72% of Americans plan to travel by car for Thanksgiving, recent survey finds

(November 19, DALLAS) – GasBuddy, the main gasoline financial savings platform saving North American drivers probably the most cash on fuel, in the present day launched the findings of its 2024 annual Thanksgiving Journey Survey, revealing that 72% of Individuals plan to take a street journey over the vacation.

This can be a 75% improve from the 41% that deliberate to make a journey by automotive in 2023, amidst gasoline costs which have fallen to multi-year lows, together with 29 states the place common costs are presently under $3 per gallon.

After a number of years of pandemic-influenced journey adjustments, this 12 months’s information exhibits a return to extra conventional Thanksgiving journey plans, with 72% of respondents indicating they are going to be driving to their vacation spot – up from simply 41% in 2023, 38% in 2022, 32% in 2021 and 35% in 2020. This determine is nearer to pre-pandemic ranges, when 65% drove for Thanksgiving in 2019.

Looking forward to the Thanksgiving journey interval, GasBuddy forecasts that the nationwide common fuel worth can be roughly $2.98 per gallon, down barely from the present nationwide common of $3.02 per gallon. Most survey respondents plan to begin their Thanksgiving journey on Wednesday, 11/27, leaving within the early morning.

“Individuals are desperate to get again on the street and go to family members this Thanksgiving, with the overwhelming majority selecting the pliability and comfort of driving, as fuel costs have fallen under $3 in over half of the nation’s states,” mentioned Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum evaluation at GasBuddy. “Whereas a number of vacationers really feel discouraged by present fuel costs, our information exhibits most individuals are undeterred and keen to soak up the additional prices to reunite with household over the vacation. Gasoline costs have fallen practically 70 cents from the summer season excessive to their lowest stage since 2021, and may present some aid for Thanksgiving vacationers. We anticipate costs to stay seasonally low main as much as the vacations, making street journeys a extra reasonably priced possibility for hundreds of thousands of Individuals.”

Different key findings from GasBuddy’s 2024 Thanksgiving Journey Survey embrace:

• Of these not touring by automotive, 10% plan to fly and 87% should not touring in any respect.
• The highest causes for not touring embrace having nowhere to go (33%), excessive gasoline costs (16%), and journey not being of their price range (19%).
• Most (60%) of these driving this 12 months additionally drove final 12 months, citing the pliability of street journeys (48%) and proximity to their vacation spot (39%) as the first components.
• The bulk (60%) anticipate to spend 1-6 hours within the automotive, with two-thirds (66%) driving greater than 100 miles.
• 56% can be crossing state strains throughout their street journey, and 68% plan to make use of loyalty or money again packages to avoid wasting on gasoline, together with Pay with GasBuddy.

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