INDIANAPOLIS — It's Circle K National Fuel Day!
From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 23, Circle K is offering up to 40 cents off per gallon of fuel at more than 5,500 locations across the U.S.
Click here to find the nearest location taking part in the deal.
According to Circle K, the price on the pump will reflect the discounted price during that time.
To celebrate Fuel Day and in honor of the upcoming Memorial Day, Circle K will donate 10% of the profits from fuel sales during the Fuel Day event to the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, which provides college scholarships and educational counseling to military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty.
The savings come as AAA predicts this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday. The Transportation Security Administration says up to 3 million might pass through airport checkpoints on Friday alone.
And that is just a sample of what is to come. U.S. airlines expect to carry a record number of passengers this summer. Their trade group estimates that 271 million travelers will fly between June 1 and Aug. 31, breaking the record of 255 million set – you guessed it – last summer.
The annual expression of wanderlust is happening at a time when Americans tell pollsters they are worried about the economy and the direction of the country.
A slowdown, and in some cases a retreat, from the big price increases of the last two years may be helping.
Airfares are down 6% and hotel rates have dipped 0.4%, compared with a year ago, according to government figures released last week. Prices for renting a car or truck are down 10%. The nationwide price of gas is around $3.60 a gallon, about 6 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA.
Johannes Thomas, CEO of the hotel and travel search company Trivago, said he thinks more customers are feeling the pinch of prices that have plateaued but at much higher levels than before the pandemic. He said they are booking farther in advance, staying closer to home, taking shorter trips, and compromising on accommodations — staying in three-star hotels instead of five-star ones.