With heavy Thanksgiving travel expected, many Floridians could find regular unleaded gas prices at or below $3 a gallon. The AAA auto club said the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded Monday in Florida was $3.04, down 14 cents from a week earlier and 43 cents from a year earlier.
“More than half of Florida gas stations now have gasoline priced below $3 a gallon,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a prepared statement. “While there could be some fluctuations in the coming weeks, AAA expects gas prices to remain low through the holidays, unless oil prices suddenly spike.”
AAA cited lower gas demand and a decline in oil prices — from $93 a barrel in late September to $72 last week — for pushing pump prices down.
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An estimated 3.03 million Floridians will travel — most by car or truck — more than 50 miles between Wednesday and Sunday.
That is up from 2.94 million during the 2022 Thanksgiving period. The lowest gas prices Monday were in parts of the Panhandle, including averages of $2.87 a gallon in the Pensacola and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach areas, according to AAA.
The average in the tourism-heavy Orlando area was $2.95. Meanwhile, the average price in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area was $3.25 a gallon.
Regional Prices
- Most expensive metro markets – West Palm Beach-Boca Raton ($3.28), Naples ($3.19), Tallahassee ($3.17)
- Least expensive metro markets – Pensacola ($2.88), Crestview-Fort Walton Beach ($2.90), Panama City ($2.98)
Ways to Save on Gasoline
- Combine errands to limit driving time.
- Shop around for the best gas prices in your community.
- Pay with cash. Some retailers charge extra per gallon for customers who pay with a credit card.
- Remove excess weight in your vehicle. Every 100 pounds taken out of the vehicle improves fuel economy by 1-2 percent.
- Drive conservatively. Aggressive acceleration and speeding reduces fuel economy.
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