Gas down 90 cents from last Christmas Eve

Drivers heading out for holiday road trips are paying an average of $2.53 per gallon for gas, according to the AAA auto club. 

The average price of gas this Christmas Eve is 90 cents cheaper than what drivers were paying around this time last last year, when an average fill-up was $3.25 per gallon. 

AAA has predicted that 89.5 million Christmas travelers this year will be driving to their holiday destinations, up 4.2 percent from last year. An estimated 98.6 million U.S. residents will be traveling more than 50 miles away from home for Christmas.  

{mosads}The auto club attributed part of the predicted increase in Christmas travel to lower gas prices, which the group says are now the lowest U.S. residents have seen regularly in about five years. 

“Lower gas prices are filling stockings with a little more cash to spend on travel this year as travelers are expected to pay the lowest prices since 2009,” AAA President Marshall Doney said in a statement earlier this month. “Lower prices are increasing disposable income and enabling families to set aside money for travel this year.”

The average price of gas Wednesday is 15 cents lower than $2.50 per gallon average that was recorded by AAA last week. The auto club reported an average price of $2.81 per gallon at this time last month.