Declining gas prices should fuel an increase in Thanksgiving travel

The economy is down but so are gasoline prices, and that means the number of Utahns traveling this Thanksgiving weekend will be up.

AAA Utah estimates more than 250,000 Utahns will travel at least 50 miles or more from home during the holiday weekend. That's a 2 percent jump from a year ago.

"Travel by car is a growing trend across the country, most likely influenced by the state of our economy," said AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough.

"People really want to go on Thanksgiving, it's a very important day for them, and the gas prices are helping that out."

Salt Lake City-Ogden gasoline prices have dropped 5 cents in the past month to $1.42 for a gallon of unleaded regular. The statewide average has dipped to $1.47 a gallon, down from $1.50 last month. And the national average, $1.47 a month ago, slipped to $1.41 this week.

Fairclough said an oversupply of gasoline, in anticipation of possible U.S. strikes against Iraq, may be responsible in part for the decline in consumer prices.

"The prices have been relatively stable" leading up to the holiday, Fairclough said. "And really, we were anticipating a bit more of an increase just before the holidays because we always see that."

A year ago, the statewide average leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend was $1.38 per gallon after dropping 12 cents from October. The national average last November was $1.19 after a 16-cent tumble from October.

Air travel also was down then, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But according to AAA Utah, 47,600 Utahns are expected to fly this Thanksgiving holiday, an increase of 4.5 percent over last year.

"We haven't seen those kinds of jumps in air travel" in years, Fairclough said. "It's good for the airline industry to see its (ridership) starting to rebound."

Motorists don't always show the same resiliency after staying up late, packing and preparing the night before a trip. Fairclough said fatigue is a major factor in holiday traffic accidents. She encourages drivers to get as much sleep as possible the night before a trip and to stop and get out of the car every two hours or 100 miles during any journey.

Residents of the Salt Lake City, Ogden and Provo areas will want to fill up before they head out. Those metropolitan areas currently have the lowest gasoline prices in the state. Blanding has among the highest prices for unleaded regular at $1.65 per gallon, according to a Deseret News telephone survey.

The Web site of Flying J Inc. showed its lowest unleaded prices in Utah can be found in Draper ($1.33), North Salt Lake and Salt Lake City ($1.34), and Logan ($1.36).

Around the West, there are few bargains, although the prices at Cheyenne-area stations are hovering around $1.32 and Las Vegas prices aren't bad at $1.45 a gallon, according to AAA.

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E-mail: zman@desnews.com