Holidaymakers travelling home in their cars for Thanksgiving in the Carolinas are likely to find that of doing so is more expensive than it was this time last year. Over the last twelve months petrol prices have risen by around 60 cents per gallon. However there is some good news as petrol prices seem to have dropped by a few cents in the last week or so.

Senior oil analyst for Washington’s Energy Information Administration, Doug MacIntyre said that he doesn’t expect any large fluctuations in the price of petrol over the next twelve months. He says that he thinks the price will hover within the ten cent range which he describes as being stable.

President and CEO of AAA Carolinas, David E. Parsons said that although the price of fuel has been steadily rising and although the world economic crisis was still being felt he did not see either of these factors deterring people from taking to the roads to be with their loved ones over Thanksgiving. The AAA also said that the continuing drop in air fares along with cheaper car rental and cheaper hotel rooms would also be encouraging to those wishing to travel over the holiday period. Even so it has been predicted that the numbers of people traveling on the nation’s airlines will continue to fall. AAA said that this is due to the increase in ancillary fees such as baggage handling and booking fees as well as a reduction in capacity and fewer flights.