Thanksgiving is around the corner and locals explain why it's best to fuel up in Central Texas before hitting the road.
Matt Hilton stopped at Buc-ees in Temple to get gas because he noticed something different here in Central Texas.
“Recently I’ve traveled from Dallas down to Austin and when I left Dallas I filled up for $2.89 a gallon and I noticed that when I was traveling through Waco that it was $2.34 - $2.38 a gallon so we’re talking 50 cents a gallon difference," Hilton said.
His observation is something AAA is tracking.
Daniel Armbruster is the Corporate Spokesperson & Community Relations for AAA Texas/New Mexico.
“Gas prices in Central Texas are cheaper than they are even in most other areas around the state," Armbruster said.
Across Texas the average price for regular gas is $2.65. That’s 16-cents cheaper than this time last year and 42-cents cheaper than the national average.
The avenge price for regular gas in College Station and Bryan is $2.66. Over in Killeen and Temple the average price for regular gas is $2.50 and in Waco it’s $2.58.
“So if you’re leaving from Central Texas fill up in Central Texas" Armbruster said.
AAA expects record breaking travel this year with 5.7 million Texans traveling fifty-miles or more for Thanksgiving.
“That’s the largest number we’ve seen on record here at AAA. So it’s going to be a very very busy Thanksgiving here in Texas" Armbruster said.
Texas typically has some of the cheaper gas prices in the country because of it’s ties to the oil and gas industry and keep in mind retailers can flex their gas prices closer to Thanksgiving and on the holiday itself.
"What we typically see is gas prices will fluctuate a little bit around the holiday and then right before the holiday they’ll go up and then they’ll come back down," Armbruster said. "Last year, they actually came back down two days before Thanksgiving.”
If you want to find the cheapest prices near you, travelers and experts recommend you use apps like AAA, GasBuddy and Hilton’s favorite Upside which even helps him earn cash back.
“I mean anywhere that you can get money back..." — “gas prices are very important to me," Hilton said.
AAA just released their Thanksgiving forecast overnight Monday.
They’re showing a 1.3% increase from last year when it comes to Texans traveling for Thanksgiving with one of the more popular routes going right through Waco on I-35.
