Low gas prices make holiday travel a little more affordable

JOHNSON CITY (WBNG) — As gas prices continue to drop across the country, area residents are taking advantage of the low prices to travel over the holidays.

According to Triple A, the national average price of a gallon of gas on Sunday was $2.32, a decrease of more than fifty cents per gallon since mid-October.

Prices in the Southern Tier varied widely, from an average of around $2.40 in Johnson City to $2.80 in Sidney.

Travelers said it was worth going out of their way a little bit to find the best deal.

“We pretty much take a quick look at who’s got what over the past couple days and say yep, that’s where we’ll go or if we have points somewhere we’ll go with that,” said Tim Cosgrave, an Endwell native travelling to Danbury, Connecticuit and then Syracuse over the next few days.

Cosgrave was travelling with Carolann Amorando, who said the two of them have developed a routine to minimize their costs.

“We drive all the way through, no stopping. We fuel up now, get all of our necessities, and then we go straight on through. We travel no matter what but our families are scattered and it does make a difference,” Amorando said.

Gas prices vary so much even within a small area because of different municipal taxes, how close you are to a large port where gasoline can be shipped, and the amount of gasoline available at the time.