How gas prices are impacting holiday travel

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - AAA projects 109 million Americans will travel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, twice as many as over Thanksgiving.

That means whether by car, plane, or train, the number of people moving about during the holiday season will mirror pre-pandemic numbers.

AAA said declining gas prices were contributing to that influx.

At the time this article was written, gas prices in Alabama were averaging around $3.01 a gallon - $.20 less than the average gas price around Thanksgiving 2021.

Clay Ingram with AAA said usually when gas prices go down, it translates to cheaper flights, but this year that may not be the case.

“There’s been a reduction in the number of flights and when that happens, usually we see ticket prices bump up a little bit and then in addition to that we see our demand climbing, especially during the holidays and that causes prices to bump up a little more too,” Ingram explained.

Ingram said airfare was a bit higher than usual due to the high demand.

For those driving, Ingram said he expected prices to decrease more over the following six weeks.

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