Thanksgiving Road Trip at $4.27 Gas: Still Cheaper Than Flying?

Short answer: Gas is expensive enough that "driving is always cheaper" no longer goes without saying. Still, for a group of two or more, the fuel bill is usually small next to plane tickets. A solo driver on a long trip should count the full cost of running a car before deciding.

AAA says gas is at record levels for this time of year. We worked through the arithmetic with the assumptions spelled out, so you can swap in your own.

What's Actually Real Here

Gas is at record highs for the season. AAA's Oct. 22 release put the national average for regular at $4.27 a gallon, down 6 cents on the week, and said October was poised to be the most expensive October ever, following records in August and September. AAA's Oct. 1 release said September's monthly average of $4.33 was 50 cents above the previous September record, $3.83 in 2023. AAA's own figure for Oct. 26 was $4.2858, against $3.0532 a year ago. That is about $1.23 more per gallon.

Don't expect much relief from the recent dip. AAA attributes the weekly drop to the switch to cheaper winter-blend gasoline, while crude oil was near $100 a barrel amid instability in the Strait of Hormuz. We can't tell you where prices will be on Nov. 26.

The national average hides a huge range. On Oct. 27, AAA's state page showed California at $5.9959 and North Carolina at $3.4633, with the national average at $4.2661. Your own price matters more than the headline.

Here is the method. We assume 27.2 mpg, which the EPA's February 2026 report gives as the real-world average for new 2024 model-year vehicles, a record high. We use $4.27 a gallon, AAA's Oct. 22 average. That works out to about 15.7 cents of fuel per mile. We assume the trip is a round trip and the whole car is driven both ways.

The third column uses the IRS 2026 business mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile, which the IRS says is based on fixed and variable costs of operating a car, so it includes wear, insurance and depreciation. It is a rough upper bound, not what leaves your wallet on the trip.

What that means per person. Fuel is shared. A 1,200-mile round trip costs about $188 in gas for the car, or $47 each for four people. Hopper's Sept. 25 index put the average Thanksgiving domestic round-trip fare at $402, but that is a cheap-end fare (the demand-weighted average of the 10th percentile of prices available). Four tickets at that figure would be about $1,608 before bags and airport transfers.

Where the Hype Outruns the Reality

"Driving is always cheaper" fails for one person on a long trip. At the IRS rate, a solo driver's full cost passes $402 at about 554 miles round trip. On fuel alone it takes about 2,560 miles. Which number is right depends on whether you would otherwise own and insure the car anyway. For most households, the car is already paid for, so fuel and tolls are the real new costs, but wear and tear are real too.

Prices vary by state more than you might think. Using the same 27.2 mpg, a 1,200-mile round trip costs about $153 in fuel at North Carolina's $3.4633 and about $265 at California's $5.9959. That is a gap of about $112.

Your car is not average. The EPA figure is for new vehicles. A larger SUV or truck, a loaded vehicle, winter conditions or lots of stop-and-go will raise the cost. A hybrid or efficient sedan will lower it.

Time does not show up in the table. Holiday traffic, tolls, food and an overnight stop on a long drive all add cost or hours that this fuel math leaves out.

This is not a prediction. We have no reliable forecast for gas on Thanksgiving week. AAA's own Thanksgiving travel forecast was not available when we looked.

A Practical Approach

1. Do the math for your car. Multiply round-trip miles by price per gallon, then divide by your car's real mpg. Use your own mpg, not the sticker.
2. Split the fuel. Divide by the number of people sharing the car. With three or more people, fuel is rarely the deciding factor.
3. Add the other costs. Tolls, parking, a night at a hotel on a 10-hour drive, and food all count.
4. Compare with flying, honestly. One sentence on flights: the cheap-end average is $402 per person round trip, and our guide to what still saves money on holiday airfares covers return days and one-way options.
5. Look at gas along your route. If your route crosses a state line with big price differences, fill up on the cheaper side. AAA's state pages list averages.
6. Consider the flight-side trade-offs. If you are weighing a flight after all, our best-day-to-book myths piece explains which flight-price rules of thumb hold up.

FAQ

What is the national average gas price right now? AAA's front page showed $4.2858 for regular on Oct. 26, and $4.27 in its Oct. 22 release. Check AAA for today's number.

Is gas really at a record? AAA says August and September 2026 set records for those months and that October was poised to be the most expensive October on record as of Oct. 22.

Is driving cheaper than flying for Thanksgiving? For two or more travelers on a trip of a few hundred miles, fuel is usually far less than tickets. For one traveler, it depends on whether you count the full cost of the car.

What about electric vehicles? AAA's Oct. 22 release put public charging at a national average of 41 cents per kWh. We did not compare EV trip costs, since they depend on your car's efficiency and where you charge.

Will gas get cheaper before Thanksgiving? We don't know. AAA attributed the latest weekly drop to winter-blend gasoline, with crude near $100 a barrel.

Things change quickly. This article reflects what was publicly known when it was written or last updated, so details such as prices, availability, rules and product specs may have changed since. Always check the official source before you buy or decide.

Sources

• National Average Falls 6 Cents, But Crude Oil Nears $100/Barrel (AAA Newsroom, Oct. 22, 2026)
• AAA Gas Prices national average (AAA, Oct. 26, 2026)
• AAA state gas price averages (AAA, Oct. 27, 2026)
• National Average Dips Following Record-Setting September (AAA, Oct. 1, 2026)
• EPA fuel economy report EPA-420-S-26-001 (U.S. EPA, February 2026)
• IRS sets 2026 business standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents per mile (IRS)
• 2026 Holiday Travel Index (Hopper, Sept. 25, 2026)