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'08 spike in gas prices in rearview

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By JOHN PORRETTO

The Associated Press

Published: May 22, 2009

HOUSTON - As tens of millions tank up and hit the road for Memorial Day weekend, gas prices are rising fast enough to revive painful memories of the $4-a-gallon summer of 2008.

Rest easy: The economic slack created by the recession all but guarantees prices won't spike the way they did last year, analysts say.

On Thursday, a gallon of unleaded averaged $2.36. That's much cheaper than the $3.80 it cost this time last year, but prices are still up about 30 cents a gallon this month, enough to make drivers flinch. In Tampa, the average gallon of unleaded was $2.32 Thursday.

Even so, the auto club AAA estimates 32.4 million people, or about one in 10 Americans, will travel over the holiday, most of them driving. That's a slight 1.5 percent increase from 2008.

Vacations make a lot more sense for many families than they did last year. Airfares, hotels and tourist attractions are all cheaper this year.

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