Gas prices drop in time for Memorial Day travel; hotels, airfares rise

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, gasoline prices will continue to put less of a hurt on your wallet thanks to the continuing plunge in oil prices, which dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time in seven months Wednesday 

But travelers will pay more for hotels and airfares this holiday weekend.

The average price of unleaded regular gasoline in the Chicago metropolitan area Wednesday was $4.11 a gallon, 12 cents below the $4.23 a gallon it averaged a month earlier according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. It was also 12 cents below the average last Memorial Day weekend.

In the city of Chicago, the average Wednesday was $4.28 a gallon, 14 cents below the $4.42 a gallon it averaged a month earlier and 21 cents below the $4.49 a gallon it averaged last Memorial Day weekend.

Average gas prices began rising earlier in the year and peaked in March at $4.51 a gallon in the Chicago area and at $4.68 in the city as oil prices spiked due to increased tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.