stranded at airports nationwide.
According to FlightAware, more than 20,000 flights were delayed earlier this week and another 1,500 were canceled.
The timing couldn’t be worse. The Federal Aviation Administration expects Thursday to be the busiest travel day over the July 4 holiday period.
Air travelers have been dealing with widespread delays all month.
Officials say on top of the forecast, huge crowds and the inability for some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices have all contributed to the mess.
Officials stress planning ahead for the holiday weekend.
The TSA says for the past week, an average of 2.6 million people a day have been flying in the United States. That's comparable to pre-pandemic numbers from 2019.
