With cheaper gas prices, more travelers hitting the road for Thanksgiving

WASHINGTON - There is a silver lining if you are driving home for the holiday - gas prices are down. If you add up all of the money every driver is saving this holiday weekend on gas, a lot of money is going back in our pockets.

"We're looking at gas prices today going into Thanksgiving that is going to be the third-lowest we have seen in the last decade," said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. "That means collectively, we will be saving $1.7 billion this weekend versus what we saved over the average in the last five years. It's good news for consumers."

Even though gas prices are up slightly over this time last year, they are down 8 cents from just last month, according to Laskoski.

If you are one of those people who are wondering what effect the incoming Donald Trump presidency will have on gas prices for next year and future holiday travel seasons to come, Laskoski doesn't expect much of an impact at all.

"We've already heard that it's probably going to be a more favorable environment for something like the Keystone Pipeline," he said. "[Trump's] already said he wants to see less regulation. Even if that were to happen - let's say the Keystone Pipeline was approved and they put it in - there is no guarantee that in itself is going to have an impact on retail prices."

According to AAA, around 49 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the Thanksgiving holiday, which would be the most since 2007.