This was the price of gasoline at a Mobile station in Chicago on March 6. Prices could hit $4.95 in May(Credit: CBS)
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CHICAGO (CBS) – Looking for ways to save on that spring break trip?
With the average price of gas in the Chicago area around $4.50 a gallon ($4.67 in city), you may be wondering if you can afford to drive anywhere.
As CBS 2’s Roseanne Tellez reports, there are websites that can help you decide.
When the recession hit, more people hit the road.
But with these gas prices, is it worth it? Or would you be better off flying?
There are a lot of tools on the web to take the guesswork out of that decision.
“It’s a game me and my husband play,” said Marilyn Arias-Sul. “Who can come up with the cheapest gas price between the two of us.”
Arias-Sul already uses a phone app to find the best gas prices here at home.
So now that she’s planning a trip to Georgia to visit one of her kids, she’s turning to the Internet to decide whether driving is the way to travel.
“I would compare the prices to a plane fare,” she said. “But I know that plane fare is pretty expensive because their gas has also gone up.”
Arias-Sul keys in the address on Mapquest to find a route, then clicks on the site’s gas calculator, and enters information about her car,
She found it would cost about $120 in fuel to make the trip.
“In this day in age you want to try to save pennies anyway you can,” she said
It’s about $30 less than flying, and she’d avoid the lines, hassles and possible delays at the airport.
It’s a 13-hour drive and worth it to save the money, Arias-Sul said.
Gas Buddy.com and AAA all offer a preview of gas prices, and actually direct you to the cheapest stations along your route. For Arias-Sul it’s well worth the time to do the homework.
