Dennis RomeroIt will be the biggest Fourth of July weekend for SoCal travelers since 2007, says the Auto Club of Southern California.
But the increase in travel compared to last year is only .05 percent, says the AAA. Lower gas prices have given you a little inspiration.
About 3 million of you are taking off for the weekend, the club says. About 2.2 million will be roadtripping.
The folks at pump-price comparison site GasBuddy.com say L.A.-area gas prices are down 4.3 cents per gallon compared with last week. They're “59.9 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago,” the site said in a statement.
The average price of a gallon around here is $3.56, according to the site. It's “a nice trend as we head toward July 4,” said GasBuddy'com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan.
So where are y'all headed? AAA asked IHS Global Insight to research the top destinations for Southern Californians this holiday weekend:
1) Las Vegas
2) San Diego
3) San Francisco
4) California Central Coast (Santa Barbara to Monterey)
5) (tie) Grand Canyon/Yosemite
Priceline.com says Las Vegas is also the second most popular Fourth of July travel destination nationwide (Chicago is No. 1), partly because “average daily room rates for the city over Independence Day are $100, or $20 less than last year.”
San Diego came in fifth place nationwide, and L.A. ranked 10th, according to the site.
Filomena Andre, the Auto Club’s vice president for travel products and services, says there's “a continued overall increase in the amount being spent for travel this summer because consumers have confidence in their ability to afford vacations.”
“While the number of travelers is not increased greatly overall this Fourth of July,” she said, “the summer vacation season is doing very well.”
It could get better, at least for us. DeHaan of GasBuddy.com says the debt crisis in Greece could actually push global wholesale oil prices lower this summer.
Credit: Top national destinations via Priceline.com
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