Gas prices are up 49 cents in Florida as compared to a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Nationwide prices are up 53 cents. AAA says American’s haven’t seen prices this high since November 2014.
In the last week alone, Florida’s gas prices rose nearly 10 cents to an average of $2.818 as of Monday morning. In Jacksonville, Monday morning’s average for a gallon of regular was $2.792.
AAA attributes the rise in prices to:
- Strong domestic gasoline demand caused reduced supply levels.
- Gas stations are shifting to summer blend gasoline, which costs more to produce.
- Oil prices are at four-year highs - raising the price of producing gasoline.
- Global demand is strong.
- Global oil supply is tightening.
U.S. sanctions against Iran could further tighten the oil market, depending on what restrictions are put on Iranian oil exports, according to AAA.
Despite the higher pump prices, AAA predicts more than more than 41.5 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend, with 36.6 million of that number traveling by car.
If that prediction holds true it would be a nearly five percent more than last year and the most since 2005, according to AAA.
On the plus side, AAA says airfares are down seven percent as compared to last Memorial Day, with an average price of $168 for a round-trip flight along the top 40 domestic routes and car rental prices are down 11 percent.
Based on AAA’s travel bookings, Orlando will once again be the top Memorial Day travel destination in the U.S. Rounding out the top 10 travel destinations are:
2.) Seattle, Washington
3.) Honolulu, Hawaii
4.) Las Vegas, Nevada
5.) Anchorage, Alaska
6.) Phoenix, Arizona
7.) Anaheim, California
8.) Boston, Massachusetts
9.) Denver, Colorado
10.) New York, New York
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
